Category — English

Happy Birthday to the Gutenberg Bible! On this date in 1455, what in my mind is the greatest invention in human history was first put into action with the mass printing of the Gutenberg Bible in Mainz, Germany.

Just think about how the written word affects every facet of our lives. As words became available to the masses and one’s message became so easily distributable, the ability to influence society increased exponentially. Every social revolution and cultural transformation that followed owes their success to Gutenberg.

The influence of the written word has taken another quantum leap forward with the Internet and blogs. Everyone has a voice now, everyone can be heard by millions, and it’s nearly impossible to silence anyone. It’s not without its problems, but it’s also proven to be the world’s greatest leveler.

As writers, may we be good stewards of all the tools we’ve been given.

Somewhere in your 30s, you become both tragically unhip and oblivious to the jargon that builds up in professions not your own. As a writer, though, if we are to communicate well with our readers, we have to try our best to keep up with how the world talks to each other. Whether it’s a marketing letter, a technical document, or two characters in dialogue, you need to know the language appropriate to your audience and your writing.

Here are a few sites I’ve used to do help me with this.

• Acronym Finder – It’s pretty much what it says it is.
• Abbreviations.com – This site is a nice compliment to Acronym Finder!
• The Free Dictionary – They cover jargon galore with their Medical Dictionary, Legal Dictionary, and Financial Dictionary.
• Urban Dictionary – Here’s a resource of slang for the woefully unhip. [salty language alert for those of you who care]
• Text Message Shorthand @ Netlingo – Personally, ‘IM speak’ drives me bat-crazy, but you may need to translate it…
• The Phrontistery – This site celebrates the incredible depth and breadth of the English language with whole lists of obscure words. Word-ophiles will love it. Go for the words but stay for the Compendium of Lost Words, lists of words that fell out of use long ago but ones you may need if you’re writing something like historical fiction.

Enjoy!

Lake Superior State University maintains a List of Banished Words that they believe are some combination of overused, annoying, trite, wrongly-used, or otherwise worthy of being expunged from common usage.

I think they’re too hard on some of these words, but for the most part I agree with them. I like the word wordsmith because of its connotations of attention to craft, quality, and artisanship. I agree with them, though, that the way wordsmith is commonly used has sucked much of the positive meaning from it. That may be their point. When people drive good words to turn bad, it’s time to banish them for a while.

Some of these words and phrases are great to use sarcastically in your writing. (”Back in the day, we didn’t even have YouTube!”) If it’s something your character would say, use it!

(Cross-posted at my other blog. Warning: May contain excessive amounts of language geekery.)

My wife and I were watching TV one night when a string of prescription drug ads filled the entire commercial break. I finally noticed something I should have seen before. The vast majority of drug names have three syllables, and many of those have an accent on the second one.

The obvious next question is, why?

It didn’t take me long to find this article, which provides some insight into how the whole process works and some of the linguistic science behind it.

The article doesn’t completely address my question, so here’s my guess for whatever it’s worth. As the article says, two or three syllables make it easier to remember. My theory about the accent on the middle syllable is that it creates an alternating ‘down-up-down’ pattern (for lack of a better term) that feels more poetic than the alternatives. It can stick in your head like a piece of song lyric.

Warning: serious geekery ahead. I just looked this up. This pattern of a stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed ones is called an amphibrach. The real insight – it’s the primary pattern used in limericks. Makes sense now!

I was particularly fascinated by the article’s discussion of phonemes, which are basically the smallest pronounced units that make up any given word. (like c in car or f in far) I noticed the other day that an inordinate number of words that begin with sl (another example of a phoneme) have unpleasant connotations: slime, slink, slap, slam, slob, sloth, slum, etc.

From the above article:

“Research shows letters with a hard edge, like P, T or K, convey effectiveness. X seems scientific. L, R or S provide a calming or relaxing feel. Z means speed.”

Something to keep in mind next time you write something.

I didn’t do any research into this, but I think the name of a prescription drug has to be the most expensive word you’ll ever pay someone to write. A freelance magazine writer feels ecstatic to get $1/word. The name of a drug, however, goes for a couple million per word.

I’m in the wrong line of work.

Bartleby.com has the full content of The Elements of Style (1918) by William Strunk, Jr. available electronically for free through its site. It also includes a search box and a Table of Contents to help you find specific topics.

I know there are newer versions of both The Elements of Style and other grammar and usage guides, but this is a timeless classic that still affects us almost a century later. It’s the cornerstone of every grammar and style guide that has come after it.

You can also find many other online works at Bartleby.com.

Sometimes a blog is so good that it requires little introduction. If you are someone obsessed with language geekery or the arcana of English, this blog is for you.

Go read the Language Log.

Here’s something to bookmark. YourDictionary.com has a list of the 100 words they think are the most commonly misspelled words in English.

I think a number of them are more usage problems than spelling issues (e.g., conscious vs. conscience or its vs. it’s), but it’s hard to argue with much on their list. Until is the strangest one.

Accommodate is the one that always gets me. Don’t ask me why.

Continuing the tradition started by “It was a dark and stormy night,” the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest gives writers the chance to write (intentionally) the worst possible opening line of an imaginary novel.

You may spend countless hours at your desk believing your writing is the worst ever put down on paper or pixel. As long as this contest exists, you can rest assured that something out there is worse.

Here are the 2007 ‘winners’ along with more information about the contest.

It looks like entries for the 2008 contest are due April 15. Go intentionally write something bad and enter!

What is the deal with people using apostrophes to make words plural? I saw a giant sign a couple of days ago advertising “Condo’s For Sale” at the entrance to this new development. I also saw one of those roadside signs stuck in the ground that said “Hey Mom’s! Make money at home now!”

(Insert scream here.)

Unless a large chunk of the world blacked out during grades 1-12, I have no idea where this came from, but it needs to stop. People do notice, and if you mess up something on a sign with fewer than ten words on it, why on earth would they trust you to build them a condo or help them start a new career at home?

Mistakes happen, but if large amounts of money are on the line and all you have to do is proofread a sign or a letter, proofread it again and again. Then have other people proofread it, too.

For the record: Never, ever make a word plural using an apostrophe + s. An apostrophe with an s indicates possession. Therefore, Let’s weigh the pro’s and con’s is incorrect. I actually saw this on a greeting card. It’s simply Let’s weigh the pros and cons. Now that I’ve pointed this out to you, you will see it everywhere.

The letter s does not like being ostracized from other letters in a word. Representatives of The Letter S Foundation are now taking legal action to regain its rightful place in the family of letters.

You can read more ranting about apostrophes in my writing guide.

There is no grammar rule in this world that frustrates me more than figuring out which version of lay or lie I should use in a particular situation.

Grammar Girl (genuflect when you say that) put the transcript to her podcast about this issue up on her web site along with a helpful table that explains how to use them.

So, go read “Lay Versus Lie”. These things do matter. Perhaps one of these days this issue will stop vexing me.