Arlene Miller's Blog, page 59

Three Things to Do Before You Hit “Send”

Whether you are sending an important e-mail, mailing off a book proposal (does anyone even send paper mail anymore?), or handing off your manuscript to a copyeditor, there are three things you should do first. If you are sending your work to a copyeditor, you will save some money by saving your editor some time. If you are sending something important to someone, you will just look better!

1. Hire an editor! Obviously, if you are sending your work to an editor, you already have. However,  no matter what you are sending where, you never want to send a mess. Always read something over first. So, the editor will be you or possibly a friend or coworker. It is often difficult to spot your own mistakes, so it is usually helpful to have someone else look over your writing. If you don’t have another pair of eyes, reading your writing out loud can often help. I know it is a pain to proof your own work. I don’t like doing it either, but it is embarrassing to send something with silly mistakes in it.

2. Run some type of spell check. No, it won’t catch your its and it’s, or of instead of on, but we still do make other spelling errors and typos. I have received some manuscripts to edit where the author has obviously not even run spell check. I always run it, but if there are relatively few errors already, it saves time for me and money for the author.

3. Make sure your writing is consistent. This is something everyone can do. If your writing isn’t consistent, you will look careless. If the manuscript you give me to edit isn’t consistent, it will take me a lot of time to make it so. What do I mean by consistent?

Either use the Oxford (series) comma or don’t, but be consistent throughout one piece of writing.
If you are using certain jargon, make sure you use the same words or group of words to mean the same thing, and capitalize it the same way each time you use it.
You might be using some compound adjectives that fit the particular piece of writing. For example, maybe you are using the term compound-complex sentence. Don’t suddenly switch to compound/complex sentence. Your work will look ragged. If an editor has your work, it will take her or him time to straighten it out (and you will keep getting e-mails asking you questions).
If you want to use bold to emphasize certain things, don’t suddenly switch to quotation marks or italics.

I guess there is one more thing if you are sending an email: Make sure it is not only ready to send, but that you actually want to send it. Make sure you won’t regret it once you press “send.”

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The Grammar Diva apologizes for the short post this week, but she is very busy trying to finish The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! The book is done and off to the designer for final changes. She is excited about the launch event at the Petaluma Copperfield’s on Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m., and she hopes to see all her local friends there! Yes, there will be cake, and it will be chocolate!

 

Happy Belated National Grammar Day (March 4)

 

 

Fifty Shades of Grammar: Part Two

You say potato, and I say potatoe!

Who needs handcuffs, rope, and cable ties when we have dangling modifiers, mispronunciations, and malapropisms! Here are the final 25 shades of grammar! If you missed last week’s Part One, click here.

1. You weren’t taken back by his comment (unless it was nostalgic): you were taken aback.

2. You are leaving the party. You say, “Thanks for having me.” Thanks for having me what????

3. This is a real peeve of mine. There are various iterations of it, and I know you have heard them:

 

The reason is because . . .
The reason why is . . . is that . . .
What I mean is that . . .

My favorite is the double is, and I hear it all the time. Sounds as if the speaker is buying time, but it doesn’t buy much!

4. Silence is golden. It should be appreciated in speech now and then. However, people are uncomfortable with it, so they add filler words such as so and uh. Sometimes people use these words to hold the floor while they think of something else to say.

5. Yaddamean? = Do you know what I mean?

6. Youse guys is not a favorite—especially when the youse aren’t even guys.

7. I am waiting on someone to arrive. This one must be related to I was standing on line.

8. Ah redundancy! How can something be very unique? And you don’t need both also and as well together; or etc. and so on.

9. Menu items: Good food at it’s best. And martini’s. Fresh bean’s, potatoe’s, tomatoe’s, carrot’s, banana’s. You name it! We got it!

10. If you don’t really mean literally, don’t use it! I literally hit the ceiling every time someone uses it incorrectly!

11. Cringeworthy:  I’ve know him since I’m little. Tense Alert!

12. Anyone who is trying to better themselves . . .(should know that anyone is singular, is is singular, and themselves is plural. And we don’t care that they can now be used as a singular. We don’t like it!)

13. Alot is two words—if you must use it at all.

14. Based off? It is based on. (But it is pissed off.)

15. I fell off the chair, not I fell off of the chair.

16. Someone wrote in:  My “favorite” newscaster this morning said, ” The police are trying to open as much lanes as possible, ” right after her counterpart said,”There is an astonishing amount of accidents this morning.”  Perhaps there are also two job openings?

17. He did it different. She ran slow. Who took all the ly‘s? We want them back. We don’t like flat adverbs.

18. Oftentimes. Apparently some dictionaries say it is okay. It is a variant of the old ofttimes. Since often means ‘many times, ” ofttimes, means “many times times.”

19. Where are you? Where are you at (yuck)? In Newfoundland they say Where are you to?

20. She screamed bloody murder. Have you ever heard “She screamed blue murder?” Some of you have.

21.Don’t you think that schools could make sure that their electronic billboards didn’t have typos?

22. The spice is cardamon. Not cardamom. There is no Mom in cardamon.

23. I’m really up the crick now! (It’s creek!! Long e!)

24. It’s not impordant to say congradulations!

25. You don’t graduate high school—or college, for that matter. You graduate from high school (or college)(maybe)

26. I know I said 25, but I can’t stop! Just a couple more! It’s not nipped in the butt! (ouch! Shades of Gray!)

27. If you are disorientated,  you’re disoriented.

28. A favorite peeve of mine (and people I love dearly say it) seems to be product of the younger generation, and especially girls. Instead of ending their sentences with a question-like inflection, like some women are accused of doing (and do), girls now often end their sentences (boys too) with so-ha. (accent on the ya)

I hope you have enjoyed the 50 Shades of Gray Grammar! And I can finally announce that The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! will be out in a month or two. Definitely! So, ya.

 

 

 

WHAT Did You Say? Fifty Shades of Grammar: Part One

50 Shades of Grammar

You may think it is a cheap shot, riding on the coattails of a bestselling book and movie . . . but how could I resist? And I am certainly not the first! Anyhow, we will cover 25 shades today and the other 25 in Part 2, next week.

I have been collecting comments on your pet peeves, unusual things you hear, etc.; the Fifty Shades of Grammar posts will be an entertaining (I hope) hodgepodge of some of those comments you have provided to me.  So let’s get going, shall we?

Shade 1. One peeve I received was “people who have grammar peeves, and prescriptivists.” We prescriptivists are those grammar conservatives who believe there are rules to be followed (control freaks), as opposed to the descriptivists, who believe language is formed and changes according to how people talk; there are standard conventions, maybe, but not rules.

Shade 2. Some people are bothered by those who say “a myriad of” instead of just “myriad.” There are probably myriad reasons why.

Shade 3. This one is mine, although I have heard others mention it. It is so weird. You have heard it a zillion times, and you have probably used it: a whole nother. Since when is nother a word? I think it means “another whole” or “a whole other.” But that’s a whole nother story.

Shade 4. I always thought the saying was “all of the sudden.” Then, I edited some things that said “all of a sudden.” Which one is it? Most people say it is “all of a sudden.” I stand corrected. How about just suddenly?

Shade 5. Do you know how to spell out BBQ? I don’t think I did, and it was someone’s pet peeve. Barbecue. There is no q at all.

Shade 6. People using anxious when they really mean eager was a peeve. Anxious involves some fear or discomfort. Eager is ready to go!

Shade 7. Confusing chastity with celibacy was mentioned. Apparently priests have a vow of chastity, not celibacy.

Shade 8. There is a word converse. There is a word conversation. There is no word in between: conversate.

Shade 9: Women have been noted to do this more than men do.  Maybe not so much anymore. Women tend to end their statements as if they were questions?

Shade 10: Here is a rather unusual way of saying something. Here again, let me make it clear that we are not making fun of anyone, and that many of these pronunciations and ways to say things are regional, cultural, or whatever you would like to call it: Explain me instead of explain it to me. I think I have heard this one.

Shade 11. When someone says “Good for you?” are they really saying “I couldn’t care less what you are doing”?

Shade 12. Some people had a negative thing about grammar checkers. I personally have a negative thing about autocorrect.

Shade 13. Goed. Apparently more common among students. And I would think, young ones at that.

Shade 14. Lots of us loathe this one: Have went coming from educated people (it’s have gone.)

Shade 15. If someone does a complete turnaround, he or she did a 180, not a 360 (a 360 would mean they are at the same place as they were, doesn’t it?)

Shade 16. Misplaced prepositional phrases like “He was shot in the car.” Is that near the arm or the leg? And of course, misplaced participles. Here is a restaurant review someone saw: “Sitting on a bed of mashed potato, served with vegetables, I would have been impressed with that alone.”  The commenter said he indeed would have been impressed seeing the reviewer sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes!

Shade 17. “I might could go.” Sounds like people from somewhere say this, but I don’t know where. Does anyone know?

Shade 18. This one is weird to me. I don’t know where it is said, but not in the United States: “I was sat in the chair” instead of “I was sitting in the chair,” and “I was stood in the corner” instead of “I was standing in the corner.”

Shade 19. “It begs the question” used instead of “It raises the question” irked someone.

Shade 20. Leaving out the article, which I know is British(??). “We visited him at hospital” instead of “at the hospital.” Does anyone know any rules about this one?

Shade 21: Meteorologists seemed to receive a lot of criticism about their speech. Here is one: “Let’s get a check on the weather” or “Let’s get a check of the weather”  instead of just “Let’s check the weather.”

Shade 22: Starting a sentence with More important, rather than More importantly. More importantly can be a transition word, but more important is a comparison.

Shade 23. Revert back used by “professionals who should know better.” Can you revert forward?

Shade 24. You can “Save up to 50 percent and more.” 49? 50? more than 50? 49 and more than 50?

Shade 25. Schools using the word release instead of dismiss. I know this one to be true. We have early release days. Release, however, apparently applies to incarceration (and murder if you have read or seen The Giver, who coincidentally lives in a society that is only shades of gray.)

There you have it. Twenty-five shades of gray grammar this week, and twenty-five more shades of gray grammar next week. Have a colorful week!

Happy “Valentimes” Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

No, that isn’t a typo in the title! Last week I did a blog post on mispronounced words, and once again, the floodgates opened with your comments . (Thank you!)

I wasn’t going to do another post on mispronounced words for a while, but . . . since someone mentioned Valentines Day being called “Valentimes” Day (and I have heard it said that way many times!), and it is time for a Valentine post, I figured I would add the other mispronounced words you wrote about to this “Valentimes” Day post!

Let me begin by making sure you all know that we are not making fun of anyone here! Some people pronounce words the way their parents or friends said them. Sometimes it is a matter of a regional accent or a cultural way of saying something. Other times, words are just plain mispronounced!

Here are some of the mispronounced words you added to my list this week. I am sure you have heard many of them before; some might be new! Enjoy — and Happy Valentines Day for real!

asterik, asterix, asterikses (plural) and any number of ways to say asterisk!

ek-cetera and ex-cetera for et cetera

expresso for espresso, although someone said that in Italy, expresso is correct (I think)

excape for escape

versatile with a long i at the end instead of versatil for versatile

forte apparently has only one syllable unless you are talking about music (grammar is my forte, not fortay)

preezentation for presentation (we’ve all heard that one)

rowter instead of rooter for router

perogative for prerogative (hear that, Bobby Brown? Didn’t he sing that song?)

Eye-ran and Eye-talian for Iran and Italian

perscription for prescription, and perfessional for professional

hunderd or hunnert for hundred

pitcher for picture

chiminey for chimney (someone even added chimley!)

probly for probably

expecially for especially

Chiner and Afriker for China anad Africa

worsh for wash (apparently a regional or hereditary thing!)

amboolence for ambulence

comf-table for comfortable (I have heard only one person say this correctly, and it isn’t I!)

infa-structure for infrastructure

supposably (argh!!!!!!) for supposedly

calvary for cavalry

periphial for peripheral

Walmarts and K-Marts (isn’t one enough???) (I’m going to Walmarts? Walmart’s?)

empisode for episode, Tie-enol for Tylenol, oral for oil (what??!)

terrist for terrorist and partically for particularly (on New Zealand radio)

twunny for twenty (pretty common) (guilty as charged)

Innernet for Internet

pleece for police

melk for milk (heard it all the time when I was a kid)

Is it ay-men or ah-men???

nothink and somethink for nothing and something

processez for processes

dubya for W (we all know where that one comes from)

ax and axt for ask and asked

reconize for recognize (there is a g)

rool for rural

Is it poinsettia? poinsetta? poinsietta? I think the first two are acceptable.

pa-leaze for please

workt and finisht for worked and finished

secretry for secretary

reprize instead of repreeze for reprise (but reprisal is reprizal)

nucular for nuclear (and we know where that one came from)

with and breath for width and breadth (which do have ds)

somethink and somefink for something

markee for marquise (the diamond shape) which does not, apparently have a silent s

Then there are the mispronounced foods!

quin-o-a instead of keen-wa for quinoa

ciabatta is pronounced chee-a-bata

gyro – is it euro? yee-ro, jy-ro, geero? hero? I don’t know. The dictionary I looked in had five correct was to say it.

salad nicoise  apparently doesn’t have a silent s (in either nicoise or salad!)

acai – I don’t have a clue

And here are some of my favorites:

haitch for the letter h (this is, I believe, not in this country)

Specific Ocean (yes, someone did say it that way) for Pacific

flamingo dancers (I used to say it that way!) for flamenco dancers

Silicone Valley for Silicon Valley

and apparently said by weather readers on TV:

the Golf of Mexico (maybe it was really a sports report?)

Then there are the place names. I am from Massachusetts, where there are some cities that are always mispronounced because of the way they are spelled:

Worcester is correctly pronounced Wister.

Leominster is correctly pronounced Leminster.

Leicester is correctly pronounced Lester.

Quincy is usually pronounced Quinzee.

Peabody is generally pronounced Peep-udy.

Haverhill is correctly pronounced Havril.

And people who live in Chelmsford pronounce it without the l or the r: Chemsfid

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I have enjoyed collecting these words and writing it . .

and Happy ValentiNe’s Day!♥♥♥

Our Top Pronunciation Peeves!

Mispronounced Words

When I asked readers for their top grammar peeves, some of these peeves had to do with pronunciation, so this blog post will be about those. We all know about Febuary and liberry . . . so check these out:

Wait! Is your top pronunciation peeve, people who pronounce pronunciation as pronounciation (and spell it that way too)????

My top pronunciation peeve is this one that 99 percent of my students say: mischeevious, with the accent on the second syllable (instead of the first)  and the last syllable pronounced as -eeus rather than just -us. And many adults say it that way too! Drives me nuts. But enough about me. Here are some of your pronunciation peeves:

1. acrost — instead of across. I have heard this one more than once!

2. CONtribute with the accent on the first syllable rather than the second. I must say I had never noticed this one until I heard it on the radio just today.

3. idear — instead of idea. But isn’t that just an accent problem? (Hello, Bostonians!)

4. perspective — instead of prospective in a newspaper, so obviously this one is just a confusion between two words. OK, not really pronunciation.

5. phertographer – instead of photographer. Hey, look at that pherto!

6. heighth — instead of height. Width ends in -th, but height doesn’t!

7. ta — instead of to. Send it ta me, will ya?

8. realator — instead of realtor. Two syllables, not three.

9. reprize — instead of reprise (repreeze).  It is reprisal (reprizal) but not reprize.

10. tempature — instead of temperature . . . especially if said by a meteorologist.

11. dropped gs at the end of words. Well, that is a pretty common one! I don’t know if I’m comin’ or goin’.

12. often pronounced with the t. I like the t silent! That is one of mine!

Then, there is jew-lery instead of jewel-ry (new branch of Judaism?) (I am Jewish; I can make a joke!)

If you have some other ones, I would love to hear about them. Stay tuned for more peeves next blog. I got some pretty interesting ones from y’all!

 

Your Top Ten Grammar Peeves

What Are Yours????

In last week’s post I talked about my top three grammar peeves. This week I don’t even remember what they were, but now I sure now what yours are! I asked in my post for you to let me know about your grammar peeves . . . .

The floodgates opened, especially from the LinkedIn groups I share my posts with who are particularly interested in the English language  —  namely, those who teach it to either native speakers or English language learners.

The part about the pet peeves was fine. But then, as would happen, the verbal weapons began to emerge as the descriptivists and prescriptivists said their respective piece(s). I have talked about these two terms before, but let me review . . . .

Prescriptivists believe that there are grammar, punctuation, and usage rules that should be followed.  I stand mostly with this group.

Descriptivists believe that the way people really use the language helps it to evolve, and they do not like the word rule at all. They prefer standard conventions.

Honestly, I think that both beliefs must coexist, and that language really is a combination of both. There are rules, many of them from Latin . . . . and someone didn’t just make them up recently. No, they are not written in stone like the laws of physics or the multiplication tables, but they still exist in all the grammar and style books that are around.

Yes, of course, there are also regional dialects, colloquial language, and spoken language that often differs from formal writing. And, yes, language does evolve. But should we get rid of the difference between who and whom because people can’t figure it out? I don’t think so; and many people can figure it out. Should we say “Me and him have went to the movies,” just because many people say it that way? I don’t think so.

Talk any way you want to your friends. But if you are making an important speech to the faculty at Harvard Medical School, or you are writing an essay to get into college, or a resume, or a cover letter, I think it is better to stick closely to the “rules.”

That said, I have pages of your grammar peeves. Many of them were expected; however, there were many quite unusual ones, which I will get to in future blog posts (yup, you will have to keep reading . . . .)

Here are the ten that seemed to be the most popular:

1. Misplaced apostrophes. This one includes its and it’s and your and you’re, the two most popular peeves. People mentioned seeing things like “your cute” on Facebook, and I must agree. I rarely see you’re on Facebook! Is it that much trouble to put in an apostrophe? It’s and its are pretty easy to remember: All contractions (two words shortened into one) have apostrophes (I’m, don’t, we’ll), but possessive pronouns never do (yours, ours, his). One person said, “You wouldn’t write hi’s, so don’t write it’s!” Someone else remarked about a lawyer who writes a column for him using its’ as a possessive . . . . this one is not a word at all, but I have seen it being used lately.

2. Well, this one isn’t a surprise. The confusion between subject and object pronouns:

Between you and I. He gave it to him and I. NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!

It is between you and me. He gave it to him and me. Just like “he gave it to me.”

One of the people who responded said she heard between you and I on a television program said by lawyers who are supposed to have gone to Harvard. Another said a student of hers said that since she heard between you and I on television that it was right. The teacher told her that if she wrote it on her paper, she would flunk.

3. Less and fewer was a popular peeve. Use fewer for items you can count: Ten items or fewer. (This cookie has less sugar.)

Someone who wrote to me said a Columbia University professor on CNN said, “. . . .less arrests and less incarcerations.” She added, “My husband had to pull me from the ceiling!” I got a good chuckle out of picturing that one!

4. I could care less. Well, if you could care less, then you do care, so why are you even saying it? It should be I couldn’t care less.

5. Using a pronoun after a noun: Mr. Jones he is going. The teachers they are talking. The authors they are writing.  You get the picture. You don’t use both the noun and the pronoun.

6. Confusing that and who. Who is used for people. That is generally used for things.

The boy that made the basket was the MVP. It should be who made the basket. (By the way, animals are considered that, even though we all want to call them who.)

7. Should of and could of and would of. This is still pretty common error — actually very common. It is have, not of.

You should have told me,  not should of.

8. Where are you at? I am told this is more of a Midwestern thing. Although it is pretty much okay to end a sentence with a preposition these days, it is not okay to end a sentence with the preposition at. Where are you is good enough.

9. These ones instead of these. This one sounds like something kids tend to say. And . . . . why is this one okay, but  these ones not okay?

10. This one is surprising, but more than one person mentioned it: The use of be.

It bes really good.

These cupcakes be like the bomb!

Certainly, this use of be is more common in those whose native language is not English and in some dialects. The odd thing is that it is actually an almost-correct use of the subjunctive, which hardly anyone uses correctly! The subjunctive is used for things that you wish were true but aren’t, or for demands:

I wish I were rich. . . . not I wish I was rich. That is the subjective.

She demanded that I be there for the meeting.. . . .not that I am there. That is also the subjunctive.

So, I be there is unusual , but He asked that I be there is correct!

So there you have it! Your top ten grammar peeves. Oh, but there are a whole lot more . . . . so stay tuned and read next week’s blog post!

 

 

 

 

 

My Three Big Grammar Peeves (This Week!)

Grammar Pet Peeves

As a grammar person, grammar teacher, grammar author, grammar blogger, grammar hawk, Grammar Diva, grammar prescriptivist — whatever you or I wish to call me — I obviously have a great deal of grammar pet peeves, and they change according to whatever grammar faux pas seems to be in vogue at a certain time. Right now, here are three I am grappling with!

#1 Peeve: The fact that radio personalities and their guests; respected TV news anchors; and well-regarded newspapers can’t get their grammar right — and don’t seem to care —  is my number one pet peeve this week! The problem is rampant. Yes, of course I care because grammar is my livelihood (and without its proper use, I have no livelihood), but I also think that these people, above all, should be able to speak their own language correctly! Is it so difficult to say, “When I was a kid, my mom and I ..”? So why did I hear instead on CNN, “When I was a kid, me and my mom . . .”?

I would fire them all if I could! They get paid enough to speak correctly. Aren’t they getting paid to speak? Must they sound like morons? Do they think it’s cool to sound stupid?

#2 Peeve. The improper use of myself. I am getting tired of hearing this one. People obviously think it is high-class to use myself as much as possible — either that, or they don’t know whether to use I or me, so myself seems like a good solution. Wrong.

1. My colleague and myself are doing a presentation tomorrow. Wrong.

2. The important assignment was given to my colleague Bill and myself. Wrong.

3. I hope you join bestselling author Joe Schmoe and myself for this important interview. Wrong.

Try taking out the other person.Does myself make any sense at all?

1. Myself is going a presentation tomorrow? No.

2. The important assignment was given to myself ? No.

3. I hope you join myself for this important interview? No.

The rule is simple: Myself is never the subject of a sentence, and it can’t be used at all unless the subject of the sentence is I.

#3 Peeve. The whole pronoun situation: I and me, him and her, he and she, they and them, we and us. I would add who and whom, but let’s not get carried away with our expectations!

It isn’t rocket science. It isn’t difficult. The same people saying, “When I was a kid me and my mom would  .  . .” would never say, “When I was a kid me would . . . ” So, I am not quite sure why it becomes so difficult when the other person is added. That’s why I think these people, who should know better, just think it is cool to sound like a 7th grader.  Likewise, he didn’t give it to Bob and I because he wouldn’t have given it to I. We all know the trick of just taking the other person out to see which pronoun fits.

Grammar-wise, here is the rule: Certain forms of pronouns are used for subjects. Subjects do the verb or action in the sentence and are generally at the beginning of the sentence  — and before the verb. These pronouns are I, we, he, she, they, and who.

Other pr0nouns receive the action of the verb, either directly or indirectly, or come after prepositions. They are called objects. These pronouns are me, us, him, her, them, and whom. For example:

He kicked me. (Direct object of the verb kicked.)

He gave me a kick. (Indirect object of the verb gave.)

He gave a kick to me. (Object of the preposition to.)

Now I know you all have grammar peeves of your own, and I would love to know what they are, so I can write a blog post about them. You can comment, but better yet, e-mail your grammar pet peeves to me.

Maybe it is actually rocket science. . .In that case, I am raising my prices!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword

The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

The recent events in Europe have once again reminded us of this quote. So I thought I would write a bit about the origin of the quote, as well as find some other quotes that are appropriate for these times.

The English words “The pen is mightier than the sword” were first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu.

Richelieu, chief minister to King Louis XIII, discovers a plot to kill him, but as a priest he is unable to take up arms against his enemies.

The saying quickly gained popularity, says Susan Ratcliffe, associate editor of the Oxford Quotations Dictionaries. “By the 1840s it was commonplace.” (And interestingly, because Bulwer-Lytton is also known for his famous opening line “It was a dark and stormy night,” an annual contest for badly written first sentences is named after him.)

According to the Cambridge Dictionaries website, the quote emphasizes that “thinking and writing have more influence on people and events than the use of force or violence.”

However, the sentiment of the quote was uttered by many prior to Mr. Bulwer-Lytton.

There was a belief in classical times that the written word had the power to survive “and transcend even the bloodiest events… even if they didn’t actually prevail against arms in the short term,” according to Armand D’Angour, classics professor at Oxford University.

The Greek poet Euripides, who died in about 406 BC, is sometimes quoted as writing, “The tongue is mightier than the blade.” 

George Whetstone in his Heptameron of Civil Discourses, published in 1582, says, “The dashe of a Pen, is more greeuous then the counterbuse of a Launce.” (The dash of a pen is more grievous than the counter use of a lance.)

In the early 17th century, Robert Burton, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, says that “A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword” was already an “old saying.”

According to Michael Broers, professor of Western European history at Oxford University, “Napoleon realized the power of the press.”  When Napoleon came to power, he suppressed most of the dozens of newspapers in France, sanctioning only a few publications.

Napoleon is sometimes quoted as saying, “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than 1,000 bayonets.” 

Some other quotes that might remind us of the current times:

It is the test of a good religion whether you can joke about it. ~G.K. Chesterton

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Terri Guillemets

Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

I write because I’m afraid to say some things out loud. ~Gordon Atkinson, reallivepreacher.com

All violence is the result of people tricking themselves into believing that their pain derives from other people and that consequently those people deserve to be punished. ~Marshall Rosenberg

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out. ~Chinese Proverb

It is clear that the way to heal society of its violence… and lack of love is to replace the pyramid of domination with the circle of equality and respect. ~Manitonquat

Nonviolence doesn’t always work – but violence never does. ~Madge Micheels-Cyrus

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. ~Gandhi

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. ~Abraham Lincoln

The pen is mightier than the sword. –  “La plume est plus forte que l’epee.”

 

(Credit to Quotegarden.com and Wikipedia)

Weird and Wonderful Words Finale: Z End

Zizel

Zowie! Who knew there were so many fascinating words beginning with the letter Z?? You will love some of these!

zabaglione – a frothy dessert or sauce made of eggs, sugar, and Marsala wine

zaddick – In Judaism, a righteous man

zaftig – having a full, rounded figure

zag – a sharp angle that helps to form a zigzag pattern, when alternated with a zig!

zakuska  hors d’oeuvre; snack

zalambdodont – having molar teeth with V-shaped ridges  (I didn’t make it up!)

zany – a silly or foolish person (Don’t you always use zany as an adjective???)

zapata – flowing, drooping moustache

zappy –  lively; entertaining

zarf – ornamental holder for hot coffee cup

zatch – female genitalia (hmmmm….)

zazzy – flashy; stylish

zebrine – offspring of male horse and female zebra

zein – white, colorless, odorless protein extracted from corn and used in plastics, paints, etc.

zebu – ox with hump and dewlap

zegedine – silver drinking cup

zek – inmate of prison labor camp

zelatrix – older nun in charge of disciplining younger nuns

zelator – sister in a convent in charge of checking on conduct of other nuns

zemni – blind mole-rat (Yes, there is such a condition as zemmiphobia – fear of the great mole rat)

zenzic – square of a number

zenzizenzizenzic – eighth power of a number – This HAS to be my favorite!

zeroable – able to be omitted from a sentence without any loss of meaning (to the subject or verb, for example!)

zep – large sandwich made on a long crusty roll (like Subway?)

zeugma – figure of speech in which a single word, usually an adjective or a verb, is syntactically related to two or more words, through having a different sense in relation to each: The cake was good, but his attitude wasn’t. (?????)

zho – cross between a yak and a cow

zitella  – young girl; maiden (No, not a small zit!)

zizel – chipmunk

zimocca – bath-sponge

zizz – sparkle; vim

zoanthropy – delusion that one is an animal (very interesting!)

zoiatrics – veterinary surgery

zol – hand-rolled cannabis cigarette

zomotherapy – medical treatment using raw meat (Oh, is THAT what Lady Gaga was doing?)

zoodikers – an exclamation

zooid - an animal organism produced by other than sexual methods

zoothapsis – premature burial

zori – a Japanese sandal style

zowie! – an interjection!

zuchetto –  skullcap worn by Roman Catholic prelates (No, not a small zucchini)

zugzwang – chess blockade

zymurgy – branch of chemistry dealing with fermentation

zyzzyva – South American weevil (If you ever find a Scrabble game with three zzz’s, you are all set!)

Next week – Back to grammar! Hope you have enjoyed this series!

 

Weird and Wonderful Words Part 10: Oh, Y?

The Letter “Y”

Although Y isn’t a common letter with which to begin a word, many common words begin with the letter Y: you, your (and, of course, the often forgotten you’re), year, yes, yummy, Yahoo. . . . .

Well, here are some of the less common words that begin with Y. You have likely heard of some of them:

yabba – large Jamaican earthenware or wooden vessel

yabber – talk or jabber

yaff – to bark like a snarling dog

yaffingale – green woodpecker

yahrzeit – anniversary of the death of a parent, in the Jewish religion, commemorated by the lighting of a 24-hour candle

yakitori – Japanese dish, resembling shish kabob

yakow – animal crossbred from male yak and domestic cow (not cak?)

yapness – hunger (want some yakow?)

yare – ready, prepared

yatter – to talk foolishly about trivial things

yauld – active, nimble (pretty good, since y’auld!)

yaw- to sway back and forth  across its course,  as a ship moved by high waves

yawp – to utter a loud, harsh cry or call

yegg- a burglar of safes

yente – a woman gossip or busybody (most of us know this word!)

yeuk – to itch

yex – to hiccup, belch or spit

yill – to ply with ale

ylem – in some theories of cosmogony, the primordial  substance fro which all things are said to have been derived

yob – hoodlum

yogini  – female yogi (what else?) (yogette??)

yoicks – a cry used to urge on the hounds in fox hunting

yordim – emigrants who leave Israel

yowie –  a little ewe (not ewie?)

yuan – basic monetary unit of China

yuke –  to itch

yusho – skin-staining disease caused by contaminated rice oil

 And notice how many interjections begin with Y!
Yikes! Yo! Yum! Yuck! Yech! Yes! Yippee! Yow! Yup! Yoohoo!

THE YEND.