Long before I began this blog, and with much more insight and force, George Orwell traced the collapse of English usage to politics and economics.
Rather than try to summarize or restate his conclusions, I’ll just post a link to “Politics and the English Language,” written in 1946.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS Feed. Thanks for visiting!
No Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
I found this site yesterday that mails out grammar lessons Monday through Friday and then a quiz on the topics covered on Saturday. This is a nice way to tune up your English grammar understanding and usage. The lessons come via e-mail, and I received my first one today, which covered the very simplest basics of pronouns.
If this sounds interesting to you, it’s free and can be signed up for at Daily Grammar.
I’d love to run something similar, but I’m a one-person operation. Maybe when I’m fully retired, I’ll offer my own version of this. Meanwhile, enjoy!
Tags: English grammar understanding
No Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
You hear a lot of people say, “I googled it,” when referring to the process of finding something via Web search on Google. This certainly works in the vernacular, but come on, google as a verb in a Notword of the first magnitude. (That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised to find it in the dictionaries soon, if not already.)
The first equivalent usage to google as a verb that comes to mind is “to bork,” as in raking someone over the personal integrity coals as the Democrats did to Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.
What’s next, to iraq? “We iraqqed that country,” meaning to invade and take over another nation and then get caught in a quagmire.
Tags: Google
No Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
English Resources is a new feature that you can access through the navigation bar on the left. There you’ll find articles on English writing, grammar, essay composition and the like as I write, find and accumulate them. Enjoy and check back frequently.
Tags: English writing, essay composition, grammar
No Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
I’ve added a new page where you can submit English grammar questions to be answered.
Just go to the Ask Grammar Questions page on the top navbar, or simply click on the title here.
General turnaround time should be 24 hours or less, but I am a human being who has a life outside of Notwords and English grammar, so if there’s a bit of a slowdown, just forward oodles of dough and your answer will come forthwith!
Tags: English grammar questions
6 Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
I was standing in a fast food restaurant at lunch the other day waiting for my to-go order when in walked two teenage girls with their iPods. As soon as they got to where I was standing, one of them turned to me and said quite boldly, “Can I borrow a dollar?”
I laughed and enquired when and how she planned to pay me back, which I meant seriously since “borrow” means that the money should be returned someday. She shrugged, and I forked over a dollar but had second thoughts immediately. There was, after all, no “please” and no “thanks.”
Now, what lessons can one draw from this?
No Comments »
Filed under: Grammar Sucks
