Ben Zimmer writes in his column "Word Routes"

The Mystery of "Cronkiters"

Last week, after the death of Walter Cronkite, I wrote about how two words seemed irrevocably linked to the great newsman: avuncular and anchorman. Obituaries claimed that the term anchorman was first coined to refer to Cronkite, but as I wrote in Slate, this isn't exactly ( Read more... )

... but there was a serious language-based misunderstanding on a friend's blog. The Doctor is now satisfied that he's done his best. And the rest of us (of me) can all get some much-needed sleep.

From: Dr. Whom
To: feedback@boston.com
Subject: RE: Boston.com Suggestions/Comments
URL_concern: http://www.boston.com/travel/gallery/zoo_babies?pg=2

The baby animals are adorable! But on the second slide you say:

"Monifa," a Pygmy Hippopotamus female calf, is taken out of a bath at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. "Monifa," which means "I am ( Read more... )

On December 5, a radio program called The California Report carried a segment about Peter Ladefoged's archive of sounds from languages from far and wide. Here's the link and the intro text. The program is a RealMedia stream, maybe 10 minutes long. Unfortunately the link to the data he collected is broken: I get a blank page. (I've written to the ( Read more... )

In Language Log. It's a YouTube video, but I'd rather not go into the whole context here, and if I just embedded the video someone would probably take it sideways.

No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else

CRAPSTONE, England - When ordering things by telephone, Stewart Pearce tends to take a proactive approach to the inevitable question “What is your address?”

He lays it out straight, so there is no room for unpleasant confusion. “I say, ‘It’s spelled “crap,” as in crap,’ ” said Mr. Pearce, 61, who has ( Read more... )

Just sent to the source of Gmail's Quote of the Day:

Gmail just showed me your Quote of the Day, from Robert Half:

Not admiring a mistake is a bigger mistake.

I really don't think that admiring a mistake is a good idea. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that he said (or wrote)

Not admitting a mistake is a bigger mistake.

I await your response with ( Read more... )

see icon

* © Charlene Taylor D'Alessio http://home.earthlink.net/~edisonbear/ . Used by permission.

Here is my new icon* for Dr. Whom posts. I bought this print at Philcon as soon as I saw it and wrote to the artist, Charlene Taylor D'Alessio.

* © Charlene Taylor D'Alessio http://home.earthlink.net/~edisonbear/ . Used by permission.

She replied:

I don't have it pictured on my web site because it is a new painting-print and I want to limit
its ( Read more... )

This appeared on the LINGUIST List yesterday, Issue 19.3857. Since I know that a number of my friends and blogreaders are in same-sex relationships, I'm reposting it here.

Date: 13-Dec-2008
From: Donna Lillian
Subject: Survey on Same-Sex Naming Choices

I am conducting a survey on surname choices made by people in same-sex
relationships, both for ( Read more... )