Category Archives: language

orthoepy

Posted on Friday, 2002 April 26 by Anton

Anybody in France: Is Le Pen pronounced like pin, pan or penne? Update: François Velde writes, “The last; it rimes with haine . . .” [‘hate’]

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lexicon lust

Posted on Sunday, 2002 April 21 by Anton

Saturday at Moe’s I found a recent reprint of the great Monier-Williams dictionary of Sanskrit (1899) for $35, about a quarter of what I had expected to pay someday for it. Whee. I find, by the way, that Indian printing … Continue reading →

Posted in California, language, me!me!me! | 1 Comment

ungrammatical boys, ungrammatical boys, whatcha gonna do?

Posted on Sunday, 2002 March 31 by Anton

Okay, the Grammar Police gag has been done before, if not quite so stylishly. I don’t mind an excuse to plug my favorite college strip.

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generic carnivory

Posted on Friday, 2002 March 29 by Anton

The oddest things sometimes bug me. Does anyone else remember a children’s book which mentions eating “roast beast”? Update. One reader (see, this is how I smoke you out) points it out in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I feel … Continue reading →

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forsooth thy knockers be bounteous

Posted on Tuesday, 2002 March 26 by Anton

a chuckle from John and Antonio: We once knew a woman who got a job translating three porn flicks from Italian to Spanish. Why did they bother, you ask. Because they were done in (well, mostly out of) Renaissance dress … Continue reading →

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Anton ‘Mr.’ Sherwood wants to know

Posted on Sunday, 2002 March 24 by Anton

How old is the convention of writing nicknames as middle names, e.g. (taking a handy fictional example) “Tim ‘Curly’ Beamish”? Why do you see even “Tim ‘Curly Tim’ Beamish” (gordelpus) rather than “‘Curly’ Tim Beamish”? What is the convention (if … Continue reading →

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neologism

Posted on Tuesday, 2002 March 19 by Anton

Did I really write “satiral” yesterday? Funny. Wonder why that isn’t a proper word, anyway.

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