Blogroll Addition: The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

If you have ever noted the myriad grammatical faux pas visited upon the signage across the country, this blog is for you: the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks Here is a prior post with a very unusual urinal sign. yojoe out

Torture, Prius, And Feeling That You Are Doing Something

Complaining about bumper stickers is nothing new.  “My child is an honor student”,”Dog is my copilot” or “Kill your television”, have all provided ample fodder for countless rants.  With the aforementioned caveat, I must now launch into a bumper-sticker-related screed.

One Of The Problems With The English Language: The Same Word Having Opposite Meanings

As observed in this VC post, contranyms should be avoided, [T]he Court has sanctioned the use of speech as evidence in establishing that …. Is that “sanctioned” in the sense of “approved” or in the sense of “punished” (a common use of the term “sanction” in litigation)? The reader should be able to figure this [...]

Best Phrase Of All Time: Déjà Vu All Over Again

Listening to Neil Cavuto on Fox News talking about the terror attack in Mumbai.  He has used, numerous times, the best phrase of all time, to wit, “Its like déjà vu all over again.” yojoe out

Judge Bruce M. Selya And His Brobdingnagian Phraseology

Bruce Marshall Selya is a federal judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. During his twenty-five years on the bench, Judge Selya has produced in excess of 1,2500 opinions. This places Judge Selya astern the tripartite of Judge Richard A. Posner, Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, and Judge Sandra L. Lynch in [...]

Yo: The New Gender-Neutral Pronoun

Anybody who spends time writing is, at one time or another, vexed by the lack of a gender-neutral (should read sex-neutral) pronoun in the English language. Attempts have been made to overcome this problem either by avoiding indefinite pronouns, or by the use of his or her or his/her. Both of these fixes have drawbacks. [...]