There's a great comment by qroqqa on rumoured, which, lest it drift by too quickly, deserves to be highlighted. It starts:

"A highly unusual verb in Present-day English: it has only this one verb form. Although it was historically a full verb with all its parts ('Come hither Catesby, rumor it abroad, That Anne my Wife is very grieuous sicke.'—Richard III, IV.ii), for most of us today it can only be a past participle."

Read the rest on rumoured. And thanks, qroqqa, for the insight.

Labels: past participle, qroqqa, rumor, rumoured, teh alsome, verbal

Merrill Perlman* has a nice piece in the Columbia Journalism Review** about a supposed gaffe Joe Biden made earlier this year during the primaries, when he was quoted as saying "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."

That quote may be missing a comma. Perlman doesn't delve in the politics of it, or try to plumb Biden's intentions, and I won't either. But she goes into some detail about restrictive vs. nonrestrictive clauses, and how something as small as a single comma can significantly change meaning, and have broad-reaching repercussions. If you care about the power of language and punctuation**, it's worth reading.


* Whom I had the pleasure of hearing speak about copy editing last month. Great talk.
** Where I worked for a while in the late nineties.
*** And I know you do.

Labels: CJR, Columbia Journalism Review, Joe Biden, Merril Perlman, oxford comma

From prick, courtesy of skipvia:

"His top contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Less traditional choices mentioned include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000 who now is an independent."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gxVW-aUPQsPkU0JKEleSPNCyxSsAD92L2HJ80

Labels: best, Joe Lieberman, prick

I spent some time poking around in the database this week, in anticipation of adding stats showing frequently favorited words and lists. The most favorited list is, happily, gangerh's sweet tooth fairy.

The most favorited word is... a disappointment. The second-most is mellifluous, and the bronze goes to loquacious. I had to go all the way to 16th place, interrobang, to find something that wasn't a retread from the hot 100.

Don't hold your breath, but these kind of stats will start showing up on the site, someday. Perhaps after one of you suggests a good way to sieve out the interesting stuff.

Also look forward to the ability to add private notes to words, which I worked on recently in Vacationland after bestiary suggested it. That will launch in the next few weeks. I'm hoping this makes Wordie a little more friendly to SAT-prep and ESL users. While us chatty cathys are more visible, the silent majority of Wordies are using the site for vocabulary lists. I'm going to try to add a few small features, starting with notes, to facilitate that kind of educational use. Suggestions to that end are welcome in the comments.

Labels: favorites, interrobang, mellifluous, sweet tooth fairy, Vacationland

The Regional Assembly of Text is a gift store dedicated to text, replete with old filing cabinets and typewriters, chalkboards, quilted letters, journals, stationary, and other ephemera. And they host a monthly letter writing club, with tea and cookies.

That there is a place where such a store can make ends meet makes me want to move to Vancouver post haste. That and the free heroin.

Thanks to Magnolia and her beautiful sidekick, Arlo, for the link.

Labels: Arlo, heroin, Magnolia, Regional Assembly of Text, Vancouver

Telescopic Text is the most delightful use of hypertext I've seen in eons. Just keep clicking. When you're done, reload and repeat in a different order. So simple, so pleasing, and so happily reminiscent of a recent conversation which took place on, of all words, teeth. It'll make you want a nice cuppa, even if it is the middle of August and roasting.

Make sure to telescope the byline, too, and eventually you'll end up at the lovely line-drawn site of the guy responsible for it, Joe Davis.

Mil gracias to Steve for the link.

Labels: Joe Davis, steve, tea, teeth, Telescopic Text