Language

That’s So “Sajak!”

January 3, 2011

I’m going to start calling things “sajak.” Yes, as in Pat Sajak. It’s the perfect term to describe things that are safe and friendly and that white people really like. But “sajak” has a deeper meaning: calling something “sajak” means that some hip, popular trend has become fully gentrified. It will signify something’s complete saturation [...]

Corporatese – The Language of Your Company

March 24, 2010

Every time we have a meeting in my company I hear about a dozen terms that I only ever hear in a company context. The general themes of these words are efficiency and growth. My friend, Mary, at NoTitles.com and I thought we would each take a look at corporate language, a little competition really: [...]

How To Fix American “Obesity”

March 23, 2010

America is fat, sorry, obese, and we’re mad as hell about it. I’ve figured out how to fix this. The answer to ridding America of obesity? Change the language. We all know the age-old chubby girl trick of calling a fat girl pleasantly plump and telling your overweight husband that there is more of him [...]

Alternatives to, “What With The Economy and All…”

February 9, 2010

“Well, you know, what with the economy and all…” Everybody says this. You’ve said it. The “economy” is the beginning and end to all problems, right? It’s the panacea of excuses. The trouble with its ubiquity as an excuse is that it doesn’t really mean much anymore. Even if it’s relevant, it’s dull. So in an effort [...]

“Praying” as a Hobby

October 28, 2009

I’m pretty sure that praying is not the same thing as thinking. Some people are using the word “Pray” where others would normally use the word “think,” as in, ”Yes, that is a difficult issue. I’ll have to pray about that for a while.” It’s even happening in Congress on issues as important as the national [...]

‘Literally’ As a Figure of Speech

September 13, 2009

In a really excelent post about language and how frustrating and cliche’ some people express themselves, I was reminded of my own ‘literal’ encounter one night out at Amber Room. I would be interested to hear responses from a good many teenagers who would find themselves placed upon the critical chopping block. Awful as I [...]

Meanwhile, How wrong is it that Higgings isn’t really British?

August 12, 2009

In fact, he was born in Denison, Texas. That’s right, he’s a Texan. Now, I generally haven’t any trouble with my Brits not being actually British. Indeed, some of the best haven’t been. Half of them, first off, are really Australian. I’ve learned this since dating a girl who, American born, is now actually Australian [...]