Comic #5: Nuances

Sorry for using a bit of a "rerun" - this is from my original comic and due to and uncooperative computer I'm repurposing it for language use.

In Korean there is a word hyuji which literally means "rest". You can add suffixes to make new words, such as hyujishil, a room where one rests, and hyujiso, a rest area (as in one off the highway). However, as I found out, it's important not to confuse hyujishil with hwajangshil, which is where you'll actually find the toilets.

And yes, they sell waffles at rest areas in Korea. I don't know why.

Improve Your English!

A commercial. Reposted here for your enjoyment.

(credit to my friend Adrian for suggesting I should post this here)

Word Buzz Friday

Hey Language Nerds!

I don't know if you are as obsessed with twitter as I am, but did you know there is a name for what your friends who constantly tweet celebrities? Yes. That's right there it. Maybe now, it will become a disorder like Facebook addiction. Only time will tell.

Tweet Dropping:

When a twitter user has a one-way conversation with a celebrity so that to the users followers, it seems like they are talking to a celebrity and thus are instantly über-cool in the eyes of their followers, when in fact they are a loser with nothing better to do than have a fake conversation with themselves.

Similar to name dropping IRL, but even more annoying and even less likely to be true.

Tweet-Dropper: @BritneySpears How did the barbecue go? I heard Justin Timberlake was there too >.< awkward?

Tweet-Dropper (A few minutes later, without a reply from Britney): @BritneySpears Haha yes, I suppose after a while it got pretty normal for both of you, you must go to loads of the same things!

Have a great weekend! I'm outta here!

Comic #4: Style

Do you generally associate a language with a style of dress? I've never thought about it that way, but when I had this girl approach me certain I spoke English because of what I was wearing, I was a bit shocked, to say the least. The shocking part of course, she then couldn't identify the country (England? Canada? Australia?), but seemed to assume only an anglophone girl would be wearing jean shorts and a rugby shirt that says "Ireland".

Do you generally look at a way someone is dressed and say "oh, he must speak Italian" or something similar? Does a common language really imply a common culture? Or is it just for anglophones? It does have me wondering.

Your vs. You're

The inability to differentiate between your and you're is probably one of my biggest pet peeves. While I'm not a strict prescriptionist - I think language does change over time and we have to be aware of this - using your for you're (or you're for your) is one grammar mistake that I cannot condone. I have heard the argument that as long as you understand what the other person is trying to convey, then it does not matter how that person chose to express their point.

However, I recently came across a very poignant example of why you should never mix up your and you're. As you may recall, we language nerds had a blog called The Grammar Vandal as one of our blogs of the week. Well, the Grammar Vandal published a post called, "She got what she deserved." This is only a part of what she wrote (please visit her site for the full post, and a chance to vote on whether this person really got what she deserved):

This is my new favorite entry on my new favorite Web site, fmylife.com:

Today, I was flirting via text with a coworker. Things started getting heated, and I wanted to send her a sexy picture. I asked if she had any suggestions. She said, “Your nuts!” She meant, “YOU’RE nuts.” I sent her a photo of my junk. I offended a co-worker with incriminating evidence. FML

Okay. We know this guy isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Anyone knows you don’t send naked pictures to someone you barely know. And I’m going to assume that these two people are over the age of 18, because if not, that’s a different issue altogether. Assuming they both are above the age of consent,

That girl got exactly what she deserved.

She mixed up “your” and “you’re” and thus was blinded with an image of the least attractive part of the male anatomy, an image that will likely stick in her mind for quite a long time.

The vast majority of the time, using "your" when you mean "you're" probably won't produce a result such as the above example. But I think it offers a quality reason why you should practice proper grammar - if you're not careful about what you say, it could take on an entirely new and unintended meaning.

Does the mistake of using "your" for "you're" bother you? Also: what do you think has contributed to using your (possessive) for you're (contraction of you are)?

Word Buzz Friday: Scrabble Edition

I've decided to take a different approach to the Word Buzz today. Today is the Scrabble (or Literati) edition! What to do with those hard to use letters? Well now, I have your solution. The good part is that these words actually exist and they won't leave you scratching your head while you try to explain to your friends that you are just sure you've seen the word "qwobyx" before. (Although it if it did exist you would have 10+4+1+4+8=27 points at least!)

I did the digging for you in the Dictionary of Difficult Words. The points are as follows:

• 2 blank tiles (scoring 0 points)
• 1 point: E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4
• 2 points: D ×4, G ×3
• 3 points: B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2
• 4 points: F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2
• 5 points: K ×1
• 8 points: J ×1, X ×1
• 10 points: Q ×1, Z ×1

Some of my favs are:

1. Quaff (10+1+1+4+4= 20 points at least):
v.t. drink deeply; drink in long draughts; n. a long draught.

2. Quixotic (10+1+1+8+1+1+1+3=24 pts at least):
a. idealistic; altruistic; unpractical. quixotism, quixotry, n.

3. Kabbadi (5+1+3+3+1+2+1= 16 at least):
n. Indian game of tag, played by two teams.

4. Jalousie (8+1+1+1+1+1+1+1= 15 at least):
n. blind or shutter with slats slanting upwards and inwards.

5. Xenogamy (8+1+1+1+2+1+3+4= 21 at least):
n. cross-fertilization. xenogenesis, n. production of offspring unlike the parent. xenograft, n. heterograft. xenolith, n. rock particle included in another rock. xenomorphic a. with a form not its own.

6. Zollverein (10+1+1+1+4+1+1+1+1= 21 at least):
n. 'customs-union' as organized by Prussia in the 1830s.

7. Zymosis (10+4+3+1+1+1+1= 21 at least):
n. fermentation; process resembling fermentation in development of infectious disease.

Now go forth and kick some buttocks (2+1+1+1+1+1+5+1) at Scrabble!

Comic Strip Thursday

Tasha is still on spring break, so yet again, I give you a Pearls Before Swine comic for your enjoyment. And yes, in case it's not completely obvious by now, I'm a huge fan of Pearls Before Swine. But not only that, this comic goes really well with our blog of the week. Please note that if you are unable to see the entire comic, clicking the picture will allow you to view the full comic.




PS. If you like Pearls Before Swine as much as I do, you can read the comic strip daily here or you can check out the blog of Pearls Before Swine's creator, Stephan Pastis.