Posts Tagged with "Language"

OK, I Give!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

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Yeah, that’s the way it is with me. Not one to be a martyr in a lost cause, I give up, already. See, you don’t know me, but I am one of those people–one of those really disgusting people, apparently–who knows all the words and all the grammar and usage rules, but what’s the use, really? [...]

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Dolly Lama?

Monday, April 14, 2008

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With the Dalai Lama so much in the news lately, I am struck by how many commentators mangle the pronunciation of his title. I mean, he’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner (1989), for crying out loud. Can we get this right? It seems that many of them pronounce it “DOLL-lee LAH-muh.” The more [...]

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“Shooting Spree”

Sunday, August 12, 2007

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This is one “convention” of journalists that could use some some serious reflection. Whenever someone shoots more than one or two victims, members of the chattering class will refer to the incident as a “shooting spree.” The phrase, ringing so close to the more common “shopping spree,” makes it sound as if someone [...]

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Forward Slash?

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

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Or even more nonsensically, forwardslash. Where in the world has this new trend come from? I refer to the tendency of calling a “slash” a “forward slash.” The keyboard has always had a slash character. On the “qwerty” keyboard, it’s there in the lower-right corner under the question mark. It’s a slash. It [...]

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