Author Archives: achouston

The Internet B.G. (before Google)

Posted on August 23, 2010 by achouston

The line at the bottom says it all — “Achieve 100% pure surfing pleasure”  Can anyone imagine today in 2010 surfing the Internet from a printed book? I mean, you go to a page in a book, find the url … Continue reading →

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Word Jumbles #5

Posted on August 20, 2010 by achouston

RECTEAR AMELODEN GENNOPAT RAINECTS TANROOD Solutions posted tomorrow on Answers. Enjoy your weekend,  everyone!

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Meaning in Motion

Posted on August 17, 2010 by achouston

The word ‘post’ as a vertical pole appears in a number of standard expressions in English:  lamp post, fence post, hitching post, goal post. Hitching posts for horses are pretty rare nowadays, but at one time they were quite common. … Continue reading →

Posted in Meaning Change | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Recombinant Semantics

Posted on August 14, 2010 by achouston

Playing with words and sentences is good exercise for the mind. Besides, it’s fun. Recently BBear (a Jumbles enthusiast) explained his version of a semantic game: take a passage (any passage you choose) and, using only the inventory of the … Continue reading →

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Word Jumbles #4

Posted on August 13, 2010 by achouston

KINTCOGS FACTRY ALLSTER ESLAWE PEDELVORE Solutions posted tomorrow under Answers.

Posted in Uncategorized, Word Puzzles | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Parts

Posted on August 12, 2010 by achouston

There’s a commonly deployed linguistic device with a fancy Greek name — metonymy.  Metonymy is using an attribute or a part of something to refer to the thing itself. Here are some examples: All hands are to report to the … Continue reading →

Posted in metonymy, word meaning | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sportaholics and Sexavores

Posted on August 10, 2010 by achouston

Just back from travels, so a short post today. There is a nice case of a newly productive suffix in English worth noting: –vore.  In the past there was a limited set that includes the well-known carnivore, herbivore, omnivore.  Recently … Continue reading →

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Word Jumbles #3

Posted on August 5, 2010 by achouston

ETRAIN STELKLI DARTDENS NELLIT INCREDORA Note: Solutions will be posted tomorrow on the new Answers page. This way newcomers can still work the old jumbles without seeing the solutions right away.

Posted in Word Puzzles | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Among and Amongst

Posted on August 4, 2010 by achouston

English usage seems to be getting hipper and leaner.  We’ve nearly lost our subjunctive mood (how many American English speakers even recognize this construction on the printed page?)  and whom should certainly be on the List of Endangered Words. (Is … Continue reading →

Posted in history of language, language change, social context of language | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

FTW or WTF?

Posted on August 3, 2010 by achouston

We’ve all gotten used to abbreviations in email, text messages and Twitter. Today at Silicon Alley Insider a list of such abbreviations was compiled and presented. The list is obviously not complete and was not offered as such, and commentators … Continue reading →

Posted in Abbreviations, social context of language, syntax and new media | Tagged , , | Leave a comment