Browsing Month June, 2007
Come Party with KPBS!
If you’re in San Diego at the end of this month, you can catch me and fellow verbivore Richard Lederer at this spectacular event on the Embarcadero, when we’ll be part of the program with the San Diego Symphony.
News about “A Way with Words”
We’re about to go on our usual summer hiatus, so Grant and I can see what other kind of trouble we can get into for a few weeks. So, if you’re listening over the airwaves, you’ll hear a few reruns. But Grant and I wanted to keep in touch with you podcasters, so we’re trying more…
I’m Like, OMG, What Happened to “I’m All”??
Wow, I didn’t realize this. In today’s “On Language” column, Nathan Bierma reports that a locution that’s the bane of many sticklers’ existence may in fact be on the way out: A recent study in the journal American Speech, by Stanford University linguist John Rickford and three co-authors, looks at what linguists call the “quotative” more…
The Making of a Writer
From the “Well, There Could Be Worse Reasons” Department, Andrew O’Hagan gives the opening address at the Sydney Writers’ Festival and reveals his own inspiration for becoming a writer: My brothers and I were always hanging around our house at night looking for things to burn, but this night I found myself watching Dr Zhivago. more…
Tusk, tusk
How cool is it that they just discovered the remains of a mastodon here in San Diego County? Almost as cool as the fact that this animals name derives from Greek words that mean “nipple-tooth.” (And yes, “mastodon” a linguistic relative of all those breast-related words that start with “mast-,” and to tooth-related words like more…
And That Other Blog Is . . .
And since you asked, here’s that other blog Grant mentioned on the show last weekend: The Name Inspector.
Blog This!
Several folks have written to ask the name of the Wall Street Journal’s editing blog that Grant mentioned during this past weekend’s show. (You know, the episode in which my co-host explained that yes, he actually does subscribe to hundreds of blogs, and reads a daily shortlist of about 40 to 50.) Anyway, the blog more…
So, Go See This Play
If you’re a word lover in the San Diego area, you still have time to check out a hilarious series of vignettes at the Sixth Avenue Bistro. You should. The segment about trying to learn a universal language is priceless (and nearly indescribable). The one about Philip Glass buying a loaf of bread sends the more…
Of Stud Muffins and Hotties
Well, of course Grant Barrett knows from hotties. I mean, the guy works with ME, right? Anyway, William Safire quotes him in the New York Times about the word’s origin.
And Speaking of the Chicago Tribune
I understand that the Trib is considering eliminating its weekly “On Language” column by Nathan Bierma, whom I’ve quoted several times here and on “A Way with Words.” That would be a shame. If you agree, please take a moment right now to drop a quick line to the editors. Let them know that there more…
