There are times I’m glad I no longer work for EB Games/GameStop. Opening up my e-mail inbox today was one of those times. Here’s the subject line: Hugenormous Savings at GameStop! “Hugenormous”? Whiskey tango foxtrot? It doesn’t roll off the tongue, not the way “ginormous” does. How do you pronounce that? “Hug… enormous”? “Hew… gee..Continue reading “On Illinguistic E-mails”
Tag Archives: English
On Idiots Lose on the ‘Net
Our tale begins with Google, as many such tales do. It began with someone, perhaps much like yourself, in search of information about strange and unique subjects. Was it curiosity that motivated the intrepid searcher? Was it the need to complete an assignment for school? We cannot question the motives; we lack the capacity toContinue reading “On Idiots Lose on the ‘Net”
On Spelling and Punctuation
I have a little problem. My font of English has been permanently defiled. (That’s a Sherlock Holmes reference, for people unfamiliar with the quote. Comes from “His Last Bow.”) My sense of spelling and punctuation was ruined at a very young age thanks to Tolkien, Lewis, and Doyle. I was reading books punctuated in theContinue reading “On Spelling and Punctuation”
On Bad Writing
I was thinking today of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was a writer I discovered in college, and I discovered Hemingway much on my own. I cannot think of a single English class where I had to read any Hemingway. One day, I went to the bookstore, picked up a copy of A Farewell to Arms, pluckedContinue reading “On Bad Writing”
More on the Bayeux Tapestry
I wrote, about six weeks ago, about the Bayeux Tapestry, specifically about a necktie I bought that reproduces some of the Tapestry’s images from the story of William the Conqueror’s conquest of England and his defeat of King Harold II in 1066. I picked up recently a history of the Tapestry and the Conquest, AndrewContinue reading “More on the Bayeux Tapestry”
On Being an English Nerd
I saw this test on several friends’ webpages. Am I an English nerd, or what? 😉 True English Nerd You scored 91 erudition! Not only do you know your subjects from your objects and your definite from your indefinite articles, but you’ve got quite a handle on the literature and the history of the languageContinue reading “On Being an English Nerd”
On My Font of English
It was Sherlock Holmes in “His Last Bow” who said that, and I’m paraphrasing here, that two years undercover as the American Pinkterton detective Altamont had left his font of English permanently defiled. I’ve watched too much British television. My own font of English has been permantently defiled. I typed out a sentence, and wroteContinue reading “On My Font of English”