Please tell me you had a teacher talk about homophones at least once during your educational experience. This story from the Salt Lake Tribune a few days ago depresses me on many levels. In short, an English language teacher was fired for using the word, “homophonic.” Like I’m watching a car crash . . . I haven’t been…
Thanks to one of the readers of Lingua Franca, where Lucy Ferriss weighed in on the buzz about “Word Crimes” last week, I happened upon this video. Perfect for a little Friday fun! Visit Arnold Zwicky’s X Nazi for a little discussion of the use of “nazi” to signal hyperbole. Check out Know Your Meme for more fun with grammar…
MTV News says Weird Al sounds just like your boss. What? They’re talking about “Mission Statement,” the final video release this past week from the Mandatory Fun album. Weird Al Yankovic does not only make fun of the way the less powerful use language. This time his target is the language of the powerful. The song’s a parody of corporate jargon using…
The digital world — including linguists everywhere — is rockin’ to Weird Al Yankovic‘s “Word Crimes,” a parody of the hit song “Blurred Lines.” He rants about those who don’t know when to use “fewer” instead of “less” or to use the apostrophe in “it’s.” It’s all in fun. Mostly. But those lyrics make clear people do judge us based on…
For the funny explanation of appropriate usage, see College Humor. You can even download them as truetype fonts for actual adoption. It’s worth a few minutes! Happy Friday!
I’m feeling a little punch-drunk after a 36-hour mock accreditation marathon so thought I’d share something that fits my mood. The Onion recently published a great little piece about gang violence and the Oxford comma. Enjoy! Related articles The Best Shots Fired in the Oxford Comma Wars (mentalfloss.com) A Light-Hearted Lesson on the Oxford Comma…
I love The Onion. And I love TED Talks. So I was tickled when my buddy, Erin Kane, a law professor who teaches legal writing and rhetorical analysis, shared this video one of her students found yesterday. What’s equally great is that the student, Troy Thresher, wrote: “I found myself analyzing the rhetorical commitments and strategies…
To celebrate Friday the 13th (and keep in touch while I work to meet a deadline), I’m sharing a link to a 2010 article that appeared in The Onion. Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text is one of my favorites. And it reinforces the importance of one of my video tutorials. Enjoy! Related articles…