Gifted Typist

With news focusing on the cyclone in Burma, there are conflicting messages as to what the country is in fact called. Canada, Britain and the US do not recognize the name Myanmar because it was imposed on the country by the military junta in 1989. They say Burma. Pro-democracy campaigners also call it Burma. The [...]

Call me a miserable SOB, but I cannot stand the chirpy, cutesy little “Happy Monday!” greeting. Ditto Happy Tuesday-Sunday. I don’t mind Thank God It’s Friday, or (Tell me why) I Don’t Like Mondays. I don’t mind Good Day or Hello, either. I don’t even mind Eff Off, if it’s delivered with a modicum of [...]

Orthorexia is a condition that describes people with an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. ortho = right or correct rexia = appetite. I found the term in a book I’m reading “In Defence of Food” by Michael Pollan, the fellow who wrote Omnivore’s Dilemma. The book itself is excellent, as was his previous book Omnivore’s [...]

The other night I was merrily reading Adventures of Tom Sawyer to the little typists. It’s good stuff, very funny and a great read. But then I stumbled upon THAT word. I stopped and made the snap decision to read the word out loud. Then, all hell broke lose. The little typists were shocked and [...]

Until today, my city was a two-newspaper town. There was the broadsheet The Chronicle Herald and the tabloid Daily News. The Daily News was the little indie upstart that thought it could. It was young and hungry thirty years ago when it first started as a community paper. As it grew, it set its sights [...]

This is a masterpiece. It was spotted by The Language Log. It is a headline worthy of a Nobel-prize. The story came from the Associated Press but the headline is so Fox. Police: Crack Found in Man’s Buttocks HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Police searching a downtown home found a man hiding 15 plastic bags of [...]

In my continuing effort to satisfy the 100-Things meme challenge issued by the Bad Tempered Zombie, here is a list of the books I’m reading. I’m not a one-book-at-a-time sort of reader. I don’t feel I need to finish one book before starting another. There is freedom in dipping into this book or that one [...]

Another little book has reached its last page. I carry these leather-bound notebooks around everywhere to record mental ephemera of every description. My little book contains grocery lists, movie recommendations, phone numbers, notes taken from interesting radio documentaries, jokes told to me, music recommendations, books I should (but probably won’t) read, strange thoughts, profound thoughts [...]

My last batch of cheques got wet during delivery. When they dried out, they puffed up and became all wrinkly. Now I’m forced to iron out each cheque before sending it off. Is this money laundering? Will I get busted by Interpol. Or maybe Interpun, the international organization that monitors bad puns? Oh, excuse me, [...]

The word “Canadian” is now being used as crypto-racist slang, not necessarily against Canadians, but as a veiled slur against blacks. I first discovered the reference on the Language Log under the post entitled: “No Dogs or Canadians”. The Language Log interprets it as a term emerging from the apparent incongruity: Canada is viewed as [...]

Since we’re having fun with lists, here is a list of the worst cliches of 2007. These are the overused and distorted beyond all recognition words that fall out of the mouths of talking heads who to fill up air time on TV news shows, you know, to help us understand the world around us [...]

Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. This was sent in by GT commentator Dick. Thanks. 1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs. 2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. 3. Abdicate (v.), [...]

It hits every year at about this time. I’m bracing myself. I know it’s coming. But no matter how prepared I think I am, I wince every time I see it. It’s the worst cliche in journalism: “Christmas came early this year when….” It shows up in local newspaper stories and occasionally on TV broadcasts [...]

Not to be a picky pedant, but why do people sign emails with “Best?” Do they mean best regards? Best wishes? Best in show? Best what? I know that best means well. They could sign the email Worst, which wouldn’t be good at all. Best is definitely better than worst. But “best” all by itself [...]

I didn’t until I walked into Starbucks one day and made the mistake of ordering a “small” cappuccino. The roll of the eyes on the waiter – oops, barista – said it all: “Don’t ‘cha you know?” he seemed to be saying. “Tall is the new small.” Of course. Silly me. This is Starbucks. Why [...]