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Here is the riff I wrote up after my informal poll the other day (following another discussion) about words you choose not to use.

I wanted to get into the baggage that individual words and phrases can accrue, but the brain is awash in heat and humidity.

This entry was originally posted at http://sartorias.dreamwidth.org/956611.html. Please ( Read more... )

Today's post is about the perils of Google Translate, and if you have a groan-making story, do come share it.

The general series is called writer hacks, so if you've got a nifty time saver or shortcut or an app that all writers must know about, here's the place to bring 'em out!

"But it really is a cardinal shame that editors are such a time-serving lot. I wish to Hades that some millionaire would endow a magazine for weird and arabesque literature, and have it edited regardless of anything but a genuine standard of literary merit. I have a notion that the results might be surprising--though I don't think it would ever ( Read more... )

A revisit to cussing, cursing, and swearing.

Something worldbuilders need to think about!

Via barry_kinghttp://youtu.be/gPlpphT7n9sRead more... )

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Today's riff is about kids and language, now just how they mangle it, but how they use it, including their landmines ( Read more... )

Today's bVC riff is on cussing, cursing, swearing, oaths, vows, and insultsI like it when writers think about the layers building their cultures, and their cuss words and oaths reflect that. Some readers revile against made-up cusswords, but I like them . . . if they make sense to me. Yet all insults don't always make sense in other cultures' ( Read more... )

Here's one that's contributing to a language study.

Via nancylebov, the organizers are tracking the use of Hebrew and Yiddish terms trickling into everyday language. Go here to participate.

Most people I've talked to over the years have family terms that derive out of two to four-year-old speech, either mangled words, or made-up words as the child struggles to express thoughts obviously going on inside their heads. An awful lot of this strays into the "Oh how cute" zone--wherein love fuels about 90% of the fun factor. "Our Little ( Read more... )