Author Topic: New column-type thingy (Read 112647 times)

Farmgirl · « **Reply #825 on:** July 07, 2016, 05:56:41 PM »

Thanks. I had already found the one from Grammar Girl, but felt it was a bit lacking in clarification - but I guess it says what I need to know.

(was discussing with a local journalist who used 'flush out' instead of 'flesh out' the city council's work on clarifying, expanding and defining the fire department policy)

Jonathon · « **Reply #826 on:** July 13, 2016, 03:36:27 PM »

Book Review: But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"? Advice from the Chicago Style Q&A

rivka · « **Reply #827 on:** July 13, 2016, 05:19:59 PM »

Great review. And the book sounds like fun.

Jonathon · « **Reply #828 on:** July 13, 2016, 05:34:03 PM »

Thanks!

Jonathon · « **Reply #829 on:** August 26, 2016, 12:30:32 PM »

Whoa There

rivka · « **Reply #830 on:** August 26, 2016, 02:37:56 PM »

Also

Quote

I’ve never read anything by Bujold

is something you should correct.

Jonathon · « **Reply #831 on:** August 27, 2016, 09:50:21 AM »

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've heard a lot of good things about them but just haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Ela · « **Reply #832 on:** August 27, 2016, 07:56:31 PM »

Woah means something different from whoa? I wonder what she thinks it means?

Woah is me?

rivka · « **Reply #833 on:** August 27, 2016, 11:58:42 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 27, 2016, 09:50:21 AM

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've heard a lot of good things about them but just haven't gotten around to reading them yet.

Fair enough.

So many good books. So little time.

Jonathon · « **Reply #834 on:** August 28, 2016, 12:20:07 PM »

Quote from: Ela on August 27, 2016, 07:56:31 PM

Woah means something different from whoa? I wonder what she thinks it means?

She says, "'Whoa!' is a command meaning 'Stop!' 'Woah!' is an exclamation of astonishment, rendered phonetically." I'm not really sure how she thinks that's rendered phonetically, unless she rhymes it with Noah.

Quote

Woah is me?

Oh, man, that would have been a great title for the post. I wish I'd thought of that.

Ela · « **Reply #835 on:** August 28, 2016, 01:54:08 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 28, 2016, 12:20:07 PM

Quote from: Ela on August 27, 2016, 07:56:31 PM
Woah means something different from whoa? I wonder what she thinks it means?
She says, "'Whoa!' is a command meaning 'Stop!' 'Woah!' is an exclamation of astonishment, rendered phonetically." I'm not really sure how she thinks that's rendered phonetically, unless she rhymes it with Noah.

Huh. I'm assuming there's no evidence for that definition, right? To me, "whoa" means both of those things.

Quote from: Jonathon on August 28, 2016, 12:20:07 PM

Quote from: Ela on August 27, 2016, 07:56:31 PM
Woah is me?

Oh, man, that would have been a great title for the post. I wish I'd thought of that.

You're welcome.

Jonathon · « **Reply #836 on:** August 28, 2016, 03:40:17 PM »

Quote from: Ela on August 28, 2016, 01:54:08 PM

Huh. I'm assuming there's no evidence for that definition, right? To me, "whoa" means both of those things.

Exactly. The evidence is that there is one exclamation, whoa, that is used in a couple of different but related ways and is commonly misspelled.

Jonathon · « **Reply #837 on:** September 05, 2016, 10:43:06 AM »

Book Review: The Subversive Copy Editor

rivka · « **Reply #838 on:** September 05, 2016, 11:36:41 AM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #839 on:** September 09, 2016, 08:19:27 AM »

To Boldly Split Infinitives

rivka · « **Reply #840 on:** September 09, 2016, 08:59:08 AM »

Quote

We could call this phenomenon Steve, and it wouldn’t change what it is.

True, but it would be terribly confusing.

The poll results are hilarious.

Jonathon · « **Reply #841 on:** September 09, 2016, 09:20:01 AM »

Quote from: rivka on September 09, 2016, 08:59:08 AM

Quote
We could call this phenomenon Steve, and it wouldn’t change what it is.
True, but it would be terribly confusing.

True. Ideally, the name for the thing would be pretty descriptive, but it's hard to find a label that's succinct, memorable, descriptive, and resilient to changes in our understanding of the underlying phenomenon.

Quote

The poll results are hilarious.

I'm not terribly surprised, to be honest, though I would have expected at least a couple of "yes" responses.

rivka · « **Reply #842 on:** September 09, 2016, 09:26:14 AM »

Yeah, exactly. I wouldn't find a 90% or 95% agreement nearly as hilarious.

Jonathon · « **Reply #843 on:** September 09, 2016, 09:40:41 AM »

I spoke too soon: I got my first "yes" response.

rivka · « **Reply #844 on:** September 09, 2016, 09:45:32 AM »

It's someone reading this discussion and messing with us.

Jonathon · « **Reply #845 on:** September 09, 2016, 10:07:15 AM »

Probably.

Ela · « **Reply #846 on:** September 10, 2016, 07:54:57 PM »

I told my husband that you did a column on split infinitives in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. He said, "What does Star Trek have to do with split infinitives?" And then he got it.

Ela · « **Reply #847 on:** September 10, 2016, 08:03:38 PM »

Speaking of anniversaries, have you done a column on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death? I thought of you when I saw an article in the NY Times about expressions that Shakespeare didn't actually invent.

Shakespeare Didn't Actually Write That.

The article only mentioned two that he didn't write. Wonder if there are others? We know there are lots of expressions we did get from Shakespeare.

Jonathon · « **Reply #848 on:** September 21, 2016, 09:10:15 AM »

Book Review: What the F

rivka · « **Reply #849 on:** September 21, 2016, 10:06:03 AM »