As the political season simmers into August, we have been urged by staff to take a position or two for chrissakes. Therefore, in deference to our underlords, we timidly orient our opining noses toward political virtue: ·We favor raising the dew point and lowering the don’t point. ·We are opposed to topiary dogs: don’t go all Palace Puff on your Poodle. ·When a driver pauses to let you in, don’t just look. Go! Go Already! More positions will emerge according to our best scents. Can't wait for the
debates! Reader Reply of the Week: Speaking of nostril orientation, we are grateful to Rosemary Rawlins of beautiful downtown Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, for the Ole Factory input.
"I smell time in my laundry, specifically in my husband's lycra cycling bib shorts exuding hints of prior meals, damp with the molecules of car exhaust, ocean spray, and mucky bay odors, not to mention everything bagels."
And we are also grateful to be reminded that political virtue demands grammatical virtue, thanks to Tom Kelley of Morro Bay, California, with his Orthographic Reader Reply of the Week or Month or Season or Eon . . .
We love a good solid harangue, especially on a subject affecting hardly anyone - such as this attack on the usage of "begs the question" vs "raises the question." Tom cites logical fallacy and initial assumptions and truth and philosophy. He peppered the stew with concerns about laissez-faire linguists, descriptivists, misconceptions, and dilution of meaning.
While we applaud passion in all forms, and may or may not be guilty of occasionally begging the question, we beg the question: Aren’t your magic words - "please"
and "thank you" - enough? Why beg?
Two Activities That Marry Well.
Thanks, Tom! We may or may not embed other flawed, corrupt, spurious, indefensible misconceptions, and/or malapropisms, into our insouciant patter. First reader to identify eleven such bastardizations will be awarded a dandy litter of possums.
Fictionary Friday: Words You Need. Whether you know it or not.
Orthonym(orrth oh nimm) Noun: The correct version of a misspelled word.
In a sentence:After the revolution, words over eleven letters long will receive suffixes in
French only, for which the spell checkers will seek the orthonym in vain.
Fizzdom Friday: from our collection of favorite quotes.
"Even if you do learn to speak correct English, to whom are you going to speak it?" – Clarence Darrow
Wikipedia Friday Favorite: In honor of the intersection of curiosity and logarithmically expanding human knowledge, we offer a favorite obscure Wikipedia page. This week only (maybe): Peruse at risk of exposure:
