Arlene Miller's Blog, page 62

What Do Editors Do, Anyway?

One of the hats I wear is that of copyeditor. Sometimes people think I am a proofreader. There is nothing wrong with being a proofreader, but proofreaders and copyeditors are not the same thing — and I must admit that with my master’s degree and teaching and school administration credentials (not to mention my grammar books), I get insulted when I am called a proofreader. A true proofreader performs rather mechanical tasks. Part of the misunderstanding is that the role of proofreader has become muddied since the advent of technology and print-on-demand.

There are actually several types of editors: substantive, technical, content, developmental, line, copy, tempo, and proofreaders.  And there is certainly some overlap among them.

When I was a technical writer, we had substantive, technical, and copy edits:

The  substantive editor saw the manuscript first  and commented on the content and presentation, not so much the nitty gritty of grammar, punctuation, etc.
In technical writing, we had editors who made sure that the technical content was correct, since they were tech people and we were, for the most part, writers.
The copyeditor did the final edit of grammar, punctuation, typos, word usage, consistency, clarity….and a good copyeditor can usual find some technical inaccuracies as well.

Now, I am involved in writing books and self-publishing. The main types of editors we hear about now are developmental and copy.

A developmental editor works with the writer to develop the book. I have never used one and was always under the impression that novelists used them more than nonfiction writers. Developmental editors deal with early drafts of novels and help the writer with content, flow, superfluous information, and the elements of fiction such as back story, point of view, etc.
The copyeditor then sees the book when it is in good shape and performs the same tasks as copyeditors have always performed: grammar, punctuation, typos, word usage errors, capitalization, consistency, clarity, and any inaccuracies they can find or question.

So what are those other types of editors? And what does a proofreader do?

A content editor is a substantive or developmental editor. They are all concerned with the book as a whole.
A line editor is a copyeditor. They primarily look at the manuscript line by line, although they really do look at the book as a whole as well.
I have now heard of a tempo editor, a new one for me. A tempo editor works with the author on the flow and pacing of a story.

Now, what does a proofreader do? Many people think a proofreader is the same as a copyeditor, looking for typos, misspellings, grammatical and punctuation problems. Not really.

A proofreader does exactly what the name implies. However, with digital publishing, there really aren’t proofs anymore. Manuscripts used to be typeset, and the printer would send proofs – otherwise known as galleys or blues (they were blue) — back to the author or publisher. Enter the proofreader. The job of the proofreader was to compare the final manuscript, before printing, to the now-typeset manuscript to make sure nothing happened in the process of typesetting. For example, words may have been left out, or a line might be missing, or a word could look fuzzy…..in other words, errors made by the printer. In fact, it was not really the time to catch typos and punctuation errors because fixing anything once it was typeset was costly. If it was a printer error (marked by the proofreader as PE), the printer would fix it at no change. However, if it was a typo or other type of author error (marked as AE), the printer’s client (author, publisher, newspaper, company, etc.) would bear the cost of author error. Often it was decided to fix problems, but it would cost the client.

Because of technology, we don’t really have many problems in proofs any longer. However, even in print-on-demand and self-publishing, authors are encouraged to get a proof, which is generally just a copy of the book, to make sure everything is okay. In converting to e-book from print book, it is also wise to check a proof, since things can definitely happen in the conversion.

Since there are no real proofs today, authors often think copyeditors and proofreaders are pretty much alike, but in truth they used to be separate functions. Now, an author himself or herself will generally check a proof if he or she is self-published.

Note: I have never been traditionally published, so most of what I say is based on my experience as a self-publisher. And no offense to proofreaders, who these days usually do just about the same work as copyeditors!

 

Remember: Back to School sale for Kindle copies of my grammar books. $5 instead of $8.99. Now through August 15.

Grammar Book Back-to-School Sale!

I don’t know how the summer went by so fast, but it is August, and the first day of school is quickly approaching!

Just wanted to let you know that two of my grammar books are on sale today through August 15 in the Kindle Editions.

Instead of their regular Kindle price of $8.99, each book is now $5.00! (Recommended for ages 11-adult.)

Click here to purchase on Amazon/Kindle

“A user-friendly, practical, and immensely helpful book on grammar and usage. This volume should have a place on every writer’s shelf. Highly recommended.” Sheldon Siegel, New York Times bestselling author.

“Arlene Miller gives us the fastest, easiest keys to grammar. Without her help, I wouldn’t know whether I was laying or lying down the law — and I wouldn’t even try to compose a novel.” Ransom Stephens, author of The God Patent.

You can also purchase these books, as well as my other books, in PDF format. 

 

And as always, these books are available from Amazon and all online booksellers in paperback!

 

 

 

 

 

“Whom” Cares?

Descriptivist or Prescriptivist?

I am a member of some grammar groups on LinkedIn, where there are some fascinating — and long – discussions of  what some people would call grammatical minutiae. However, this week, I saw a discussion that I found a little surprising. The question posed was “Should we continue to teach who and whom to our students?” Obviously, this meant should we continue to teach the difference between them and when to use each.

In last week’s post I talked about the difference between linguistic and grammatical prescriptivism and descriptivism.

Prescriptivists (the camp that I lean toward) think that the rules are there and they should be followed.
Descriptivists believe that language evolves as new usages come into play.

Well, if we followed a purely prescriptivist viewpoint, we would still be using the language of centuries ago – thank you, Chaucer.

But what would happen if we followed a purely descriptivist viewpoint? How does language change, anyway?

Let’s look at an example: I have always used the idiomatic prepositional phrase by accident. The younger generation seems to be using on accident instead. Is it wrong? Which is right? Should we adopt what the younger generation is now using? Is there a reason that by should be used rather than on? Why did anyone start saying it that way  in the first place? Is it because we say its opposite as on purpose?

I don’t know the answer to any of those questions. And to me, something like who and whom is a little different, anyway. People use who and whom — or should I say, people tend to avoid using whom at all — incorrectly because they don’t know or understand the rule. Should we say, “Oh, let’s just forget trying. It’s just too difficult to teach or understand”? Should we dumb down the language?

Taking who and whom specifically — since I have heard more than once that people would like to do away with the distinction — there is a reason that who is correct sometimes and whom is correct other times. And most people studying a foreign language will run across the same thing in that language. Who and whom are different pronoun cases. Latin has five cases. German, I think, has seven or eight. English has three….and we can’t even figure that out?

The distinction between who and whom is the same as the distinction between I and me. So, are we now going to say that “Me and him went to the movies” is okay too? Many people say it that way, so will that become the standard now too?

Then, there is the issue of conversation versus formal writing. Let’s say you are writing a cover letter, or maybe a college entrance essay. Are you going to distinguish between who and whom? All the grammar books I know of make that distinction, at least as of now. I would recommend that anyone writing anything formal use the rules until they are “formally” changed.

The evolution of language is nothing new. And I won’t pretend to know much about it. I am not a linguist, although I wish I were, and I find the subject fascinating.  I do know that there needs to be a mix of descriptivism and prescriptivism, as there always has been; otherwise, the language would never have changed throughout the centuries. But where do we draw the line?

But who and whom? That’s where I draw the line!

By the way, here is the difference between who and whom:

There are three cases for pronouns in the English language: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive.

The nominative case is used for subjects of sentences (and predicate nominatives, but we won’t go there today).
The objective case is used for direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions, the three types of objects.
The possessive case is used for ownership.

Let’s take the pronoun I: nominative is I; objective is me; possessive is my or mine.

I am going to the movies.
He took me to the movies.
He is mine.

Now let’s take the pronoun who: nominative is who; objective is whom; possessive is whose.

Who is going to the movies? (Who is the subject of the verb is going.)
Whom did you invite to the movies? (Whom is the direct object of the verb invite.)
To whom did you give the movie tickets? (Whom is the object of the preposition to.)
Whose tickets are they, anyway?

One thing is for sure. I will be teaching my students the difference between who and whom!

Yikes! School starts really soon! Where did the summer go? Do you know

anyone who might need a really friendly and easy-to-use grammar book?

 

 

Word Crimes by Weird Al: An Analysis

Word Crimes

For the past week or so, the Internet (and even television) has been abuzz with Weird AL Yankovic’s new parody, “Word Crimes,” a grammar takeoff  on Robin Thicke’s twerkable hit, “Blurred Lines.”

If you haven’t heard it, click here!

I love it! I think it is funny—and Weird Al’s grammar is right on. However, not all people in the “grammar world” agree with me. There seem to be two objections to the video:

1. It is insulting. It puts down those who may not be good at grammar for whatever reason.

2. It is full of grammar rules, which it claims is “the right way to do things.” Now that is fine for us prescriptivists, but not okay with descriptivists. Huh?

Prescriptivists are those who believe there are rules, those rules should be followed, and that correct grammar occurs when one follows those rules.

Descriptivists believe that language is a living thing (okay, true, or we would still all speak like Shakespeare), that there are standard grammatical forms and those that are less standard (but not wrong), and that if something becomes commonly used, it becomes part of the language.

I personally lean more toward prescriptivism, but I certainly see the role of descriptivism as well. But that is another whole blog post.

I have gone through the song with a fine-toothed comb and have found about 11 insults, 14 grammar rules, and two slight errors on Al’s part. (Oh, yes, I think that was another criticism of the song: it isn’t accurate.)

So let’s begin:

Everybody shut up - insult right at the start of the song.

If you can’t write in the proper way. . . you flunked that class – another insult

People mock you online - another insult

He’ll try to educate us in the nomenclature - that is a set of rules and terminology that belongs to a certain field of study, such as grammar

Lesser and fewer – a lesson: he shows us the correct way: fewer is used for countable items and less for “mass” nouns.

People raised in a sewer – insult

I could care less, versus I couldn’t care less - another lesson: if you say I could care less, you must care  at least a little,  so that probably isn’t what you mean.

Don’t be a MORAN – insult, but kinda funny

Use the right pronoun; show the word you’re no clown - another insult

It’s versus its – lesson: it’s is a contraction, and its is possessive

There’s no X in espresso – lesson: true, it is often misspelled and mispronounced

I don’t want no drama; leave out that Oxford comma- lesson: yes, you can leave out the Oxford comma (that comma before the and at the end of a series)

Don’t write words as letters (CU) – comment on texting, I guess

Don’t write words as numbers (Me2) – another comment on texting

Unless you’re 7 - insult, but what 7-year-old is going to take offense?

Or your name is Prince - well, that was really a symbol, not a letter or number. And Prince won’t care.

Dum mouth-breather - OK, this might be offensive and isn’t quite politically correct. According to the Urban Dictionary, a mouth breather is someone who is so stupid he or she doesn’t have the ability to breathe out of  his or her nose.

Find a cunning linguist - you gotta give that one to Al for cleverness!

Learn your homophones - lesson: lightning versus lighting; your versus you’re;to, two and too; and a whole bunch more

Diagram sentences - a good idea, but hardly anyone does it anymore. It is, however, an excellent way to figure out the structure of sentences and what’s what.

Always say to whom and never to who – lesson: he is correct there!

Never use quotes for emphasis – lesson: pretty much true. Many writers now use the structure of their writing to show emphasis, but sometimes italics are used.

Good and well: doing good versus doing well (correct) – lesson: a common error

Irony is not the same as coincidence – lesson: he is right there; they are totally different. Irony is when you die of thirst while floating in the ocean. Coincidence is finding your long-lost-cousin, whom you haven’t seen in 12 years, also floating in the ocean.

Don’t confuse figurative and literal! If you literally cannot get out of bed, that means, for example, you are tied down.

It makes me want to stick a crowbar  through your head - insult? oh, maybe

In e-mail your grammar’s errant – insult

In your blog, you write like a spastic – insult

Your prose is dopey - insult

You should only write in Emoticons – Al’s mistake. Should be You should write only in Emoticons (misplacement of only).

You’re a lost cause - insult

Go back to preschool - insult

Get out of the gene pool - Ouch! But c’mon, people take Weird Al for what he is – Fun!

Try your best to not drool – That’s pretty insulting and probably not PC. Also, Al has split his infinitive: Try your best not to drool.

Never mind I give up – insult: just a teeny one

Weird Al has a big Dic-tionary….another clever one

Go away - the final insult at the very end.

Weird Al – Ya gotta love him! I have actually seen him  in concert, not once but twice! Years ago. Pretty funny.

 

Social Media and The Grammar Diva

Social Media

I decided to write a post about social media and me, since I have been thinking about it quite a bit this week. Why? Well LinkedIn says it is monitoring my posts and comments across my groups (about 50 of them) because something I posted was either too irrelevant or too promotional for some group or groups. (No, they don’t tell you which one).

I use social media a lot. A lot! I use it mostly for my business, although obviously I use Facebook for my other life. I love social media. Social media has given an introvert like me a way to market myself while hiding at home behind my computer!

One of my best friends (Frances Caballo) is a social media expert. I spend a great deal of time on social media for both personal and business use. Does it help sell my books?  I actually don’t know, but I assume so, since that is about the extent of my current marketing plan.

There are new social media sites popping up every day….but I stick with the popular ones: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest, probably because those are the buttons my web designer (Gil Namur) put on my page. But I must tell you about some issues I have had with social media. . . .

Facebook

Facebook was my first try at social media. I originally went on to follow my daughter’s travels and to see her photos. Above five or six years later, I have over 1000 friends on my personal page and over 500 likes (probably not enough work there) on my business page. I am on Facebook a lot, but I don’t pay much attention to my business page, unfortunately, although I do always post these blog entries there. A while ago I was banned from making friend requests because Facebook thought I didn’t actually know the people I was trying to “friend.”  Do you really think that those people with 5,000 friends personally know all these people? In any case, I am now more careful about whom I ask to “friend.”

I noticed something very interesting (and slightly scary) very recently. You know how Facebook sprinkles ads in your newsfeed and on the side of the page — and they are usually things you recently looked for? Well, I started getting ads for Fiat 500 automobiles. Coincidentally, I had just met a man who owned a Fiat 500. It took me a while to figure out the connection. I had looked at his website a couple of times. In his exceedingly long bio, he mentioned Fiat once. That is all it took. I experimented to see if it was the viewing of the website, and it apparently was. Facebook is watching us! Very carefully! The man is gone, but Fiat is forever!

LinkedIn

I love LinkedIn, and I think it is the best site for me and my particular business. I belong to lots of groups and, although I don’t know if it has resulted in book sales,  I get lots of good comments on my blog posts. However, I already told you I am being watched there too for promoting instead of discussing. I am presenting information, but because it goes to my website, it is considered promoting. So, I spent most of the day yesterday straightening out my groups and figuring out which ones I could post to!

Google+

I can’t figure out Google+. I have about three accounts — I don’t know why. I don’t know which is which. I can’t delete one of them that is empty because it is apparently connected to my YouTube channel (no, I haven’t gotten around to using that one yet). I hear Google+ has a big learning curve. I post my blog entries there, and that is about all I can deal with. A pubic relations expert told me that Google+ is the most important social media site to use. I don’t think I have time for the learning curve.

Twitter

I have also been told that Twitter is the best social media site for me to use. I have been told to get as many followers as possible without buying them (yes, you can buy them).  I started to do this, and I gave up. To me, Twitter is just a huge bunch of stuff. There is so much on there, how can you manage it? There are zillions of apps to help you, but…..and I don’t get hashtags and sharing, and the rest of it. Yes, I use Twitter. But I don’t know why. And I really don’t know how.

Social Media

Pinterest

Nice pictures. Not quite sure about the business value, though. I have a board with my blog posts. I have some other boards where I collect hairstyles I like and mother-of-the-bride dresses I like. And I actually do use Pinterest for something else, which I won’t mention….I am not sure if I should be…..

Instagram

Oh, here’s the good one. I had never been on Instagram….ever! I knew a little bit about it….like it was mostly pictures and mostly young people (as opposed to Facebook ,which is mostly old people like me). So, one day, I am talking to my 7th grade class about something on Facebook, and a student thought I said Instagram. I told them I had never used Instagram and had never been on the site. Imagine my surprise when a student showed me on his phone that I had an account, complete with a photo, followers, comments, and people that I followed! I had my daughter get into my Instagram account, since she is a member. I saw that it was all my students from the year before who were my followers and commenters. And the photo was the same one that is on my homework site. Hmmmm……..there were no negative comments on there, but it is still illegal to impersonate someone and create an account pretending to be them. So, I gave my school administration all the kids’ names. The culprit was never found, but I have my suspicions. I reported it to Instagram, but they needed a subpoena to track down the IP address it was created from. Whoever created the account took it down when they got wind that I knew about it.

Hey, whatever happened to MySpace, anyway?????????

By now, you have probably seen the new Weird Al video “Word Crimes,” a grammar parody of  Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” It is fabulous and is putting grammar on the map. Even CNN is talking about it and showing it. If you have’t seen it yet:

Word Crimes by Weird Al

Peculiar Prepositions

Do you wait in line? Or do you wait on line? Well, if you are in Great Britain, you wait on line, but if you are in America, you wait in line. To me, waiting on line doesn’t make any sense — unless I am waiting for my computer to find a website!

On, in, and other (usually) little words like up, at, to, by, of and some bigger words like after, before, within, with, from, below, above, and between (and about a hundred more, including about) are prepositions. They are part of a phrase that tells where, when, or what kind. The use of prepositions can be really confusing to someone trying to learn English. Some phrases are fairly obvious, like these:

I am walking to the store.

Please go up the stairs.

The shoes are under the bed.

However, others are idiomatic, which means they aren’t really literal, but because you speak English, you pretty much know which one to use. For example, “It’s raining cats and dogs” and “My dog weighs a ton” are idioms. They don’t really mean the words that they say, but you get the idea of what they mean. Similarly, some prepositions are idiomatic and just simply go with certain words. For example, I might say, “I am crazy about him.” Well, first of all, the whole thing is an idiom, anyway, because I am not really crazy (or am I?). But we know what it means. However, why do we use about as the preposition? It doesn’t really make any more sense than saying, “I’m crazy on you,” does it?

No wonder, nonnative speakers have such trouble with prepositions:

Is it toward or towards? In England it is generally towards, but in America it is toward. Just a style thing.

If you are the kind of person who uses the word inherent, what preposition follows it? And what is the difference between using it as a noun and an adjective?

The trait is inherent in oldest children.

It is inherent to want to fight back. (actually infinitives)

I have an inherent fear of flying.

Now if you were a nonnative speaker, you might, for that last sentence, say,”I have an inherent fear to fly.” We don’t say it that way, but why not?

And to continue. . . .

Do you die from something or of something? I nearly died from embarrassment! Or is it of embarrassment?

You live in a city. But you live on a street. Do you live by the ocean or near the ocean? Or on the ocean?

Or what does it mean when you say, “On the one hand….”?  Or is it “On one hand….”? (I don’t think it matters)…but you then say, “On the other hand….” and not “On other hand.”

Is she sitting on this side of the room or in this side of the room? In a chair or on a chair?

We usually comment on something, but I guess we could comment about something. We make a comment about something.

If we run a red light (which is an odd construction in itself….who is running??), were are in trouble, not with trouble or at trouble.

We then might get our revenge on someone, but not with someone or to someone, or against someone.

Do you work in a company, at a company, or for a company? Or at home? You probably wouldn’t work in home.

Do you knock on the door? At the door?

Is it at the beginning or in the beginning? At the beginning of the book. . . .In the beginning, the book. . . .????

It’s on Tuesday, but at 2 o’clock, and in an hour.

You wait on your customers,  for your friends to arrive, and at the corner. And sometimes you just wait up!

Here are some idiomatic prepositions that pretty much always go with certain words:

It is different from, not different than. But it’s similar to.

You can agree on a plan, but you agree with a person.

You are opposed to something, but in favor of something.

You are in charge of the children, not with or to.

You part with your boat, but you part from your girlfriend.

Something is inferior to something else.

You are involved in boating, but involved with your girlfriend.

And speaking of idioms with prepositions. . . .

It’s For all intents and purposes, NOT

F or all intensive purposes!

Words . . . gotta love ‘em.

 

Speaking of words. . . . . need some books???? 

 

 

 

Book Review: “The Opposite of Maybe” by Maddie Dawson

A new addition to the Grammar Diva Blog? Yes, I will be posting some book reviews. However, these posts will not be sent to subscribers. Just check the website for new reviews!

Review:

If you like women’s literature, you will love this book. The characters are funny and poignant at the same time. It is not really predictable, but you may find yourself rooting for a certain ending and for certain characters. It is easy to read and hard to put down! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about relationships….not just between men and women, but between family members as well.

Jonathan and Rosie have been together forever….at forty-four she finds herself pregnant. At the same time Soapie, the grandmother who raised her, is beginning to need constant care. The young gardener, Tony, has taken it upon himself to be the caregiver. Meanwhile, quirky Jonathan moves away to begin a teacup museum.  Where do Rosie’s loyalties lie? Where does her heart lie?

Four and a half stars out of five!

“I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.”

Read, Write, and Blue!

Some quotes about America, independence, and other such things…
Happy 4th of July!

 

We must stop talking about the American dream and start listening to the dreams of the Americans.

-Ruben Askew

Americans are far more remarkable than we give ourselves credit for. We’ve been so busy damning ourselves for years. We’ve done it all, and yet we don’t take credit for it.

-Ray Bradbury

America is a land where men govern, but women rule.

-John Mason Brown

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.

-Sir Winston Churchill

If you don’t know how great this country is, I know someone who does: Russia.

-Robert Frost

The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going about saying, The trouble with this country is…

-Sinclair Lewis

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half the time.

-E. B. White

It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.

-Tom Stoppard

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.

-Omar Bradley

The ideology of capitalism makes us all into connoisseurs of liberty — of the indefinite expansion of possibility.

-Susan Sontag

Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face. As soon as one is aware of being somebody, to be watched and listened to with extra interest, input ceases, and the performer goes blind and deaf in his overanimation. One can either see or be seen.

-John Updike

Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth.

-Mahatma Gandhi

I believe everyody in the world should have guns. Citizens should have bazookas and rocket launchers too. I believe that all citizens should have their weapons of choice. However, I also believe that only I should have the ammunition. Because frankly, I wouldn’t trust the rest of the goobers with anything more dangerous than string.

-Scott Adams

Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence.

-David Ben-Gurion

The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong.

-Sir Winston Churchill

We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves.

-Albert Camus

There hasn’t been peace on earth because people can’t seem to figure out that the real enemy is the people manipulating world events from behind the scenes for their own selfish interests.

-James Dye

I am glad my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower, but I am gladder that there are nine generations between us.

-William Lyon Phelps

Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada, while Canadians are malevolently well informed about the United States.

-J. Bartlett Brebner

You’ve never lived until you’ve almost died, for those who fought for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know.

 -Anon. from Viet Nam, 1968

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

 -Otto von Bismarck

Where liberty is, there is my country.

-Benjamin Franklin

 

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

 

Have a safe and spirited Fourth of July!

Please click on the Amazon ad on the right if you wish to purchase anything from Amazon (including my books!)

Please click on the Book Templates ad on the right if you are interested in book and book cover design templates or media kit templates.

 

Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 5: O,P Q)

Me and My Peruke

Well, it’s time to add more weird and wonderful words to our vocabularies!  Look back at the previous installments of this series: Weird and Wonderful Words Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4….and enjoy Part 5!

Defenestrate is still one of my favorite words of all times, but I might find a new favorite here:

O Words:

Onychophagy – The habit of biting one’s fingernails

Obsolagnium – Waning sexual desire due to age

Ochlophobia - Fear of crowds

Odonterism – Chattering of teeth

Oikology – The science of housekeeping

Opsimath - One who learns late in life

Ozostomia - Bad breath

I guess I am just an opsimath! I never did learn oikology, and I still do a bit of onychopagy once in a while. But at least I don’t have obsolagnium or ozostoma!

 

P Words:

Pabouche – A slipper

Parorexia - A desire to eat strange foods

Peccable – Liable to sin

Perruquier - Wig maker

Peruke – A frilly wig

Phengophobia - Fear of daylight

Philopornist - Lover of prostitutes

Philosophunculist – One who pretends to know more than one knows to impress others

Pogonotomy – The act of cutting a beard

Pyknic – Short and fat (I guess if you have too many picnics!)

Pinguid - Fat

Plurilateral – Having more than three letters

Puericulture - Child-rearing

You know how there is no corrigible, but there is incorrigible? And there is indignant, but no dignant??? Well, there IS impeccable and peccable!

I am glad I don’t have phenogophobia! If I did, I would have to put on my peruke and go skulking about at night! Then I might be peccable. However, that is not the case, and my puericulture is fine, evidenced by the fact that my children are not pinguid or pkynic. Nor do they have podobromhidrosis!

Q Words:

Qualtagh – The first person you see after leaving your house

Quidnunc - Someone who always wants to know what is going on

Quagswag – To shake to and fro

Quiddle – A fastidious person

Quinquagenarian – A person between 50 and 59 years old

Quinquiplicate – To multiply by 5

Quat – A pimple or insignificant person

Quoz - An absurd person or thing

My friend is such a quiddle! When we go out dancing, she won’t even quagswag! Even though she is a quinquagenarian, she doesn’t have to be such a quoz!

Well, gotta go now..I feel a bit of parorexia coming on. . .

 

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People Say the Darndest Things!

Darndest?? Now is that a word? The little red squiggle underneath it tells me it isn’t. But I have heard of it, and maybe you are old enough to have heard of it too. (Hint: Used in a television show in the wayback. Oh, I guess wayback isn’t a word either.)

Bu that’s okay because unusual, weird, and maybe just plain wrong things that people say is the subject of this blog post!

How about, for example, all of the sudden? I have always said it that way, but then I just edited a book that used “all of a sudden.” I looked it up to find that my particular resource preferred all of a sudden. I think they are both OK, but what is the difference, really? It’s just one article or the other one. And why not just use suddenly??

Here is a good one for you. Did you ever say, Well, that’s a whole nother story! Ever stop to think about whether nother is a word or not? Of course, it isn’t.  Seems to me that it is really another whole story. In that case, I will call it a split pronoun (another: split into an and nother). You’ve heard of splitting infinitives, but I bet you’ve never heard of splitting a pronoun!

Ever hear someone say It’s a mute point? Well, while it is true that points don’t talk (or do they?), the correct word is moot (debatable, doubtful, or not worth talking about).

I get asked sometimes whether the correct expression is different than or different from. In case you, too, are wondering, different from is preferred.

At first I thought it was just my own kids who said on accident rather than by accident. Then, I discovered it was all kids. Then I discovered it was even younger adults.  Maybe it makes sense because it is on purpose. But it is still by accident….until it changes.

I actually never heard anyone say this one….but apparently the British say it: good on you instead of good for you.

There are differing opinions on this one, and I would guess it really depends on the context and the situation. Do you work at a company, with a company, or for a company? All are correct…it just depends.

Rim and brim are both the top edges of cups. So do you fill to the rim or to the brim? Grammar Girl Mignon Fogerty has checked this one out, and apparently brim refers to the inside of the  top edge of the cup — so I guess that is why we fill it to the brim.

If you dance around the pole, it is probably May Day. If your ship is sinking, it is probably Mayday!

Ever go into Starbucks and order a drink? (Well, I sure have…) And the barista asks you, Did you want whip on that? Yes, I did, and I still do! Why do people generally use the past tense for questions like that? Hmmm….it is probably because for some reason, it sounds more polite. Don’t know why, but it does.

So we aren’t supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. Well, actually we can, but that was the old “rule.” Ever think about ending a sentence with certain contractions? No, I can’t sounds perfectly fine, but what about I don’t know where you’re. Think about it…..

If you have any more of these People Say the Darndest Things, please comment or e-mail me! I’m listening…..

 

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