Arlene Miller's Blog, page 65

A Toast to the Semicolon!

 Some people never use the semicolon; others use it often.  The only thing worse than never using it is using it incorrectly! Once you read this blog post, you will never do that.

You can get by in your writing without ever using a semicolon. There is always a way around it. If you write, you will eventually have to use a period. And if you know what’s good for you, you will put some commas in there too. Question marks are sometimes necessary as well. And quotation marks. And colons are often called for. But semicolons? They can be totally avoided by alternatives and rewriting. But they are so nice to use sometimes for variety—and necessity.

The first thing to do is to disassociate the semicolon from the colon. They don’t have much in common at all and are definitely NOT ever interchangeable.  The semicolon has much more in common with the comma, and is kind of a supercomma, if you will. Colons generally announce that something is coming: they introduce lists, either vertical or horizontal, or maybe a long quote. Semicolons don’t do that.

So enough beating around the bush, you say. What do I use the semicolon for? 

The semicolon really has only two uses:

1. It is used to separate two (or more) closely related sentences.

2. It is used where a comma would be used (to separate items in a series, or to connect two sentences where there is a conjunction like and) if there are already too many commas, and things are hard to read.

The first use is easy. You have two sentences. You can separate them with a period. Or, you can separate them with a comma IF YOU ARE USING A CONJUNCTION. Or, if they are closely related, you can use a semicolon.

Examples:

I am taking the train to New York. My brother is flying.

I am taking the train to New York, but my brother is flying.

I am taking the train to New York; my brother is flying.

See? Easy! Just remember to use a lowercase letter to begin the sentence after the semicolon, and don’t use a conjunction.

If the sentences are not closely related, stick to a period.

The second use for a semicolon can be worked around by rewriting if you want to avoid using semicolons.  Here are a couple of samples of using semicolons as “super commas.” The first is in a series. Generally, you separate the items in a series with commas, but if some or all of the items already have commas, your sentence can be confusing:

I went to New York with my brother, Jim, Alice, my cousin, Beth, my mother, and my grandmother.

Well, that is a little confusing. It is impossible to tell who is who and how many people are going with you. Here is the same sentence cleared up with semicolons:

I went to New York with my brother; Jim; Alice, my cousin; Beth, my mother; and my grandmother.

Now you know there are five people going with you. Jim and your brother are not the same person. However, Alice is your cousin, and Beth is your mother. So you are separating the big items (yes, even before the last item) with semicolons because the individual items already have commas in them. 

Here is an example of a complicated compound sentence that could use semicolons:

My company’s offices are in Bangor, Maine,  Manchester, New Hampshire, and Queens, New York, and the other company’s offices are in Hoboken, New Jersey, Boston, Massachusetts, and Baltimore, Maryland.

Understandable if you know some geography,  but so many commas!

My company’s offices are in Bangor, Maine;  Manchester, New Hampshire; and Queens, New York; and the other company’s offices are in Hoboken,  New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts; and Baltimore, Maryland. (In this case, you can leave the conjunction and, or you can leave it out.)

One more example to sell you on the use of semicolons:

I packed the following items: two pair of pants, brown and blue, three shirts, three pair of black shoes, gray, black, and brown socks, and striped pajamas. (Forget the fact that nothing matches!)

Let’s use semicolons:

I packed the following items: two pair of pants, brown and blue; three shirts; three pair of black shoes; gray, black, and brown socks; and striped pajamas.

You can hear the story of the semicolon on YouTube

 

 

 

The Grammarians’ New Years Resolutions for 2014

Happy New Year to all! Ready to start the diet? Or go to the gym more often? Ready to write that book? Be a more patient driver? Better mother? Harder worker? Got those resolutions forming in your mind? Or have you given up the idea of making the same resolutions every year? Well, I thought you might want to make some of the grammarians’ resolutions for 2014….

1. I resolve never to correct anyone’s grammar—even on Facebook—unless I am asked.  If they want to embarrass themselves, well, that is their business. 

2. I resolve to proofread all my e-mails and texts, and especially to watch out for autocorrect. Last week I texted a G, and it turned into God bless you.

3. I resolve to let no sentence be ended before its time—with either a period, semicolon, or colon—and therefore become a fragment; and to let no sentence continue past its natural life, thus becoming a run on.

4. I resolve to give up my fear of the semicolon. The semicolon is quite harmless and has only a couple of uses. I will not be afraid to use one between two related sentences. However, I will also not confuse the semicolon with its distant cousin, the colon.

5. I resolve to have tolerance for both grammar hawks and grammar doves—hawks insisting on every grammar rule, outdated or not, and doves ready to disregard any  rule in favor of a life of literary chaos. 

6. I resolve never to utter any of the following words or phrases: have went; me and him went; between you and I; irregardless; could of, should of, or would of; haven’t hardly; I could care less; or he and myself.

7. I resolve that I will never put an apostrophe in a plain old plural unless not using the apostrophe would be confusing. This is very rare indeed.

8. I resolve not to misplace my modifiers, thus humiliating myself. While reading by the window, my dog did not jump into my lap because dogs usually don’t read. While walking under the shelves , the box did not fall on my head, because boxes don’t walk under shelves. While howling at the moon, a car did not stop to watch me because cars don’t howl at the moon, although I may.

9. I resolve not to make up words or abuse real words by pronouncing  them incorrectly. These words do not exist: mischevious, nucular, jewlery, and realator.

10. I resolve to understand that good grammar improves my communication skills and the image I project to others. However, it isn’t everything. And when I am thinking about my New Year resolutions,  I will remember that The Golden Rule trumps every grammar rule.

 

Happy  2014 from bigwords 101!

 

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Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 2 E–H)

For the love of words…

Some weeks ago, I began a series on weird words. Remember defenestrate (to throw someone out the window)? Here is part 2, words beginning in e through h:

 Epeolatry –  Of course, I especially like this one, which means the worship of words. It comes from epos, which means word in Greek, and was apparently coined in 1860 by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. The word can be applied to philologists, linguists, or lexicographers. 
The term also has satirical value and is sometimes used to denigrate popular religions or belief systems. For example, one could call Christianity an epeolatric religion because the majority of its teachings hinge on the words of the Hebrew Bible. However, you are unlikely to see the word in any form because it remains obscure.

Energumen – One who is possessed by a demonic entity.

Eructation - Belching; or, the discharge of a volcano!

Floccinaucinihilipilification – The categorizing of something as worthless. (Do not ask me how to pronounce this one.)

Funambulists -  Tightrope walkers. (I get the ambulist part, but the fun??!!)

Gleek -  To joke or jest.

Gorbellied - Corpulent. 

Gound – The gunk that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep. (Who knew?)

Gowpent – Two hands placed together to form a bowl shape; also, the amount that can be contained in a pair of cupped hands. (Really? There is actually a word for this?)

Grimthorpe – To remodel or restore an old building without proper grounding or knowledge of its authentic character or without exercising care to remain faithful to its original quality and uniqueness; after Baron Grimthorpe, English lawyer and architect, restorer of St. Alban’s cathedral.

Hallux - The big toe.

Hircine – Goat-like; also, lustful. (You’ve heard of canine, feline, equine, porcine – I guess this is the goat one!)

Hoydena – Boisterous, carefree girl; a tomboy. (Kind of like a hyena??)

(Thanks to the Urban Dictionary for the words. )

And – speaking of words, here is a link to help you say Merry Christmas in 150 languages!

Have a joyous holiday and be careful not to get gorbellied!

 

Need a last minute gift?

Who Needs Grammar and Punctuation Rules? An Editorial

 

“The Times They Are a-Changin’” The times are always changing, and the longer you have been on this planet, the more change you see. The changes I have seen lean toward more tolerance, less rigidity, and,  you might even say, less “correctness.” 

When I was in Brownies, many eons ago, we learned how to set a table correctly. How many of us care about that now? Yet, when we have a dinner party, most of us probably do try to put the fork(s) on the right and the knife on the left. 

I have seen the acceptance of gay marriage, a wider acceptance of what a “nuclear” family is, less strict dress codes in school and in the office, fewer people writing “thank you” notes (or even saying “thank you”), much more leniency in schools,and . . . well, much less concern about correct grammar, which kind of goes along with the trend.

Some people say we don’t need grammar rules, as long as we can be understood. Well, can I then come to your dinner party and eat the steak and salad with my hands, as long as it gets into my mouth? Is there no need for “correctness” or “the right way to do things.” One might even call it a state of “grace.”

In grammar, opinions run the gamut. There are those who say “Why have rules at all? Rules are meant to be broken.” They may be the same people who preach getting rid of kids learning the multiplication tables because we now have calculators.  (And dare we even speak about the demise of “cursive” writing?) Some want to get rid of the differentiation between who and whom because it is too hard for people to figure out. Come on, people, remember when we used to walk to school, five miles uphill, both ways . . . in the snow?

Then there are those who stick to the old rules. They are becoming a minority, it seems. I used to be one of them. I am giving way just a little, tiny bit. Sometimes!

Let’s get specific. It used to be “wrong” to split infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition. These “rules” are long gone. They made no sense, and it improved the flow of the sentence to break them:

I want to bravely fight for my country. (I still prefer “to fight bravely.”)

Whom are you baking the cake for? (For whom are you baking the cake? does sound a little stilted.) However, you can’t take that one too far: Where are you at?  is still not a wise choice!

Here are two of the rules in transition now: First, there seems to be some discussion about whether you can begin a sentence with a conjunction (and, so but, etc.). Fiction writers and other creative writers have always done so, but they do have leeway; creative writing isn’t the same as business writing. Some people say there has never even been a rule discouraging this. Most people now think it is fine, and often conveys more precise meaning, to begin a sentence with and or so or but.

Example: She went away for three months, leaving her family behind. And, she didn’t even tell them she was going! (Yes, you could indeed just have put a comma after behind and made it a compound sentence. I didn’t say I was in favor of this!)

The second rule in transition has actually been pretty much changed by now. Even Webster says it is okay. The English language has run into problems because it has no “gender-nonspecific” word for third person singular. We have he for males, she for females, and it for nonhumans. When we use a singular pronoun such as everybody, no one, anyone, etc. (and those are all singular) we run into the clunky “him or her” issue. 

Example: Everyone needs to sit in his or her seat now.  Solutions range from he/she (yuck) to always using he (yuck), to alternating between he and she (nonsensical), or just rewriting the sentence (best solution).

Now it is perfectly acceptable to use their as a singular. Most would say, anyway. 

Example: Everyone needs to sit in their seats now. 

The fact that there is no “gender-nonspecific” word for third person singular has recently become an issue on college campuses for a little different reason: transgender students. Some new words are being invented as third person singular. I joked to my 7th class last year that we should invent such a word, perhaps shis.

Now it has become a reality.

As for me, I follow the “cover letter” rule: If I am writing a resume, a cover letter, or anything where impressions of good education and grammar count, I am NOT going to start a sentence with a conjunction and I am NOT going to use they as a singular. The person to whom I am writing might be a stickler for those rules. He or she might not know that I know the difference, but choose to write the way I am writing.

But that’s just me.

Listen to The Grammar Diva live on KGO 810 a.m. San Francisco tomorrow (Monday) at 11 a.m.

And remember that books make great holiday gifts!

Where Does the Word “Yule” Come from, Anyway?

The origins of some holiday words

In the spirit of the holiday season, I thought you might like to know where some of the common holiday words come from.  Here are the etymologies (origins) of some common holiday words:

 
Christmas (noun or adjective) – From the late Old English Cristes maesse, Christ and mass. Christmas was written as one word beginning in the mid 1300s.  Christmas cards were first designed in 1843 and became popular by the 1860s. 
Hanukkah (noun) - also spelled Chanukah and Hanukah (and other less common ways), it is from the Hebrew meaning to dedicate or consecrate.
Advent (noun) – Means important arrival, first used in 1742 to indicate an extended  ”season before Christmas” (Old English), from the Latin advent (a coming, approach, arrival).
Carol (noun) – Used from  around 1300, carol means “a joyful song”and also to “dance in a ring” from the Old French carole. It is perhaps also related to the Latin choraula, meaning a dance to the flute. Before that, from the Greek Khoraules, the flute player who accompanies the choral dance. Khoraules is from khoros (chorus) and aulein (to play the flute).
Dreidel (noun)  - The four-sided top bearing the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he,  and shin, one on each side, is from the Yiddish dreydl. In Middle High German, drey means “to rotate or turn.”
Grinch (noun) - Meaning ”spoilsport,” all uses of this word trace to Dr. Seuss’s 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Latke (noun) - The pancakes, traditionally eaten on Chanukah and generally made from potatoes, have  their origins from the East Slavic latka, a dialectical from of aladka, which is a kind of pancake. It goes further back to the Old Russian oladiya, a derivative of the Greek word for oil. If you have ever eaten latkes, you will understand the reference to oil!
Mistletoe (noun)  - From the Old English mistiltan, from mistel  and tan (“twig)”  Also from the Old Norse mistilteinn, Norwegian misteltein, and Danish mistelten. Venerated by the Druids, the custom of hanging it at Christmas and kissing under it is mentioned by Washington Irving.
Noel (noun) - From the late 14th century nowel (feast of Christmas), from Old French noel (the Christmas season), a variant of nael, from Latin natalis (birth).  As a masculine proper name, from Old French, probably literally “of or born on Christmas.”
Scrooge (noun) - Generic for miser, 1940, from the character in Dicken’s 1843 story A Christmas Carol.  It does not appear to be a genuine English surname.
Wassail - Mid 12th century  Old Norse ves heill (be healthy) a salutation, from ves, (to be) and heill (healthy). Use as a drinking phrase appears to have arisen among Danes in England and spread to native inhabitants. A similar formation appears in Old English (wes þu hal), but this is not recorded as a drinking salutation. The meaning extended in the 13th century to “liquor in which healths were drunk,” especially spiced ale used in Christmas Eve celebrations. Used to mean “a carousal, reveling” first around the 16th century.Wassailing as the “custom of going caroling house to house at Christmas time” is recorded from 1742.
Yule (noun or adjective ) - From Old English geol, geola (Christmas Day, Christmastide) from Old Norse jul  (a heathen feast), later taken over by Christianity, of unknown origin. The Old English cognate giuli was the Anglo-Saxons’ name for a two-month midwinter season corresponding to Roman December and January, a time of important feasts but not itself a festival. After conversion to Christianity, it narrowed to mean “the 12-day feast of the Nativity” (which began Dec. 25), but was replaced by Christmas by the 11th century, except in the northeast (areas of Danish settlement), where it remained the usual word. It was revived in the 19th century by writers to mean “the Christmas of ‘Merrie England.’ The first direct reference to the Yule log is in the 17th century. Old Norse jol seems to have been borrowed from Old French asjolif, hence Modern French joli, meaning “pretty, nice,” and originally “festive.” 





So whether you go wassailing, carrying Yuletide carols to all the neighbors, or you have been called Scrooge or Grinch, enjoy your holiday season—-and eat lots of latkes!









 
Books make great gifts!

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Parallel Structure Is Crucial to Good Writing

 

What is parallel structure, anyway? Isn’t parallel a term that belongs in math class?  

Parallel structure  means that elements in your sentences or lists are expressed with the same syntax, or wording. For example, all the items in your lists should be complete sentences—or none of them should be  complete sentences. If you have a series of phrases or clauses in a sentence, they should all be expressed using the same structure.

Parallel structure is important in

1. writing lists

2. writing series in sentences

3. using correlative conjunctions (Correlative conjunctions are the connectors that come in pairs: either/or,  both/and, not only/but also, whether/if, neither/nor.) 

1. Here is a list that is not parallel:

At this seminar you will learn

how to be a better manager
how to inspire your employees 
how to use your time effectively
evaluating your employees fairly
how to handle office conflicts

It is easy to see which item in the list is not parallel. The item that begins with “evaluating” should read how to evaluate your employees fairly.

2. In addition to parallelism in lists, it is important to structure your sentences so that that are parallel. Here are some examples:

Not parallel: When writing your essay, you should check for correct grammar, capitalize all your proper nouns, and it is important to use transition words.

Parallel: When writing your essay, you should check for correct grammar, capitalize all your proper nouns, and use transition words.

In the parallel sentence above, the clauses all begin with verbs.

Here is another example:

Not parallel: On our trip to Paris, I wanted to go shopping, eat in nice restaurants, and visiting my old friends.

Parallel: On our trip to Paris, I wanted to go shopping, eat in nice restaurants, and visit my old friends.

Not parallel: When I shop for Christmas gifts, I pay close attention to the price of the gift, the quality of the item, and whether my friend will like it.

Parallel: When I shop for Christmas gifts, I pay close attention to the price of the gift, the quality of the item, and the appropriateness of the item for that friend.

3. It is also important to use parallel structure when you use correlative conjunctions. Here are a few examples:

Not parallel: I like to spend my free time either reading or I will go to the movies.

Parallel: I like to spend my free time either reading or going to the movies.

Not parallel: I love both salads and grilling a steak.

Parallel: I love both putting together a salad and grilling a steak. (There is always more than one way to fix something. Of course, you could also say I love both salad and steak.)

Not parallel: I don’t know whether my brother is driving from Arizona or he might take the train.

Parallel: I don’t know whether my brother is driving from Arizona or taking the train.

Parallel writing flows much better and doesn’t have that awkward sound that “nonparallel” writing has. It is easy to overlook mistakes in parallel construction, so always proofread!

    Remember that books make great holiday gifts, either in paperback or ebook format.  And what better gift can you give this season than the gift of better writing?

Click here to buy on Amazon.

Some Real Grammar Turkeys! Happy Thanksgiving!

Ah, Grammar: The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit….

I thought for turkey week, I would write a blog with some real grammar turkeys! Hope you get a chuckle or two…

Some of My Favorite Goofs

Ambiguous modifier: Visiting relatives can be boring.

Misplaced modifier: For sale: Beautiful oak desk perfect for student with large drawers

Shouldn’t there be a comma somewhere?  I just love to bake children.

Misplaced modifier: While still in diapers, my mother remarried.

Ambiguous modifier: He heard about the wedding in the men’s room.

Misplaced modifier: Wanted: A room by two gentlemen 30 feet long and 20 feet wide.

 

 Some Real Newspaper Headlines

4-H Girls Win Prizes for Fat Calves

Big Ugly Woman Wins Beauty Pageant (Newspaper in town of Big Ugly, WV)

Body Search Reveals $4,000 in Crack (from the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Michigan)

Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy (from the Louisville Courier Journal)

Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case 

Eye Drops off Shelf 

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors 

Include your Children When Baking Cookies

 
A Little More Humor…

Butcher’s sign: Try our sausages. None like them.
A tailor’s guarantee: If the smallest hole appears after six months’ wear, we will make another absolutely free.
Lost: A small pony belonging to a young lady with a silver mane and tail.
Barber’s sign: Hair cut while you wait.
Lost: Wallet belonging to a young man made of calf skin

 
How About These?

It takes many ingredients to make Burger King great, but the secret ingredient is our people. (Yuck)
Slow Children Crossing
Automatic washing machines. Please remove all your clothes when the light goes out.
“Elephants Please Stay In Your Car.”  (Warning at a safari park).

 
And Some Easy-to-Understand Jargon! 


These guidelines are written in a matter-of-fact style that eschews jargon, the obscure and the insular. They are intended for use by the novice and the experienced alike. [From the United Kingdom Evaluation Society 'Guidelines for good practice in evaluation']


This is a genuine ground floor opportunity to shape a front line field force operating in a matrix structure. [As stated on the 'Take a Fresh Look at Wales' website]


The cause of the fire was due to a malicious ignition incident that was fortunately contained to the function and meeting room area of the hotel. [News statement about a fire at a hotel]


Its clear lines and minimalist design provide it with an unmistakable look. It is daring, and different. So that your writing instrument not only carries your message, but lives it. [Promotional literature for ... pens]


Where the policy is divided into a number of distinct arrangements (‘Arrangements’) where benefits are capable of being taken from on Arrangement or group of Arrangements separately from other Arrangements, then this policy amendment will not apply to any Arrangements in respect of which the relevant policy proceeds have already been applied to provide benefits. The policy amendment will apply to all other Arrangements under the policy. [Policy amendment, Norwich Union]

And here is one that truly appeared in the newspaper; it was intended as a brief description of a Peter Ustinov documentary:

“Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector”. (This quote is obviously British, since the period is after the quotations! And look what can happen if you leave out the Oxford comma!)

I you haven’t had enough yet, please check out these websites for some funny bad grammar/spelling photos:

10 Unfortunate Grammar  and Spelling Mistakes - http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/10-more-unfortunate-grammar-and-spelling-mistakes

15 Hilarious Newspaper Errors - http://www.oddee.com/item_97261.aspx

Grammar Mistakes on Signs - http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/grammar-mistakes-on-signs/

Punctuation Mistakes in Advertising - http://theadgrad.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/the-three-most-hideous-punctuation-errors-in-advertising/

Enjoy your turkey!

It’s All About “The”….

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funny thing about “the”…

Another inspired blog post…..last week’s blog post was inspired by a former student of mine. This week’s blog post was inspired by something I heard on the radio this week. I was listening to KGO 810 AM and heard Ronn Owens, a popular  KGO host, talking about the word the. I started thinking about the quirkiness of the word and decided it would make a fun post.

The is, of course, an article in the English language, along with a and an. In fact, I wrote a post about articles just a couple of weeks ago. But this is different.

Ronn Owens, if you read this post, please know that I borrowed some things from your broadcast, but I am giving you full credit, and I will post the link to the radio show at the end of this post!

Okay. So what does the word the mean? What is it used for? It is the definite article in the English language . The indefinite articles are a and an. When you talk about “a book,” you could be talking about any book (using the indefinite article). However, when you talk about “the book,” you are talking about a specific book (using the definite article). That part is pretty straightforward. 

Most languages have articles, but then some don’t. For example, Japanese and Russian don’t have articles. However, before you think how much less confusing that might be, consider that French and Spanish are among the languages that have articles with gender! Every noun is either feminine or masculine, and the gender doesn’t really have much to do with the noun at all. In French, the indefinite pronoun is un (masculine) or une (feminine). The definite pronoun (the in English) is la for feminine, le for masculine, and les for plural. And German has masculine, feminine and neuter articles!

But back to English. The is a quirkly word in itself, and someone new to the language must have a difficult time figuring out whether or not to put the before a world at all. Consider these:

Up here in Northern California, we travel (or sit in traffic) on 101. In Massachusetts (I know because I used to live there), we risk our lives on 128 and 495. But (and if you watch Saturday Night Live, you know all about this one)….you take the 405 to the 110. (Forgive me if I have my freeways confused!) So why don’t we take the 101?

In Boston you take the T. But in San Francisco, you don’t take the BART. You take BART.

In America we go to the hospital, but in Britain, you go to hospital.

You go to the mall, to the park, to the store, and to the lake…..but you go to school and to work. You can go to the school, but it implies a slightly different meaning. Perhaps we don’t put the in front of school or work because they are repetitive activities, more like verbs in a way. You go to school, if you attend regularly. You go to the school if you are visiting, or if your child is in trouble there.

You go to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, and the Grand Canyon. But you go to Yosemite.

You go to the police station. But then you go to jail.

You go to the bathroom. But then, you go to bed.

You take the bus and the train, but do you take the plane? Taking the plane sounds as if you stole it. Most of the time we simply fly.

You go to the bank. But then you pay your taxes at city hall.

You go on the rides at the fair, but then you eat funnel cake and fried Twinkies.

You get the point….it sure takes the cake……

 Here is a link to the podcast of Ronn Owen’s November 11 show….it is November 11, 11 a.m. segment, about 15 minutes in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.stationcaster.com/player_s...

Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 1 A–D)

The Defenestration of Prague

A couple of years ago, one of my seventh grade students told me about this great word she had learned (I don’t know where she had learned it). The word was defenestrate, which means to throw something or someone out of a window. This was a new word for me too (not being much of a history student, it turns out). She was such an enthusiastic student, and I liked the word so much, I added it to my students’ vocabulary list, where it remains to this day. All the students love the word and I doubt if any of them will ever forget what it means! In fact, when we were recently talking about their novel, The Outsiders, and I asked them how Ponyboy and Johnny saved the children from the church fire, they replied (with glee, I might add), “They defenestrated them!”

Turns out that the word was coined in 1618 from the Latin prefix de (down or away from) and fenestra, which means window. It originates from two incidents in Prague, known as the Defenestrations of Prague. In 1419 several town officials were thrown from the windows of the town hall. Then, in 1618, two imperial governors and their secretaries were tossed from Prague Castle. This event began the 30 Years War. Who knew?

So, I decided to find some other fascinating words I could tell you about. Thus, I launch the Weird and Wonderful Words Series. The posts won’t appear every week; after all, there is still grammar to be done!  Today, here are ten unusual words that begin with the letters A, B , C, and D.

Although my company is called bigwords101, I am not a proponent of using big, fancy words in your speech or writing. However, sometimes new and unusual words can be fun to use!

1. aglet  (noun) – You may know this one. I once knew it, but quickly forgot. The aglet is that plastic thingie at the end of your shoelace. (Origin: 1400-1450 from Middle English and Middle French).

2. bastinado (noun) – This is a type of torture by beating the soles of the feet (or sometimes the buttocks) with a stick. (Origin: 1570-1580 from the Spanish baston, meaning stick.)

3. bibcock (noun) – This is a faucet that has a downward-bent nozzle (origin 1790). Question: Don’t they all? Wouldn’t we get really wet otherwise?

4. bibliobibuli (noun) – Obviously from biblio, meaning book. This one was coined by H.L. Mencken in 1957: ”There are people who read too much: the bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this most diverting and stimulating of worlds in a haze, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.”  So there! Proud to be one!

5. boondoggle (noun) – This word refers to unnecessary  activity or wasteful expenditure. It is an Americanism apparently coined around 1930 by R. H. Link, an American scoutmaster, referring to simple tasks the scouts were taught.

6. bumf (noun) – Slang for toilet paper and informal for junk mail and other worthless paperwork.  It is 1889 British schoolboy slang.

7. cataglottism (noun) – This one, as bibliobibuli, is in the Urban Dictionary. It is from the Greek  cato (down) and glotta/glossa (tongue). You figure it out! Seriously, it means French kissing.

8. corybantic (adjective) – This one means frenzied or agitated, so you will probably be able to put this one to work pretty quickly! In classical myth, Corybants was a wild attendant of the goddess Cybele.

9. defenestrate (noun) –  To throw something or someone out the window.

10. discalced (adjective) – This word means barefooted, usually referring to friars and nuns who wear sandals. (Origin: 1625 from the Latin)

Would you rather be defenestrated or the victim of bastinado when you are discalced?

“A” Historic Blog Post

Articles: A, An and The

I have been asked several times recently (mostly by writers) about using a versus an. The questions were primarily about which of these articles to use in front of the word historic. Is it a historic or an historic? They both sound all right, but are they? Well, the old rule still applies: Words that begin with a vowel sound (not necessarily a vowel, just a vowel sound) use an. Words that begin with a consonant sound (not necessarily a consonant, just a consonant sound) use a. Some words that begin with h, like historic, have a definite consonant sound at the beginning; others, such as honor, begin with a vowel sound.

For some reason, both a and an sound natural with historic (and other similar words).

Following the rule, use an with honor (it begins with an o sound—the h is silent). However, use a with historic, since the h, a consonant sound, is pronounced.

These words should be prefaced with the article a:

historic

hysterical

 

These words should be prefaced with the article an:

honor

herb

You may notice that when you put the a in front of historic, you pronounce is as a long a, while in front of most words you would pronounce it “uh.” But pronouncing it isn’t so much of a problem; that is simply the way it rolls off the tongue—which is exactly why a fits in front of some words, and an fits in front of others.

Follow the basic rule, and you won’t go wrong.

What about the other article, the? Well, the goes in front of any letter. However, you will notice that there are two ways to pronounce it . One way is thuh (rhymes with duh); the other way is thee (rhymes with tree). When you put the before a word that begins with a vowel sound, you will automatically say thee because it just rolls of the tongue that way.  Before a consonant sound, you will generally say thuh.  Try saying the in front of historic. You might say it either way because, once again, they both sound okay. Since the is always spelled the same, there is no problem here. 

 

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