It’s another newsletter from “A Way with Words.” Woot! In last weekend’s episode: Is it wrong to type two spaces after a period? We arm-wrestle over that, and talk about the odd language in “True Grit.” Also...
Twittering, tweeting, twirting—it’s rare to see a whole new body of language appear right before your eyes. But that’s what’s happening with Twitter. We discuss the snappy new shorthand of the twitterati. Also, why do people feel...
When you hear the F-word in a modern Hollywood movie about life in an earlier century, you may wonder if this expletive is an anachronism. Is the F-word of recent vintage, or did Hollywood actually get right this time? Grant recommends a book on the...
hard R comedy n.— «This is what those in the biz like to refer to as a “hard R” comedy, meaning lots of profanity, sexual content and other mature themes. This is not a comedy for your kids, nor is it a comedy for your grandparents, but...
Is there a word for @#$%!^*)!&!, those typographical symbols standing in for profanity? There is indeed. It’s grawlix—not to be confused with jarns, quimps, nittles, lucaflects, or plewds. For more on such terms, check out Mort...
hamsterbating n.— «The WB is showing that it won’t chance, like other networks, being fined $27,000 for saying the “S-word” (yes, that’s how the FCC refers to it), or get involved in squabbles over whether it is appropriate to...