Word Nerd

I like words.

When Words Fail, Redux

I had a post that I'd been working on with a humbling laundry list of words that I'd had to look up thanks to this book (an entertaining read, but keep your dictionary handy). Not that my posts are anything other than for my own nerdy delight, but it seemed even more trite than usual in light of yesterday's horrible events here in Boston. Knowing that events such as this are quotidian elsewhere in the world. Thinking of the victims and their families. Admiring those who helped and continue to help them. Grateful for the safety of family and friends. Pondering how we might help or affect change. Finding solace and comfort in the words of a fellow Bay Stater.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

- Emily Dickinson

April 16, 2013 | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Words Fail

It's not often that words fail me.  But what happened last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut reached beyond the boundaries of what everyday language is capable of describing.  There are surely plenty of adjectives at hand - horrific, mind-numbing, shattering, heartbreaking, unthinkable, unspeakable, tragic.  Yet none of these words, nor any combination of them, can fully encapsulate what happened.   As Jonathan Walton, minister of Harvard's Memorial Church eloquently said yesterday, "...all words at a time like this come across as cliché when we try to make sense of the nonsensical. The human language is neither complicated nor creative enough to capture the depths of this sort of pain." 

A familiar poem did come to my mind, for those beautiful first graders and their teachers:

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full
	hands;
How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it
	is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
	green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
	may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe
	of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow
	zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the 
same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and
	from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps,
And here you are the mother's laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old
	mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths
	for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men
	and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring
	taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and
	children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait
	at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
	luckier.

-Walt Whitman

It's not only devastating events whose details defy description through everyday language.  I was reminded this week of a guest sermon at church last year that explored the intersection of science and religion. The speaker described how the astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission read from the Bible, in order to articulate the beautiful and ethereal scene before them. 


With thoughts of peace and hope for all.

December 19, 2012 in Current Affairs, Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

And I Think to Myself, What a Wonderful Word

(with apologies to Louis Armstrong)

You may have thought that today was just another Thursday.  But you would have been wrong.  Today was no ordinary day; it was a Wonderful Word Day!  Yes, I am that much of a nerd to type that with a straight face. 

But it's true!  Behold - better yet, roll them around on your tongue!  Say them aloud! - the delightful offerings from the day:

 - uttered by colleagues during a meeting: panoply, interlocutor (I was actually paying attention to the rest of the words they uttered too.)

 - read in an online article:  guttersnipe (bonus nerd indulgence:  the article's mention of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall)

 - overheard on NPR:  hornswoggle  (which is the synonym of another great word)

 - overheard on The French Chef:  malleable, diadem

Nope, it doesn't get much better than that. 

August 16, 2012 in Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lost in Translation

More vocabulary lessons from the kids:

blumps - usually refers to a dollop, lump, or mound of something

damps - dents in a car

farmer's market - those annoying people who call around dinnertime (known as telemarketers to those of us not named Tyler)

samanthesis - praying mantises

window swipers - the things that wipe rain off the car windshield (this may or may not indicate that we're watching too much Dora the Explorer)

June 11, 2012 in Tyler, Words, words, words..., Zoe | Permalink | Comments (0)

Typos, Typos Everywhere

Ack!  It's been a tough past 24 hours.

On Yahoo.com...Eva Longeria

On Channel 7 news..."bigomist"

On a delicious bottle of beer...Formmagio Kitchen

On a wine list, reisling

Much better.  Thanks for listening.


Words looked up this week:

macadam
grommet
plebiscite

May 11, 2012 in Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

We Are the Chompions

Recently, I heard two different colleagues talk about their desire to move a project forward.  One was "champing at the bit", the other was "chomping at the bit".  It got me to wondering if one was considered non-standard, and which one came first?

I found a couple of good pieces and blog posts that discuss the same question. Champ is the elder statesperson by about 200 years, though it seems to be rarely used today without the "...at the bit" part.  That being said, it's still defined not only as a synonym for "chomp" but also "to show impatience".  You probably wouldn't say that you were "chomping" to do something without the "...at the bit" part, but the fact that horses do chomp at their bit when excited or anxious, lends the "chomp" substitution to work just fine (though I suspect that grammar prescriptivists would promote "champ" as the champ in this debate). 

On another word nerd front, how is it that I'd never heard of this website until this past Friday?  

Non sequitur:  Seriously, I don't get Pinterest.  Everything looks cool, but what exactly am I supposed to do?  Bueller?

Word looked up this week:
picayune

 

April 08, 2012 in Current Affairs, Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

Damn Yankees

During a story on the BBC's Newshour last week, one of the reporters said "...to use that horrible American term, "closure"...". Huh. I'll readily concede that the British have it all over us when it comes to their lovely-sounding accents, but I didn't realize that we were also guilty of butchering the vocabulary of the language.

Turns out, there are quite a few words and phrases attributed to the US that our friends across the pond don't much care for. I agree with quite a few of them, though some of them seem much more efficient to me (such as "alphabetize" instead of "making an alphabetical list"). Regardless of what anyone says, I think English's history of sponginess is what makes it, for better or for worse (ginormous), so robust and interesting.

Another phrase I saw last week that the British probably won't like? Using "pants" (or perhaps, trousers?) as a verb. But as one of my supervisors at Guinness (at my London internship, back in the day) used to say, "What can you expect from a colonist?". I still stand by my preference of drinking my tea black, thank you very much.

Words looked up this week:

riposte

funerary

ablative

March 10, 2012 in Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grab Bag

* Why are aspersions always cast?  Can they ever be thrown, tossed, lobbed, or volleyed?  And am I the only one who didn't realize that the word's primary definition (according to Merriam-Webster) pertains to religion?  

* During the most recent GOP debate (they are still strangely fascinating to watch), I heard "earmark" used for the first time in this way (as a predicate nominative, I believe):  "He's an earmarker!"  Talk about insulting.  Though apparently these accusations have been going on for awhile; I just haven't been paying attention (can you blame me?).

* Though or although?  I've heard some say that "although" is the more "proper" form of the two.  Turns out, it's likely just a matter of preference because "though" pre-dates "although" by a century or two.  Grammar Girl does give examples to show that although they are interchangeable in most instances, there are times when only though makes sense.   

* Earlier this week, Sean and Tyler went to Fisher Turneries for lunch.  He always calls it that, which I love both because it's cute and because it's spoonerism-like.

* Favorite Zoeism of the moment:  In the mornings she will ask, "Is it wake time up?"

Words looked up this week:

fungible

recondite

taiga

alacrity  

February 25, 2012 in Current Affairs, Tyler, Words, words, words..., Zoe | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ousted

I'll admit it; I'm cranky tonight. Devastating Super Bowl loss. Back-to-back nights of insomnia. Harvard headed to yet another Beanpot consolation game and BC up 4-1 on NU in the second game. So yes, I'm cranky, and ready to call out a few online typos I spotted earlier today:

UGGs. For what their merchandise costs, I would think the ad agency they use is large enough to employ a full complement of proofreaders. Perhaps they all called in sick today? The UGGs ad on Boston.com (that could still be found as of 9:45pm) congratulates Tom Brady for an oustanding season. Was it merely a Freudian slip, having to do with the way the Patriots were ousted yesterday? Perhaps. As an aside, the page on which I noticed the offending ad included what may have been the worst blog post I've ever read on any sports website.

Groupon. I'm not sure which is worse, the typo, or the fact that the yoga studio involved didn't notice it. Not that anyone would have been confused trying to find a town called Beverley Farms. But still.

I was actually starting to feel a little better, having gotten those off my chest. Then BC scored again. Shorthanded. Sigh.

Words looked up this week:

uxorious

carapace

February 06, 2012 in Books, Sports, Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Articles of) Faith in Gronk

Apparently, Rob Gronkowski didn't major in Spanish in college. But better to call yourself "party" and not a pastry (even though it turns out that's a myth), right?

The interview in question, which I saw wonderfully described on Yahoo! Sports ("Rob Gronkowski, encapsulated in one sentence..."), got me to thinking about articles. Yes, really.

Some languages, like Chinese, don't use articles at all. Articles in English are fairly straightforward, since we don't assign genders to nouns and don't do too much in the way of different declensions (though this was not always the case).

Articles start to get trickier in languages like French, where nouns are dubbed either feminine or masculine and the article must follow suit. I wonder why (and will perhaps bother to find out in a future post) nouns ended up with their particular genders? For example, what makes the evening (le soir) masculine when the night (la nuit) is feminine?

Getting the article wrong in many cases will probably do no more than cause minor embarrassment, though in some cases it changes the word completely. Take the word livre. Le livre = the book; la livre = the pound (both the unit of weight and the British currency).

Things get even murkier in German, which throws in a third gender (neuter) for its nouns and where different declensions are alive and well. It's because of these complexities that in high school German we had a go-to noun in each gender that we used whenever necessary, regardless of whether it made sense in the broader scope of the discussion. This is why, 20+ years after my last German class, I can still say, "Wir habe eine Torte gebacken!". This of course means, "We have baked a cake."

But getting back to Gronk, all that really matters is that he's on the field in eight days. Good luck with that ankle, Gronk. Yo soy fiesta!

Words looked up this week:

putative

ablative

cant

aorist

January 28, 2012 in Sports, Words, words, words... | Permalink | Comments (0)

»

About

Recent Posts

  • When Words Fail, Redux
  • When Words Fail
  • And I Think to Myself, What a Wonderful Word
  • Lost in Translation
  • Typos, Typos Everywhere
  • We Are the Chompions
  • Damn Yankees
  • Grab Bag
  • Ousted
  • (Articles of) Faith in Gronk
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Blog powered by Typepad

Favorite Places to Visit

  • You Don't Say
  • Wordsmith.Org
  • U.S. College Hockey Online
  • Throw Grammar From the Train
  • The Vocabula Review
  • The Onion
  • Merriam-Webster Online
  • Language Log
  • Language Hat

Friends, Buddies, Pals...

  • Auddy 5000
  • Food on the Food
  • More items of limited interest

Go Team

  • Boston University Terrier Athletics
  • California Golden Bears
  • Harvard Athletics

Archives

  • April 2013
  • December 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011

Categories

  • 24
  • Baby X
  • Books
  • Current Affairs
  • Etcetera
  • Film
  • Food and Drink
  • Music
  • NCAA stuff
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Television
  • Tyler
  • Words, words, words...
  • Zoe