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We all misspeak from time to time, but how about when we mangle words on purpose? Do you ever say fambly instead of family, perazackly for exactly, or coinkydink for coincidence? When Grant recently wrote a newspaper column about saying things wrong on purpose, the response was enormous. Why do many people find such wordplay hard to resist?
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A Pennsylvania minister is curious about a phrase her family uses: by way of Robin Hood's barn or around Robin Hood's barn, meaning a long, circuitous route.
How do you pronounce the architectural term beaux arts? (Yep, Grant accidentally left of the final S when he spelled the term on the air.) Is it pronounced boh-ZART, boh-ART, boh-ZAR, or boh-ZARTS? We settle a dispute between a New Jersey woman and her nephew.
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Gee -- a MATH security question. That's scary
How about written "improprieties" -- such as the capitalization of words in context where they normally are not capitalized? I often copy the style of old titles in A.A. Milne's children's books, to emphasize something in a sentence I've written. Here's an example (remember that I live in Georgia):
When it gets hot Down Here, everyone goes indoors.
I couldn't help but be taken aback by Grant's admonition about the use of thesauri - I just love them.
I often find myself 'type-stuttering' (damn, there should be a word for that... I think you get what i mean) as I'm posting in the internet and my fledging English keeps me from saying what I want. Then I resort to the online thesaurus and find that elusive word I was trying to remember. (Well, since we're among nerds here, I fess up: I derive an almost literary pleasure from just browsing randomly through thesaurus.com and enjoying the gamut of the language rainbow).
The very etymology of the word couldn't make any more sense to me - it is a resource I treasure greatly. Nonetheless, I'll give OneLook a try; this is not the first time I see people recommend it.
i.i.
In Australia a PELICAN CROSSING is a special type of pedestrian controlled road crossing. When the pedestrians are shown the flashing ‘don't walk' sign, drivers will see a flashing yellow light. If the crossing is clear of pedestrians the drivers can proceed before the green light is shown. This reduces the amount of time drivers have to stop at lightly used pedestrian crossings.
Sharing two of your topics from the show, long ago a friend came back from boot camp and shared one of the cadences he had learned there, "Don't be sad, don't be blue, my recruiter screwed me too." Another friend there asked "who is Myra Gruder?" So now, all recruiters are named Myra.
And since I am from San Diego, spanish is much more common than french. So instead of saying thanks with "mercy buckets" I often say "Muchachas Garcias."
Hey everybody!
I was thinking about the dispute "Beaux Arts"...I think that if you are going to use a foreign language and not the translation, then you should pronounce it correctly...otherwise, use "fine arts". My first language is Spanish, and I know I cringe when people use "Brava" instead of "Bravo", so, that is my take on it....
Regarding the use of a thesaurus and using a word out of context, specially if you don't speak the language well...I have a good example!!! The word "entre" in Spanish can mean 1) to come in (from the verb entrar) or 2) between
I remember one time when a friend of mine who spoke little English and threw a party...He was inviting people into his house and, he first said "come in, come in" and after a while, he started saying "between, between". I asked him what he meant...He said he got tired of using the same words over and over, so he would use a synonym....
Mariana said:
Hey everybody!
I was thinking about the dispute “Beaux Arts”…I think that if you are going to use a foreign language and not the translation, then you should pronounce it correctly…otherwise, use “fine arts”. My first language is Spanish, and I know I cringe when people use “Brava” instead of “Bravo”, so, that is my take on it….
Regarding the use of a thesaurus and using a word out of context, specially if you don't speak the language well…I have a good example!!! The word “entre” in Spanish can mean 1) to come in (from the verb entrar) or 2) between
I remember one time when a friend of mine who spoke little English and threw a party…He was inviting people into his house and, he first said “come in, come in” and after a while, he started saying “between, between”. I asked him what he meant…He said he got tired of using the same words over and over, so he would use a synonym….
If I'm not mistaken, people shout "Brava!" (as opposed to bravo) when congratulating a woman specifically, as is customary in Italian. I'm surprised this interjection is not gendered in Spanish also... Hmm...
I can understand why it bothers you in Spanish, isn't "brava" brave?
Though I accept it as technically correct, I do agree though that it sounds a bit pretentious. Then again, I was nearly a gender studies major in college and taught to reject all gendered words, particularly those that mark females 😛
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