A plain language guide to grammar, punctuation and writing well
Newly coined words and phrases explained and discussed
One of my favourite aromas (another being geranium leaves) is the one that rises from dry ground when it starts to rain. How would I describe it? No idea. Until now, that is. Because I've just discovered a word invented for this very purpose: petrichor. Arriving like an interesting latecomer at a party, petrichor wasn't coined until the 1960s. Oxford Dictionaries explains… Continue reading Is there a word for . . . ?
Where was I? Oh, yes: serendipity. The Wordwatch Towers inbox has recently been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of an email asking me to explain the origins of this lovely word (which means making a happy and unexpected accidental discovery). The butler (at a loose end since my reader Gladys went to Devon to help celebrate… Continue reading The sound of serendipity
Now, where was I? Oh, yes, neologisms. Specifically, 'nymwars'. Horrible, isn't it? I didn't know what it meant and had to look it up. And it's all to do with the fact that Google+ has decided it likes being very bossy and strict and will only allow people to open an account if they use their real name.
Here's some amusement to take your mind off the fact that someone trousered a considerable amount of dosh (while admiring an eminent person’s new clothes) to come up with the word ‘refreshmentaste’:
An Astroturf campaign is a fake grassroots movement: it purports to be a spontaneous uprising of concerned citizens, but in reality it is founded and funded by elite interests. Some Astroturf campaigns have no grassroots component at all. Others catalyse and direct real mobilisations.
In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice that the word ‘slithy’ from the poem, Jabberwocky (also by Carroll) is a combination of ‘lithe’ and ‘slimy’: You see it's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word.
The ODE's announcement provoked the usual indignation, discussions and disagreements and also reminded me of something both interesting and funny that I read a while ago in The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing by Casey Miller and Kate Swift:
Wordwatch Towers 