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Word of the Day
LEGERDEMAIN (Noun, English) Skilled, dexterous use of the hands when performing magical tricks. Has also taken on a pejorative meaning of deceit or trickery. Note: Cited originally in English during the 16th century. From the French phrase 'léger de main' (light of hand).
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Monthly Archives: October 2010
Stories: Up, Down and Sideways
When seeking advice on the craft of writing a story, whether screenplay, novel or other form, most experts will tell you that you must write the back story of your characters. These back stories are pages of descriptive narrative, detailing … Continue reading
Posted in ebooks, self-publishing, storytelling, writing
Tagged ebook, multimedia, storytelling
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S Spotting
Somewhere you’ve probably read or heard the colloquial version of expect, as when cowpokes say ‘I ‘spect it’s goin’ to rain’. I’ve been hearing and reading (tweets on Twitter) other examples of this phonological reduction: I ate so much chocolate … Continue reading
Posted in language change, language variation, pronunciation
Tagged language change, phonological reduction, pronunciation
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What’s in a Name’s Ending?
Have you ever wondered why we say Californian and Bostonian, but then say New Yorker, Londoner and Midwesterner? A friend recently used the term Kendallites to refer to habitues of Kendall Square, Cambridge MA. I understood perfectly what he meant … Continue reading
The Social Network: Some Thoughts
I finally saw the new film, The Social Network, last night. It’s not a film predominately about language, but there are a few points to make about language in regard to the movie. First, I was deeply impressed, as were … Continue reading
Posted in Internet, language and social media, language change
Tagged film review, language change, the social network
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New Language Discovered in Himalayan Foothills
The Wall Street Journal reported today on the findings of a 2008 linguistic expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, the most northeastern state of India. In a mountainous region already populated with a plethora of other spoken tongues, researches claim to have linguistic … Continue reading
Posted in language typology, speech communities
Tagged language death, language discovery, language families
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Word Jumbles #9
BLARSMEB SHOOTLEST YESVUR LUCERALL AFECIDE Correction: Fifth jumble should be: IFECIDE Solutions posted tomorrow on Answers page.
Posted in Word Usage
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