"A
QUICK ONLINE GRAMMAR GUIDE TO MODERN AMERICAN USAGE"
–
Written
By VICTOR MARTINEZ –
http://www.victorthewizard.info/grammar.htm
-- Last UPdated: Friday,
December 20th,
2024
--
"A grammar of a
language purports to be a description of the ideal speaker-hearer's
intrinsic
competence." -- Dr Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, MIT
GRAMMARIAN
= a person who intensely studies and writes
about grammar; a specialist,
linguist
or expert in grammar
GRAMMATISM
= a person w/ a condition who is overly
concerned about the proper use
of grammar, style
and usage; excessively pedantic behavior about grammatical standards,
current styling conventions and principles
GRAMMATOLOGY
= the scientific study of the nature, history,
etc., of writing systems
or
scripts and their typology
AGRAMMATISM
= is a form of expressive aphasia* that refers
to the INability to speak
in a
grammatically correct fashion; the resulting speech is often
described as "telegenic"
consisting
mainly of single words and fixed expressions; marked by slow and
hesitant
speech
* APHASIA
= language disorder/impairment due to an
accident to the brain; prior to
the
injury, illness or event, the person's language skills were
considered normal
ANOMIA
=
the INability to recall the names of people or things
GRAMMAR
= the system of rules implicit in a language;
the conformity of a sentence
--
or part of a sentence -- to the rules defined by a specific grammar
of a language; a
body of rules
imposed on a given language for speaking and writing it based on the
forms and structure of words [morphology],
with their customary arrangement in
phrases,
clauses and sentences [syntax], their word meanings [semantics], and
now
often with language sounds
[phonology]; grammar is a comprehensive description
to
this structural pattern and organization which can be studied
independently
SYNTAX
= the manner in which words, phrases, clauses
and sentences are orderly
arranged
and constructed; the study of rules of how words relate to one
another
QUICK
REMINDER: GRAMMAR
refers to the rules that govern
language
in general.
SYNTAX
refers to the rules that govern
SENTENCES
in particular.
LINGUISTICS
/ LINGUISTIC
SCIENCE aka GLOSSOLOGY
/ GLOTTOLOGY
[rare terms] =
while
closely related to PHILOLOGY [see below entry], there are
differences;
LINGUISTICS
is the scientific
study of language comprising ETYMOLOGY, SEMANTICS, PHONETICS,
MORPHOLOGY, GRAMMAR and SYNTAX; while
taught since the 1960s, there has been a
recent
greatly increased awareness in this field due to popular interest in
the study of
language and
communication as it relates to human beliefs and behavior, and the
realization
of the need to deal
adequately with the range and complexity of linguistic phenomena,
e.g.,
in philosophy, theology,
literary criticism, information theory, etc.; its practitioners --
LINGUISTS -- canNOT claim a monopoly on the
whole of their subject matter as a range of
other
disciplines -- from the study of literature to computer science --
deal with language in
one way or
the other, therefore the boundaries between other specialized fields
and
linguistics are NOT
fixed
LINGUIST
= one who is skilled in the scientific study
and use of languages; pertaining
to
the growth and development of language with its principal branches
being: etymology,
semantics,
phonetics, morphology, grammar and syntax [see prior entry above]
PHILOLOGY
= while closely related to LINGUISTICS, it is
NOT the
same; PHILOLOGY deals
with 1)
literary texts, written records and/or classical scholarship 2) it is
a specialized branch
of
linguistics that deals with changes in language over time which
encompasses the study of
language
from written historical sources, and; 3) it is the combination of
literary criticism,
history and
linguistics
DICTION
= the use and choice of words in speech and
writing which include one's accent,
voice
inflection, intonation, and speech-sound quality manifested by an
individual speaker
usually
judged in terms of prevailing standards of acceptability
EXPLICATION
aka "explication de texte" = derived
from a method of teaching literature
in
French secondary schools, it is a detailed analysis, painstaking
examination or
"close
reading" of a paper's structure,
style, content + imagery / symbolism if
given --
indeed every aspect of
the paper's text. In summary, it is a very formal, close analysis
and scrutiny of EDITING
of a given paper, e.g., thesis, dissertation,
term / research paper(s)
ETYMOLOGY
= the study of word derivations, origin and
development in which a
word is
traced as far back as possible in its own language, and to its source
in
either contemporary or
earlier languages. Understanding ETYMOLOGY often leads
to
a greater appreciation of linguistic nuances
LEXICOGRAPHER(S)
= Individuals who compile the words we use +
new words
[NEOLOGISMS] into a
working LEXICOGRAPHY [the compilation of dictionaries]
which then becomes a DICTIONARY that we all
use and refer to from time to time.
LEXICOLOGY
is the study of words and their origins, meanings and uses
PRONUNCIATION
vs ENUNCIATION
= The slight difference between PRONUNCIATION
and ENUNCIATION is that pronunciation is
the ACT of making sounds or articulating
words
while enunciation is the WAY of articulating words clearly
and distinctly
according to the rules governing the
language. PRONOUNCE defines HOW a word is
spoken;
pronunciation is to pronounce the sounds of words correctly. Good
ENUNCIATION is the act of speaking clearly
and concisely.
The opposite of good
enunciation
is mumbling or slurring of one's words
EASY
REMINDER: To PRONOUNCE
a
word is to say it CORRECTLY
To
ENUNCIATE
a
word is to say CLEARLY
ORTHOEPY
= Correct or accepted pronunciation; the art of
pronouncing words correctly;
the
field of grammar concerned with pronunciation, specifically, the
study of how a
written or
SPELLING
SYSTEM
relates to the pronunciation of a written
language
ORTHOGRAPHY
= a person who studies spelling in accordance
with accepted, standard
usage;
the part of language concerned with letters and spelling; the art of
writing words
with the proper,
correct letters
PANGRAM
or
HOLOALPHABETIC SENTENCE = is a sentence using every letter of a
given
alphabet
at
least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces,
test equipment, and
develop skills in handwriting,
calligraphy,
and keyboarding.
The
best-known English pangram is: "The
quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
It has
been used since at least the late 19th Century, was
utilized by Western
Union to
test
Telex/TWX data communication equipment for accuracy and
reliability, and is now used by
a number of computer programs
(most notably the font viewer built into Microsoft
Windows)
to
display computer fonts.
PANGRAMS
exist in every alphabet-based language; the PANGRAM is the opposite
of the
LIPOGRAM,
in which the aim is to omit one or more
letters.
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The
KEYS TO WRITING WELL EMPLOYING CURRENT and CORRECT GRAMMAR,
STYLING
and USAGE CONVENTIONS
To
educate people about the conventions of writing well is good for
them. Why? Because
writing well requires disciplined thinking.
Learning to write is a part of anyone's education.
What are the
styling conventions that writers need to learn? Among other things,
those who
write expository, sophisticated prose must learn
cognitive skills – as in how to:
●
Summarize
complicated matter;
●
Maintain
a cohesive train of thought
● Support ideas with adequate
evidence
To
effectively communicate the material, the writer must also use
mechanical skills – as in
how to:
●
Vary
sentence length;
● Vary paragraph length;
● Vary
sentence structure;
● Connect your ideas from sentence to
sentence, and paragraph to paragraph
Finally,
to make certain that the communication employed uses clear and
precise language
for the reader and free of distractions, the
writer must learn stylistic skills – as in how to:
●
Omit
UNnecessary words;
● Adopt a relaxed, natural tone;
●
Observe recognized and accepted grammatical constructs, e.g.,
subject-verb agreement,
parallel constructions, logically placed
modifiers … to avoid dangling/misplaced modifiers,
etc.
●
Distinguish between similar words that are easily confused or –
worse yet – do not even
exist! Some example are:
cede
vs accede vs concede / affect vs effect / aggravate vs irritate
(annoy) / amount vs number /
adverse vs averse / benefit vs
advantage / discrete vs discreet / farther vs further /
hardy vs
hearty / imply vs infer / less vs fewer / partly vs partially /
prescribe vs proscribe /
principle vs principal / prophecy vs
prophesy / recall vs remember / sorry vs apologize /
some time vs
sometime vs sometimes / tenant vs tenet / disburse for disperse
/
enormity for enormousness / expatriot for expatriate / fruit
melody for fruit medley /
hairbrained for harebrained /
heart-rendering for heart-rending / presumptious for presumptuous
/
reign in for rein in /
The
4 C's of good copyediting for EXPOSITORY WRITING: Clarity +
Coherency,
Consistency
+ Correctness = The "Cardinal C" ... COMMUNICATION =
Credibility
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Two
(2) Common Uses of Language:
1) Social Relations = Casual conversation is
motivated by the need to create social
bonds
within a comfortable social matrix as well as to strengthen social
relations
among individuals.
2) Self-Expression = Language is commonly
used simply for self-expression or for
clarifying
one's thoughts.
NOTE: While animals employ some types of
communication systems, there is nothing
which
approximates the distinctive features of human language specifically
a language's
structure
dependence.
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The
Four (4) Basic GRAMMARS You Should Know!
1) PRESCRIPTIVE
GRAMMAR = highly formalized
use of the English language
marked
by the LACK of contractions ["It is me." vs "It's
me."]. It represents a
manual
of attitudes to grammatical usage: good English vs bad English. It is
a type of grammar concerned with guiding
users to make the most effective
use
of language through common rules. Prescriptivists are concerned with
preventing needless departures from
Standard English. NOTE: Sometimes
referred
to as NORMATIVE
GRAMMAR.
2) DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR
= describes a very selective number of relaxed,
informal
grammatical
constructions that are used in a language and marked by the generous
USE of contractions. This type of grammar
is what is generally spoken by the general
public
as well as being used in most types of print media today. Therefore,
it is the
study of linguistic
structures focusing on a language's actual use by speakers. It is
NOT concerned with standardizing rules or
applying rules to all speakers -- only with
determining
what rules are actually used by native speakers.
NOTE:
This is in contrast to PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR. In
the broadest terms, the
battle
is between the DESCRIPTIVISTS, who seek to document how language is
ACTUALLY used vs the PRESCRIPTIVISTS, who
champion an edenic vision of how
language
SHOULD be used.
"He did not say anything" = formal
or prescriptive
grammar for
writing/speaking /
Standard
Dialect of English
"He didn't say anything." =
INformal or descriptive
grammar for
writing/speaking /
Standard
Dialect of English [most commonly used today]
"You came home late last night, is
that not
true?!"
= prescriptive
grammar writing
/
speaking
"Isn't
it true
you came home late last night?!" =
descriptive
grammar writing
/ speaking
"He didn't say nothing." =
NONstandard Dialect of English
"He no say." = UNgrammatical
3) REFERENTIAL GRAMMAR
= is a description of as many grammatical
aspects of a
language as are
thought useful for some particular purpose or specific
discipline.
It is meant to be an authoritative
compilation of facts. Examples of referential
grammar
would be found in reference manuals for biology, geology, law,
accounting,
geography,
education, cooking, pharmacy/drug textbooks, cosmetology, medicine,
e.g., "The American Medical
Association Manual of Style," etc.
This also extends to various style books of
English as further examples of
REFERENTIAL
GRAMMAR such as "The Chicago Manual of Style," "Publication
Manual of The American Psychological
Association," "The Modern Language
Association
Handbook," "The 2015 Associated Press Stylebook and
Briefing on Media
Law,"
"The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style,"
"Garner's
Modern American
Usage: The Authority on Grammar, Usage and Style," "The
Gregg
Reference Manual,"
"The Grammar Book: An ESL / EFL Teacher's Course, 3rd ed.,"
"Modern American Usage: A Guide,"
"Dictionary of Modern American Usage," "The
Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English
Usage," "Webster's New World English
Grammar
Handbook, 2nd ed.," "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar
and Style,
2nd ed.,"
"Descriptionary: A Thematic Dictionary, 4th ed.," "The
Facts on File Guide
to Style,"
"Oxford's English Grammar," "The Yahoo! Style Guide:
The Ultimate
Sourcebook for
Writing, Editing and Creating Content For The Digital World,"
and lastly "The New York Public
Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage," etc.
4) PEDAGOGICAL /
TEACHING GRAMMAR = a book for
teaching and learning either
a
foreign language or focusing on and further developing one's
awareness of a
person's native
language or the "mother
tongue." It can also be viewed as a book
that
seeks to describe a language comprehensively -- as if taught to an
ALIEN BEING
-- without reference to the pedagogical
needs of native speakers. In general, it guides
students
about grammatical concepts which appear to be insightful for the
native
speaker while extremely
complicated for a non-native speaker.
STANDARD ENGLISH
= The uniform type of English spoken and
written by educated
people; this
includes both PRESCRIPTIVE and DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR. It does NOT
contain any variations that are considered
UNgrammatical or NONstandard. It is widely
used
in the media and by authority figures, and it is sometimes referred
to as "the
prestige
dialect."
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The
Five (5) Basic Simple Sentence Patterns of The English Language -
Classified by
Structure
1) subject + verb = "I go."
"He runs." "Mosquitoes bite." "The
building collapsed."
2) subject + verb + object = "They
bought a new car." "The boys played baseball."
3) subject + verb + subject predicate =
"Janet's my friend."
4) subject + verb + object + object
predicate = "She makes me happy."
5) subject + verb + indirect object + direct
object = "She wrote him a letter."
Simple Sentence:
contains only one (1) independent clause =
"The prisoner escaped."
"Jane ran." "John fell." "The
team jogged."
Compound Sentence:
contains two (2) or more independent clauses
each of which
could be written
as a simple sentence and are of equal grammatical importance =
"He went to the party, but I stayed
home." "I came; I looked around; I took over."
Complex Sentence:
contains one (1) independent clause + one (1)
or more
dependent [subordinate]
clauses =
"Peggy frequently calls because she
wants to stay in touch."
"We looked for a different route
because the freeway was jammed."
Compound-Complex
Sentence: contains two (2) or
more independent clauses
and one
(1) or more dependent [subordinate] clauses =
"By the time we arrived, they had eaten
all of the food on the table, and they left
us
to search for scraps and leftovers in the fridge!"
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The
Five (5) Basic Sentence Moods of The English Language - Classified by
Function
Sentence mood conveys the speaker's attitude
toward the factual content of the
sentence.
1) Declarative:
make statements = "Today is
Tuesday." "Life is good."
2) Interrogative:
ask questions = "What are you going
to wear to the party?"
"Haven't
you finished cleaning up yet?!" [using the interrobang = "?!"]
*
* NOTE: It is a question
first and
an exclamatory
sentence second
therefore
the
"?" is placed first
and the "!" second.
3) Imperative:
give commands or request action = "Open
the door and go inside."
4) Exclamatory:
express strong feelings or emotions = "I
feel horrible today!"
5) Subjunctive:
uncertainty or hypotheticality of the content =
"I wish I were going with
you."
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DENOTATION
vs
CONNOTATION:
What You Need To
and Should Know!
"The
difference between the right word and the almost right word is the
difference
between lightning and a lightning bug." — Mark Twain
"The Wit and Wisdom of Mark
Twain: A Book of Quotations." [1998]
One of the best parts about writing is the
fact that you get to pick out your own words of
which
we have so many to choose from! Literally, tens of thousands of
wonderful words
floating through
space just waiting for you to pinpoint exactly which one(s) you want
to
use to convey/describe your
message/sales setting.
However, despite the fact that you have
seemingly UNlimited options when it comes to
word
choice, the specific meaning that you're trying to convey may narrow
your selection
significantly
for words can have several meanings, some literal, others
implied/suggested.
DENOTATION
= This is the literal meaning of an ENTRY WORD
right out of the dictionary;
it's
direct, realistic and describes explicitly the meaning of the word.
CONNOTATION
= This is the suggested or implied meaning
which is often symbolic,
culturally
constructed and often influences the interpretation of how one views
what is
being described. There
are words that have a harmless denotation, but once placed in
a different context, a new connotation is
clearly evident.
For example, the denotations of the word
"snake" might be "reptile," "slimy,"
and/or
"slithery."
However, when used for a person, the connotations of the word might
include
"treachery,"
"evil," and "betrayal" from the idiom "snake
in the grass." The word "slimy"
can
be used to describe a slug or algae, but when used for a person, one
recognizes that
this is someone
whom you would not want to be associated with.
The traditional meaning of the word "molest"
was "to interfere maliciously," but the
connotations are almost always negative as
this word did not denote sexual assault
until
recently; it has become a fairly harsh word, and most
readers/listeners would be
confused
if this word was used in its original sense with no sexual aggression
implied.
1) CHEAP
vs INEXPENSIVE
... which one to use and
is there a difference? ... YES!
cheap + INexpensive = both are denotations
for a low price, but the connotations
for each
word
are far different and there is a HUGE
difference ...
RETAIL SALES SETTING SET-UP
CUSTOMER: "Can you suggest a good
universal remote for my TV?; my original remote
broke
and the manufacturer no longer offers a replacement for the
model/make I have."
SALES ASSOCIATE: "Well, all of our
universal remotes are from China and are really cheap!"
= INcorrect!
SALES ASSOCIATE: "Well, all of our
universal remotes are located here [walking customer
to
exact location thereby increasing the likelihood of a sale] and are
relatively INexpensive."
=
CORRECT!
CONNOTATION ANALYSIS: The sales associate
stating that their universal remotes are
"cheap"
suggests that they're ALL of low quality from inferior processes born
of poorly
manufactured parts;
stating that they're from China only reinforces a negative perception
and that of an INadequate product.
In the remade sales pitch, China is never
mentioned nor the word "cheap," and ONLY the
price being "relatively INexpensive"
is mentioned by the sales associate; a quality product
being offered is thereby directly suggested
to the customer for purchase.
CHEAP
= suggests the product is INeffective,
disposable, will quickly degrade and become
useless
in short order; cheap things are usually INexpensive, but they're
also generally
INadequate and of
poor quality.
INEXPENSIVE
= simply says that the cost is low, but does
NOT imply
that the product is of
low
quality; as a retail sales associate/employee, one should strive to
provide quality
products and
services at INexpensive prices; one should never suggest that the
products /
services one sells
are "cheap" and therefore of low quality/INadequate.
"INexpensive" is a
comparative
description; a retailer can be INexpensive without being cheap, you
can provide
good quality without
breaking the consumer's piggy bank.
INexpensive products
are made with quality
materials using quality
manufacturing processes
to
produce quality
products that are offered at low
prices.
INexpensive
products may not be
as
low priced as cheap
products, but here's where the math comes in.
When one talks cheap
vs INexpensive,
the word VALUE
is the deciding factor. One can determine the
value of
something by comparing
the cost times the quality.
Low Quality
Merchandise + cheap price = a poor value for one's money
Good / High Quality
Products + INexpensive price = a good value for one's money
FAST FACTS:
"Cheap" prices are IMpossible to find; cheap describes a
product, NOT a
price. "Goods
may be cheap,
but prices are
low."
-- "American Usage and Style" [1982]
The price
of an article is what the seller
asks. The cost
is actually what the buyer
actually
pays.
THRIFTY = What money can't buy. Apply
THRIFTY to people, not
products.
EXAMPLE:
"Thrifty people shop for low-priced products."
MARKETING STRATEGY
EXAMPLE FROM The WORLD's LARGEST RETAILER:
WALMART
Most of us have shopped at a Walmart at one
time or another and many are "regulars" at the
nation's largest retailer which outpaced
No. #2 Exxon-Mobil by $103 BILLION in 2014.
Throughout any Walmart, customers will see
signage of "Everyday
Low Price" and "Rollback
Price."NOTE:
It does NOT say,
"Everyday Cheap Price," nor "[Rollback] Cheap Price."
Walmart's customers would see that as a
suggestion that Walmart sells low quality, inferior
products; instead their current signage
implies a quality product at a low price = VALUE.
WRAP-UP:
Think carefully
about what you're
saying to
the customer about
a product, service
or the
company itself. Do NOT DEvalue
your business nor services by referring to them
as
"cheap" nor by
saying that you've got "rock-bottom pricing," because it
makes your
services / products
look like poor, low quality being manufactured from inferior
materials.
CONSUMER FOLLOW-UP:
Smart consumers do their research and really know the difference
in quality; they know cheap does NOT last.
Selling "cheap" also doesn't engender healthy
business partnerships. Clients getting poor
services often end up calling on another
provider
having learned a valuable lesson about cheap providers; those
customers will
seek out
effective solutions at competitive, fine quality prices.
CONCLUSION:
When you're marketing a retail business, it is absolutely essential
to think
about what
you're saying and how
that messaging/word phraseology will be
perceived
by your
consumer-buying public.
BE SAFE, NOT SORRY:
Whenever you choose words, make sure that the connotation(s)
of your word choice(s) matches what your
word association intent
was ... a poor word
choice
can make or break your workplace relationships, your familial
relationships and
inner circle
social networks in an instant.
2) SOME
vs ANY
and CARE
vs WANT
... Is There a Subtle Difference in The
CONNOTATION
of These Words? ...
YES!
The determiners SOME and ANY are loaded
terms. ANY is used in open-ended questions
with
negation; the weekly stressed SOME suggests a positive
quantity/outcome. The
same
applies to CARE and WANT. Therefore, SOME and CARE are often used in
questions
where a positive
answer is expected.
A waitress/waiter in a restaurant to a
patron:
"Would you like some
dessert?" = the server wants to encourage
the answer "yes"
"Would
you care
for some dessert?" = the server wants to
encourage the answer "yes"
"Do you want
any
dessert?" = the
server doesn't care if the answer is "no" or "yes"
These are conducive questions, and the
questions and selection of words that go with
them
often convey a questioner's expectation or a preference for a given
answer.
"Is there some
news?" = expecting the answer "yes"
"Is there any
news?" = open or neutral question; not
surprised with a "no"
answer
"Isn't
there some
news?" = surely there is, so an
expectation of "yes"
"Isn't there any
news?" = hoping there would be, but
not surprised with a "no"
NOTE: When dealing with conducive questions,
one is dealing with a context-based
rather
than an absolute notion, i.e., the totality of the circumstances
under which the
question(s) were
asked/posed has to be considered for a yes/no response sometimes
referred to as a "polar question."
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--
COMMON USAGE ERRORS RED ALERT! --
1) THEIR
= "belonging to them" /
"That is their
home."
THEIRS = plural possessive pronoun /
"The Toyota is theirs."
THERE
= "in that place" /
"Their home is over there."
THEY'RE
= "they are" / "They're
over here."
THERE'S = "there is" /
"There's
enough room for everyone."
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2)
THAN
= comparative inflection (conjunction in
clauses of comparison)
THEN
= is a conjunctive adverbial of time and is
used in conditional sentences ...
CAUSAL:
causal conditional = then,
otherwise,in that case
general causal = thus, therefore,
consequently, for that reason
"Jane performed better than
Paul."
"Shortly after lunch, they then
adjourned."
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3)
THIS
+ THESE
+ THAT
+ THOSE
= Demonstrative Determiners
this + these = spatial: sense of nearness
that + those = spatial: sense of distance
this = temporal: now
that = temporal: then
this = psychological: more preferred
that = psychological: less preferred
this = sequential: first mention of someone
/ something
that = sequential: second mention of someone
/ something
EXAMPLES:
SPATIAL: "I like this
car better than that
one over there."
SEQUENTIAL: "This
dress is more attractive than that
one."
TEMPORAL: "I like this
movie better than that
concert last night."
PSYCHOLOGICAL: "I like this
candidate, which is why I didn't vote for that
one."
SPECIAL USAGE ALERT!
Many people utter the following INcorrect
statements:
INCORRECT: "I like these
ones over
here." [redundant]
INCORRECT: "I like
those ones
over there." [redundant]
CORRECT: "I like these
over here."
CORRECT: "I like those
over there."
CORRECT: "I like these
red
ones
over here." or "I like the
red ones over here."
CORRECT: "I like those
orange
ones over
there." or "I like the
orange ones over there."
Grammar-Usage
Problem:"These / those"
is already standing in for the noun,
therefore
using "ones" after "these" / "those"
is grammatically INcorrect and
is
redundant. "I like these." or "I like those." is
simple, direct and to the point.
NOTE #1: The phrases "this one"
and "that one" are correct.
NOTE #2: When one has an obvious redundancy
as in the above cited examples, it
becomes
a ... PLEONASM
= The use of more words than necessary to
express an
idea. Pleonasms may
be used for effect, but are more often than not produced out
of usage ignorance.
INCORRECT: "Would you repeat that
again, please?"
CORRECT: "Would you repeat that,
please?" ["again" is UNnecessary]
"Your ears pierced while you wait!"
= Since one's ears are permanently attached,
the
ad states the obvious!
"This is a terrible
tragedy for
the entire family!" = A tragedy is terrible, so it is
UNnecessary to state that it is "terrible."
When was the last time you heard of
a
"wonderful tragedy?!"
"I can hardly wait for the true
facts to
come out!" = facts by their very definition are
true, so why repeat it?! Have you ever
heard of "false facts?!"
NOTE #3: The phrase "SAFE
HAVEN" while technically
a pleonasm has come into
widespread
use as a COLLOQUIAL
expression. After all, a
"haven" is a place of
safety,
refuge, protection, sanctuary, security, shelter, retreat or a hiding
place.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
EVEN MORE COMMON USAGE ERRORS … RED
ALERTS!
--
1) "I"
or "me"
= first person pronouns: Which one
to use and when?!
"I"
= first person subjective [ you, he, she, it ]
"me" =
first person objective [ you, him, her, it ]
Which first
person pronoun to use "I" or "me" depends on HOW
the pronoun
is being used and which one is taking the action,
i.e., does the first person
pronoun come BEFORE or AFTER the verb?
The personal pronoun "I" comes
before
a verb vs the personal pronoun "me"
which comes after
a verb. "I" is the
subject
of a sentence while "me"
is the object of
a sentence.
"I like ice cream!" = "I"
comes before the
verb "like"
"She kicked the ball towards me."
= "me" comes after
the verb “kicked"
"Give the
radio to me." = "me" comes after
the verb "give"
"Vanessa
and I aren't coming to the awards dinner."
"Evelyn sent
Carmen and me a beautiful card last Christmas."
TIP: To help
you determine whether to use "I" or "me," REMOVE
all the people,
so you have:
"I am not coming to the
awards dinner."
"Evelyn sent me a beautiful card last
Christmas."
NOTE: The general rule is that YOU should
come LAST in the list, e.g., it's
"Shirley and me," NOT
"me and Shirley."
2)
"Who"
vs "Whom"
= relative pronouns: Which one to use and
when?!
"Who" = nominative pronoun / "Whom" =
objective pronoun
NOTE: When deciding whether to use "who"
or "whom," determine if you're
referring to the subject
of a verb in a clause -- use "Who" --
or the object
of a
verb in a clause -- use "Whom."
TIP:
The SUBJECT of a sentence is doing something [ Who ]; the OBJECT of
a
sentence is having something done to it [ Whom ].
"WHO"
is also used as the complement of a linking verb or a predicate
nominative:
"They know who you are!"
"WHOM"
is also used as the object of a preposition:
"To whom it may
concern." = used in certain formal correspondence
"This
is the person whom you are indebted to for life!"
EXAMPLES:
"Who asked?"
"Who is at the door?"
"Whom
did you tell?"
"The neighbor whom we invited for dinner
is at the door."
TIP: A quick, dirty and NON-grammatical
way of determining whether your choice
of "who" or
"whom," is correct is by replacing the relative pronoun
"who" with the
personal pronoun(s) "he, she or
they" and "whom" is correct if you can
substitute
"him, her or them."
"Who is at
the door?" = "He/she/they is/are at the door."
"The
neighbor whom we invited is at the door." = "We invited
him/her/them."
3) "That"
vs "Which"
= pronouns: Which one to use and how?!
"That"
= a defining, restrictive pronoun used in a restrictive clause
"That"
= introduces essential
information because it tells what you're
referring to
"Which" = a NON-defining, NON-restrictive
pronoun used in a NON-restrictive clause
"Which" =
introduces NON-essential
information regardless of how interesting
that
information might be
"The red lawn mower that is in the
garage is broken." = There are several lawn
mowers (more than
one) in the garage, but it tells you which one: the one that
is
red in color and that is broken
"The red lawn mower, which is
broken, is in the garage" = adds a (NON-essential
fact) about
the ONLY lawn mower in question
"My dog Rex that I raised
as a pup is in the American Kennel Show." = There are
several
dogs, but only REX is being referred to + he competed in a dog
show
"My dog Rex, which I raised as a pup, is in the American
Kennel Show." = There
is only one dog -- Rex -- being
referenced + he competed in a dog show
"Our office, which
has two lunchrooms, is located in Los Angeles." = There is
only
one office and it's located in Los Angeles; the fact that it
has two lunchrooms is
added, but NON-essential information
NOTE:
NON-restrictive clause "which has two lunchrooms" could be
removed
without altering the meaning of the sentence
"Our
office that has two lunchrooms is located in Los Angeles." =
There are several
offices, but it's the office with two lunchrooms
that is located in Los Angeles (the
others offices either have one
lunchroom or three or more)
NOTE: Restrictive clause "that
has two lunchrooms" cannot be removed without
changing the
meaning of the sentence as "Our office" depends on
it
QUICK USAGE TIP:
"That" = defines (references
one out of a group)
"Which" = informs (discusses only
one subject)
4) "fewer"
vs "less":
Which one to use and when?!
NOTE: use "fewer" with count
nouns when referring to people or things in the plural
that can be
counted
NOTE: use "less" with mass or collective nouns
when referring to something that
canNOT be counted OR that doesn't
have a plural, e.g., money, air, time, music, rain, etc.
INcorrect:
"They had less
workers in the warehouse than last
year."
CORRECT: "They had fewer
workers in the warehouse than last year."
= "workers" is
a count
noun.
"Eating
fewer calories
results in less
fat."
"Having fewer
employed people obviously results in less
employment."
"We've had less
rainfall this year therefore there are fewer
raindrops on the hood of
my car."
NOTE:
INcorrectly using "fewer" vs "less" can often
times take on a new meaning:
"Nicole's troubles are less
than mine." = Nicole's total amount of
stress, grief, and
the scope and magnitude of her problems are not
as great as mine.
"Nicole's troubles are fewer
than mine." = Nicole's problems are not as
numerous
as
mine.
GENERAL USAGE TIP:
use "fewer" for things that can be counted
use "less"
for things that are bulk or quantity that canNOT be counted
EXCEPTIONS:
Use "less" to describe time, money and distance
"Their
marriage lasted less
than two years!"
[time]
"I hope they paid the band less
than $400!"
[money]
"The wedding reception is less
than 10 miles
from the church."
[distance]
5)
Should you use GONE
or WENT?
GONE is the past
participle of
to go.
Used us a verb of a sentence, it must always
be
preceded
by an auxiliary verb such as: has, have, had, is, am, are, was, were,
be OR
by one of their
contractions.
WENT is the past
tense of
to go.
It never takes
an auxiliary verb.
"They gone to the movies." =
INcorrect [gone needs an auxiliary verb]
"They
have gone
to the movies." = CORRECT [auxiliary verb "have" is
used]
"They are
gone to the movies." = CORRECT
[auxiliary verb "are" is used]
"They
went to the movies." = CORRECT [NO
auxiliary verb is needed]
"You
could have went with them." = INcorrect [went takes NO
auxiliary verb]
"You
could have gone
with them." = CORRECT [auxiliary verb "have" is
used]
6) Should you say, "Like I said,"
OR "As I said"?!
Do NOT use the word "LIKE"
in place of "AS"
to introduce a phrase or clause
containing a subject with a verb.
"Like I said ..." = INcorrect
"As I said ..." = CORRECT
"Like he thought ..." = INcorrect
"As he thought ..." = CORRECT
"Like they all admitted later on ..."
= INcorrect
"As they all
admitted later on ..." = CORRECT
ANALYSIS: a) "Like" is INcorrectly
used as a conjunction when it is a preposition;
b)
as a preposition,
"like" is followed by a noun
NOT a
verb; "as" should be used
because
it is a conjunction
and is
followed by the verb
"said"
So if you don't want to sound like
a semi-literate fool, do as
I say.
EXCEPTION: Use "like" as in "tell
it like it is," because that expression is an established
idiom which have their own usage and rules.
7) What's wrong with "This is more
better
than any other!"?!
"This is more
better than
that one." = INcorrect
"This
is much better
than that one." = CORRECT
good + better + best = an example of a
comparative degree
or form
"better" is an adjective,
a descriptive word
"much"
is an adverb and
modifies an
adjective
more + better = are both adjectives so you
canNOT use two (2) words of the same
kind
together; one can use one or the other, but NOT both
as an adverb, "much
better" is a meaningful
expression because "better" can be
discussed
in comparisons of degree for: somewhat better, a little better and
"much
better"
"more better" is redundant because
the meaning of "more" is already in the word
"better." "Better"
really means "more good"
8) Should one say "Try
and ... " or "Try
to ... "?
"Try and" = actually means "try
to" which is an informal idiom
"I'm going to try
and visit
New York City this year." = INcorrect
"I'm
going to try to
visit New York City this year." = CORRECT
ANALYSIS: When one writes/says "try
and," one is separating "try" and "visit"
and
describing two (2) separate
events; when one uses "try to," one is using the
preposition to
link "try" to the
visit thereby describing one continuous, UNinterrupted
action; always use "try to" in
formal writing, never "try and"
9) Do you feel "GOOD"
or do you feel "WELL"?
QUESTION: "How do you feel today?"
"How are you today?"
"I'm doing good
today." = means you are in a good
mood which
addresses your
emotional
/ mental
health
"I'm doing well
today." = means you are in good
physical health
or completely
recovered from
a previous illness
"I'm feeling better
today." = means you are in recovery
from a previous illness
USAGE NOTATION:
"Marissa who does well
in her English studies is also considered to be
a good
student."
A person can only do WELL in English because
well is
an adverb and
only it can
modify the verb
"do."
A student who does well can be described as a good student
because the adjective
good must
be used to describe the noun,
student.
10) Usage Confusion: CONTINUOUS,
CONTINUAL,
CONSTANTLY,
CONSISTENTLY
...
which
is the correct word to use and what exactly
does each word mean?
CONTINUOUS = means UNinterrupted; without
interruption; NON-stop
CONTINUAL
= happening again and again at short intervals; frequently repeated;
start and stop
CONSTANTLY
= regularly, steadily at UNeven, UNexpected intervals AND has a
negative connotation
in its use
CONSISTENTLY
= in harmony with; marked by harmony; something you can depend
on; free from variation or contradiction
"There was a continuous
flow of water from the open faucet."
"Noah experienced continuous
rain for forty days and forty nights."
"Once the dam broke, there was a
continuous flow
of water downstream."
"The
rooster continually
crows all morning long!"
"There were continual
drops of water coming from the leaking faucet."
"There were continual
'Amber' alerts issued every 30 minutes on the
missing children.
"I'm in
pain constantly
despite all of the painkiller drugs I'm
taking."
"The teacher
was constantly
disciplining the class for their behavior."
"Doctors constantly
warn against overexertion during hot weather
spells."
"If you
choose to give advice, act consistently
with that advice."
"I consistently
get hungry right before the lunch hour at
school."
"My dog
consistently shows
up by my side whenever I'm feeling down."
11) MAYBE
vs PERHAPS
... Do They Mean The Same Thing? ... NO!
On the surface, MAYBE and PERHAPS seem to be
very similar sentence-initial adverbs.
However,
perhaps is the more formal of the two, and maybe is the weaker in
terms of
probability vs perhaps;
maybe co-occurred with overt negatives more frequently than
perhaps. Conversely, perhaps tended to
cluster and collocate with more positive
superlatives.
"Maybe
there is no divine force that will interfere
despite all of our hopes and prayers;
maybe
there is no divinity in this whole ugly war
that will manifest itself; maybe
there is
nothing
except us and our change of attitude to create a new reality for
tomorrow."
"Seven out of 10 families eat dinner
together twice or more times a week. Perhaps
this is
the
most hopeful sign for the future of America's dinnertime and
maintaining the traditional
evening
meal."
QUESTION: "Hey, do you think you and
your girlfriend could join us for Sunday brunch?!"
"Maybe
... I don't know ... we'll see ... I have to
ask my girlfriend what her plans are...." =
NO,
this person does NOT want to have Sunday brunch, and the use of MAYBE
suggests
less
probability of a get-together.
"Wow ... OK! Perhaps
all of us can see an afternoon matinee after
Sunday brunch if my
girlfriend
has no plans!" = YES, this person DOES want to have Sunday
brunch + engage in
an additional
activity after Sunday brunch, and the use of PERHAPS
suggests increased
probability
of a get-together.
12) MAY
vs MIGHT
... Does One Word Imply a Real Possibility? ...
YES!
MIGHT = is iffy, stronger sense of doubt; is
a stretch and may be contrary to fact
MAY = if something is likely to happen;
introduces a real possibility; strong likelihood
"Jenna may
come over later." = real possibility;
likely to happen
"We may
go to the party if our invite arrives on time."
= a real possibility
"Robert might
win the lottery." = this a real stretch
and NOT a likely possibility
"We
might
be able to go if our appointment is canceled."
= sense of doubt
"My boss told me I 'may' get a raise at
the end of this fiscal quarter." = if your boss
uses
his/her words with precision, then a raise in salary is a real
possibility than not
"My boss boss said that I 'might' get a
raise based on our fiscal performance." = a raise
in
one's salary is NOT likely because of the negative association
"might" carries
NOTE on USAGE
CONFUSION: MAYBE
or MAY
BE?
Maybe is
an adverb as
in, "Maybe Maritza will apply for the job." May
be is a 2-word
verb form
requiring a subject
as in, "Maritza may be ready to apply for
the job."
13) How do I decide whether to use "ANXIOUS"
or "EAGER"
in a sentence?
While these two (2) words are frequently
used interchangeably -- and are actually
listed
as SYNONYMS in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary -- they really should NOT
be
as they
suggest different feelings from the speaker/writer/user.
If you use the word "ANXIOUS,"
remember to associate it with a feeling of anxiety,
UNease, worry, being nervous, possible
failure and disappointment.
Conversely, the word "EAGER"
can be associated with a "keen or impatient desire,"
excitement, enthusiasm or great interest in
the outcome of something.
"We were anxious
[worried] about our first plane flight." =
CORRECT
"After our first
plane flight, we were eager
[excited] to fly again." = CORRECT
"He was anxious
about hearing
from his ex-wife." = a feeling of anxiety, worry
"The sailor was eager
to see
his fiancee again." = a feeling of enthusiasm
"Our children are anxious
to go to Disney World, but my husband and I are
eager
about the total cost of our family trip."
= INcorrect
"Our children are eager
[enthusiastic]
to go to Disney World, but my husband and I are
anxious
[nervous, worried] about the cost of our family
trip." = CORRECT
QUICK USAGE TIP:
One way to distinguish between these confusing, often MISused words
is to remember that
EAGER
is followed by to
of an
infinitive whereas ANXIOUS
is
followed
by
the preposition about.
One is eager
to do
or to
be something;
one is anxious
about
something.
If you say, "We were anxious
to go on
vacation," most likely you should be
using
eager as in: "We were eager
to go on
vacation."
If one were awaiting
word on the stock market at the closing bell -- and depending on
whether one had heard
that it had been recently "sluggish" or "bullish"
-- one would
say/write:
"The stock market
had been recently bullish, so we were all EAGER
TO learn
the stock
market
price at the closing bell."
"The stock market
had been recently sluggish, so we were all ANXIOUS
ABOUT learning
the stock market
price at the closing bell."
14) Should I say, "It's been nice
talking TO
you." OR "It's been nice talking WITH
you."?
BOTH are correct, but they mean different
things. To you and
with you are
both
prepositional phrases. TO
is a 1-directional preposition and implies that
YOU did
most of the talking.
WITH
implies a mutual and about equal participation
of give and
take. TO acts more
like a SOLILOQUY (where the speaker talks aloud to himself, but
with an audience listening) while WITH is
more like a COLLOQUY (a conversational
exchange,
a dialogue, conference).
Either is correct, but the meanings are
different. If you feel that you've done 70%+ of
the
talking, use the prepositional phrase "to
you," with the minimum
percentage of
65% vs 35%
weighted to the monopoly of the conversation by one speaker over the
other. Anything less than a 65% (2/3)
distribution should employ the prepositional
phrase
"with
you."
15) Should I say, "The
game will start IN
an
hour." OR "The game will start WITHIN
an hour."? Is
there a difference between "IN"
and "WITHIN"?
... YES!
An event that will take place IN
AN HOUR will occur at the END
of 60 minutes. An
event
that will take place WITHIN
AN HOUR may occur any
time between
the present
and
60
minutes from
now/the present. Both "IN AN HOUR" and "WITHIN AN
HOUR"
are prepositional
phrases.
SPECIAL NOTE:
The difference could be crucial in the use of "clear and precise
language" especially if you planned to
meet someone at a specific
time and place
in the sports venue during the game ...
"IN"
and "WITHIN"
become very important.
16) SPEED
vs VELOCITY
... Are They Even Similar? ... NO!
SPEED
is a measure of how quickly an object is
moving; it is the distance
traveled by
the
object per unit
of time.
This is the time that it takes to travel from one point to another
divided by the distance traveled regardless
of the direction of motion. This is known as a
scalar
quantity which
means it is a number indicating magnitude, e.g., meters per second
(m/s) , miles per hour (mph), etc.
The VELOCITY
of an object is a vector
quantity which
means that it includes not only
magnitude
[speed], but the direction
of movement as well.
FAST FACT: The VELOCITY
of a flying bird can change even if its SPEED
remains constant
because
it can change DIRECTION.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPATIAL
PREPOSITIONS: Example = to [NOTE: There are also NON-spatial
prepositions]
Space: "Go to
the movies" [direction]
Time: "Work from 9 to
5 p.m. today." [until]
"It's a quarter to
11." [before]
Degree: "He is wise to
that extent." "He is
wise to
such an extent that ..."
Idiomatic Usage: "Dance to
the music!" [accompany]
NOTE: Two (2) of the most common
prepositions -- OF and FOR -- do NOT have an
obvious prototypical
spatial sense as do the other commonly used
prepositions.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSSESSIVE
PRONOMINAL ADJECTIVES =
its + yours
POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS
YOUR = "belonging to you"
YOU'RE = "you are"
my your yours our
their mine ours theirs / her / his /
its [one's]
AFFIRMATIVE EXPRESSIONS = "I do
too" = "so do I"
NOTE #1: The word "too" provides
new information in affirmative statements while
cueing
the listener / reader that identical components of the first clause
may need
to be inferred to fill
in syntactic gaps to flesh out the full meaning. The phrase "I
do
too" can also be seen as
a device to short cut the repetition of sentence elements
primarily in the expression of agreement
between interlocutors.
NOTE #2: An INTERLOCUTOR
is a person
involved in a conversation or dialogue.
Two
or more people speaking to one another are each other's
interlocutors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WERE
= Was becomes were
not only to express a plural
"She was,
they were."
but also to express speculation, doubt or a
condition contrary to fact.
"I wish I were
able to help you." [doubt]
"I could help you if I were
rich." [speculation]
"If I were
you, I'd borrow the money." [condition
contrary to fact]
WERE used
in counterfactual conditional
and imaginative
conditional sentences
"If my grandfather were
alive today, he would experience a very
different world."
NOTE #1: Counterfactual
conditionals refer
to impossibilities with reference to the present
or the past,
but NOT the future as we don't know what [im]possibilities the future
holds.
Example of an imaginative
conditional sentence
referring to the future:
"If I were
the President, I would make some changes."
"If my grandfather were
here now, he would be angry."
Example of a hypothetical
conditional which
is UNrealized or even UNlikely, yet is
theoretically
possible:
"If Dan had the time, he would go to
Mexico." = present time hypothetical
"If
Dan had the time now, he would/could/might go to Mexico." =
present time hypothetical
"If
Dan were to have the time next year, he would/could/might go to
Mexico." = future time
hypothetical
NOTE #2: Hypothetical conditionals can refer
to the future as well as the present day
NOTE #3: The problem with imaginative
conditionals arises in the tense used. The past
tense
refers to the present time, and the past perfect tense refers to the
past time!
Its use rests with
the speaker's confidence in the fulfillment of the future
conditional.
The related verbs of "HOPE"
vs "WISH"
-- sometimes used with were
-- and the ensuing
confusion
of which verb to use! The verb HOPE is very similar to a future
(predictive)
conditional or
things that might
happen:
"I hope that John finishes his work."
= future conditional
"I
hope that John will come home." = future conditional
"If John finishes his work, he will
come home." = future conditional
ANALYSIS: Both of these sentences imply that
it is possible
that John will finish his
work
and will come home. = future conditional
On the other hand, the verb WISH is similar
to a counterfactual conditional or things
that
did NOT occur:
"I wish John had finished his work."
= counterfactual conditional
"I
wish that John could have come home." = counterfactual
conditional
"If John had
finished his work, he could have come home." = counterfactual
conditional
ANALYSIS: In these sentences, we know John
did NOT finish
his work and didn't come
home. =
counterfactual conditional
NOTE: The subjunctive forms that occur in
imaginative conditionals when "if" clauses
are
used with wish and
were:
"I wish
I were
a millionaire." = counterfactual
conditional
"If I were
a millionaire ..." = counterfactual
conditional
Other Related Verbs: IMAGINE,
PRETEND
and SUPPOSE.
Besides hope and wish,
English
uses several verbs of imagination such as imagine,
pretend and
suppose,
all of which should be included in a
comprehensive description of imaginative clauses
that
have tense shifts like conditionals.
"Pretend
that you could fly like a bird." = present
time counterfactual
"Let's
imagine that
we had a new president." = present time counterfactual
"Suppose
we went to Europe next summer." = future
tense hypothetical
"If Joe
had the time, he would go to Mexico." = present time
hypothetical
"Let's suppose
Joe had the time; he would go to Mexico."
= future tense hypothetical
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
REAL MEANING of COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS and CONJUNCTIVE
ADVERBIALS
or WHAT YOU NEVER
LEARNED IN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH
"AP" CLASS ... USAGE SECRETS
FINALLY REVEALED!
COORDINATING CONJUNCTION: really means ...
and = plus
but = in contrast
yet = but at the same time
so = therefore
for = because
or = one or the other of 2 alternatives is
true
"The Jacobs brothers are determined to
make it or go
bankrupt in the process."
nor = conjoins 2 negative sentences, both of
which are true
"Victor doesn't give up easily nor
does Jake."
BUT
vs YET:
often confused in usage, they do NOT mean the
same thing. "BUT"
signals
two (2) types of contrast,
while the conjunction "YET" is generally limited
to a single
type of contrast and occurring
at the same time.
BUT and YET in "Denial-of-Expectation"
which violates reasonable
expectations where
after reading
the first conjunct turns out NOT to be true after reading the second
conjunct.
"She told us that Athens was in this
direction, but [yet] she's mistaken."
"They
tried for three hours to steer the boat from the storm, but [yet] the
boat sank."
"She
expects me to pick up the kids, yet
meet her for lunch!" [at the same time]
BUT as a Marker
of Semantic Contrast where
two (2) qualities are set against each other to
focus
on semantic differences between them though it may NOT involve polar
opposition.
"Winter is warm in Miami, but cold in
Moscow." [2 qualities NOT occurring at the same time]
"Beth likes skiing, but her sister
Merry prefers tennis." [ "
" " "
" " "
" ]
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBIAL(s) = they fall under
"logical connectors" and means "in spite
of that" in a general sense, but a
more refined meaning is ...
However
= used as a discourse marker to show, signal,
indicate lexical variation or
opposition;
note: always used in the initial phase-clause position, i.e., used at
the
beginning of a sentence or
immediately following a semicolon " ; "
However =
"Notice this also"
"I hate the smog and heat in Pasadena;
however,
I'm moving there for the job
opportunities."
However
= certainty vs UNcertainty
"We may go to Hawaii, or we may go to
California. However,
we must find a way
to escape the
snow this winter!"
However =
semantic opposition
"Rachel doesn't do well in school.
However,
her sister Rebeca is a straight 'A' student."
However
= topic change marker
"I lost $10,000 is Las Vegas last week.
However,
let's talk about something else."
Nonetheless
= "Do not forget that ..."
"I've decided not to sue the Martins;
nonetheless,
I cannot forgive what they did."
Nevertheless
= requires a situation is which one is led to
expect one thing, but
finds
something quite different to be true.
"Christen has always been a top math
student. Nevertheless,
he failed calculus
this
quarter."
Still
= "In spite of what happened, be assured
that ..."
"I know that both presidential
candidates have broken their promises; still,
I'm going
to do my civic duty
and vote."
In any case
= allows a sentence frame to be mentally
constructed without the need to
verbalize
it in a wordy way.
"In
any case, we have to take
something soon." = "If we take this apartment, it is true
that we must take something soon."
[too wordy]
In contrast
= two different topics/subjects are different
in at least one (1) respect
"Northern California is cold in the
winter. In contrast,
Southern California is mild."
On the other hand =
it is only necessary to have a single topic/subject which is then
contrasted to two (2) contrasting
qualities.
"Southern California is brutally hot in
the summer." On the other
hand, it is one of the
more scenic states with many amusement
parks and coastal sports to engage in."
Also
= interchangeable with "and" with a
preference for identical
subjects in
two (2)
clauses
"He threshed the wheat. He also
hoed the corn."
In addition
/ Additionally
= interchangeable with "and" with a
preference for
NONidentical
subjects
"He threshed the wheat. In
addition, his children hoed the
corn."
"He washed the car. Additionally,
his children mowed the lawn and raked leaves."
Moreover
= used primarily in arguments where several
premises are used to support
a
conclusion of some sort."
"Jacobs probably committed the crime.
He had a guilty look on his face when police
arrived.
Moreover,
the police found a gun under his pillow."
Furthermore
= Used much like moreover, except that it tends
to preface third or
fourth
premises where more than two (2) premises exist.
"The working classes, for example, had
multiple grievances. [several grievances
given/listed]
Furthermore,
the struggle to reverse those conditions was roundly
defeated in the 1848 elections."
Similarly / Likewise
= used when there is some semantic similarity
across two (2)
predicates and
when the two (2) clauses in some way support a conclusion.
"John Nordstrom wears only Ralph Lauren
shirts. Similarly,
his brother Frank
buys only
designer pants."
"Christal's eating habits are
extravagant. She drinks expensive French wines.
Likewise,
she has caviar at least once a week."
Consequently
= used to signal a real causal relationship
between (2) events or
conditions
"Rebeca won the lottery; consequently,
she bought a Ferrari."
NOTE: Although most do not know Rebeca nor
could they predict what she will
do
with the money, they can understand the causal connection between the
lottery win and the car purchase.
Therefore
= tends to be used when readers/listeners are
in a much better
position to
come to a conclusion on their own. Also used to construct an
inference of a non-causal type, which is
likely to be easy to construct based
on
the facts given.
"Rebeca won the lottery; therefore she
was happy."
"The gun was under the bed; Jacobs had
a guilty look on his face; therefore,
it is
likely that Jacobs
committed the crime."
Thus =
is used much like therefore, but therefore tends to be used where
there is a
chain of premises in
an explicit argument. Thus may be used for parenthetical
"asides" where NO explicit
argument is intended. It's often times used in the same way
as "so" except this is more
formal and is found mostly in sophisticated written prose.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
The BIZARRE WORLD of WORD COMBINATIONS! --
CIRCUMLOCUTION
or PERIPHRASIS
= is roundabout, indirect speech or language;
a very lengthy way of expressing something
by the use of many words where one (1)
or
two (2) words would suffice; a very INdirect way of writing or
speaking.
"a large proportion of" = many
/ "are in possession of" = have
"in
the not too distant future" = soon / "in the
vicinity of" = near
"in
this day and age" = today / "in spite of the
fact that" = although
"at
this point in time" = now / "was of the opinion
that" = believed, thought or said
Circumlocution with "B-Verbs"
"be abusive of" = abuse /
"if applicable to" = apply to
"be
desirous of" = desire or want / "be in
violation of" = violate
"be
benefited by" = benefit from / "be derived
from" = derive from
"be
in possession of" = possess / "be in receipt
of" = have received
NOTE #1: PERIPHRASIS:
is the umbrella term for other verbose terms which suggest
excess wordiness, e.g., DOUBLESPEAK,
JARGON, REDUNDANCY, EUPHEMISM
NOTE #2: DYSPHEMISM
is
the antonym
(opposite) of a EUPHEMISM,
which is the
substitution of a DISagreeable term or phrase for a
neutral or even positive one
fatcat = executive
[dumb]
jock = athlete
reactionary=
conservative
bean-counter =
accountant
grease monkey =
mechanic
paper pusher = civil
servant
nerd / egghead /
bookworm = intellectual
Bible-thumper
/ Bible-beater / Jesus freak =
Christian fundamentalist
REDUNDANCY
= using more words than are necessary, wordy,
excess word(s)
that add nothing
to the meaning of a passage because its sense has already
been expressed
adequate enough / serious
crisis/ bisect in two / close proximity /
follow after /
paramount
importance / major breakthrough / warn in
advance / unfilled vacancy /
free
gift / future plans / future forecast
/ new recruit / new innovation / big in
size /
plan in advance /
past history / serious danger / sufficient
enough / descend down
REDUNDONYM
= the use of an ACRONYM followed by a word that
is actually part of the
acronym
INCORRECT: "Have you taken the
GRE exam yet?"
CORRECT:
"Have you taken the GRE yet?"
GRE
= Graduate Record Examination
INCORRECT: "Pull over so we can
visit the ATM machine."
CORRECT:
"Pull over so we can visit the ATM."
ATM
= automated teller machine
INCORRECT: "I need your PIN
number to access your account."
CORRECT:
"I need your PIN to access your account."
PIN
= personal identification number
INCORRECT: "All blood donations
are screened for the HIV virus."
CORRECT:
"All blood donations are screened for HIV."
HIV
= human immunodeficiency virus
INCORRECT: "Do you have the UPC code
for that product I need to scan?"
CORRECT:
"Do you have the UPC for that product I need to scan?"
UPC = universal product code
BACKRONYM =
is the reverse of an ACRONYM where
the existing word
or name
has
been
formed first then
the initial letters are made to fit the word sometimes invented
with a humorous intent. The word BACKRONYM
is a "blend" aka "telescoping"or
portmanteau word [French for "suitcase"]
of backward
+ acronym =
BACK RONYM
These terms came first
then the BACKRONYM followed:
Zone Improvement Program = ZIP Code
Mothers Against Drunk Driving =
MADD
Ford Automobile = FORD
[Found on Road Dead]
Ford
Automobile = FORD [Fixed or Repaired Daily]
News
= North East West and South (The news covers events from ALL
directions)
Never
A Straight Answer = NASA
CAPTCHA:
Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and
Humans
Apart)
USA PATRIOT ACT = United and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate
Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act of 2001
TWITTER =
Typing What I'm Thinking That Everyone's Reading [Acronym]
BACKRONYM:
This Whole Internet Tweeting Thing Emerges Reality
MOAB = Massive Ordinance Air
Burst
BACKRONYM: Mother of All Bombs
ACRONYM
= is a word derived secondly
from the initial letters of a word or a phrase:
AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome
CLUB = Chicken and Lettuce Under Bacon
COP = Constable
on Patrol
DINKs = Dual Income, No Kids
LASER
= Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
NATO = North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
NEWS
= North East West South [gathering of information from all
directions]
OPEC = Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries
PIN
= Personal Identification Number
RADAR
= Radio Detection and Ranging
"ROGER that" = "received
order given, expect results"
RAP Sheet = Report of Arrest(s)
and Prosecution(s)
SCUBA =
Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SONAR
= Sound Navigation Ranging
UNESCO
= United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Amber Alert = Originally referred to
Amber Hagerman, the 9-yr-old TX murder victim
BACKRONYM:
Amber
= "America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response"
NSA = National Security Agency
BACKRONYM: No Such Agency =
NSA / Never Say Anything = NSA
USC = University of
Southern California
BACKRONYM: University of Spoiled Children
FDR:
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
FDR: Falling Down Repeatedly
IBM:
International Business Machines
IBM: I've Been Moved
NOTE:
If an abbreviation canNOT be sounded out like a word, then an
INITIALISM aka
"ALPHABETISM"
is made out of the first
letters or parts of a compound term, but it's
sounded
out letter
by letter,
NOT as one word:
r.p.m. (revolutions per minute) mph
(miles per hour) ABC NBC CBS ATM CIA
CD DVD
FAA FBI
HIV IRS MGM NSA PMS PTA SOS
SUV URL UFO IRA (Individual Retirement
Account) IRA (Irish Republican Army)
APTRONYM
= a personal name that is especially suited to
the job/profession of its
owner
with these real-life examples:
Sally Ride - astronaut
Jim
Kiick - football star
William
Wordsworth - poet
Margaret Court
- tennis champion
Jack Armstrong
- retired MLB pitcher
Larry
Speakes - ex-White House Spokesperson
Dr
David M Bird - orinthologist, author of "The Bird Almanac: A
Guide to ..."
INAPTRONYM =
personal names that are more ironic than descriptive of the person
holding the names with these real-life
examples:
Don Black - White supremacist
Cardinal James L Sin - former Cardinal of
Manila
Edward Cocaine - arrested
for drug possession of Xanax
John
Balance - musician who fell from his 2-story balcony
Frank Beard - the only member of ZZ Top to
NOT have a beard
RETRONYMS
= a word or phrase invented to denote what was
originally a genus
term, but has
now become just one more special species in a larger genus.
BACKGROUND: In the beginning, there was the
simple telephone (later shortened
to
phone). Then came the push-button
telephone (often referred to by
its trademark
name of Touch-Tone
telephone which is a GENERONYM).
So a NEOLOGISM
had to
be
created to refer to the original
type with a dial: the rotary
telephone.
EXAMPLES:
Original
New Species
RETRONYM
mail
e-mail
snail mail
soda
diet soda
regular soda
milk
skim milk
whole milk
pen
ballpoint pen
fountain pen
watch
digital watch
analog watch
book
paperback book
hardcover book
telephone
touch-tone telephone
rotary telephone
typewriter
electric typewriter
manual typewriter
television
color television
black-and-white television
business
e-business
brick-and-mortar business
When trademarked
product names evolve into generic common nouns, they are called
GENERONYMS.
The phenomenon itself is called GENERICIDE,
i.e., the "death" of the
original
description in favor of the brand name.
NOTE: Many GENERONYMS
start out as brand names for everyday household
items
such as Kleenex (for
facial tissue), Xerox (for photocopy), Band-Aid (for bandage) and
Aspirin (for the painkiller acetylsalicylic
acid).
Some common
GENERONYMS
are: Aspirin, Band-Aid, Kerosene,
Xerox, Google, Linoleum,
Laundromat,
Escalator, Frisbee, Heroin, Kleenex, Nylon, Jello, Granola, Yo-Yo,
Zipper, etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABSOLUTE
WORDS aka UNCOMPARABLE
ADJECTIVE, ABSOLUTE
ADJECTIVE,
UNGRADABLE ADJECTIVE
are words that refer to ultimate conditions
that canNOT be
intensified by
more,
most,
less,
least,
very,
quite,
largely or
especially.
"This is the most
perfect piece we have to sell." =
INcorrect: if it's perfect -- without flaw,
error
or IMperfection -- how can it be "most" or "more"
perfect?
"This is the most
unique person we have in class." =
INcorrect; unique means "being
one
of a kind," so how can "one of a kind" be further
modified / expanded upon?!
Because something is either unique or NOT
unique, there can be NO degrees of
uniqueness.
"more unique" = INcorrect /
"very unique" = INcorrect
"almost unique" = CORRECT /
"not quite unique" = CORRECT
Partial List of ABSOLUTE WORDS:
absolute
adequate
chief
complete
dead
devoid
entire
equal
essential excellent
eternal
false
fatal
favorite
final
full
ideal
impossible
inevitable
infinite
integral irrevocable
main
manifest
necessary
only
parallel paramount
perfect
perpetual
possible
preferable
principal round
singular
stationary
sufficient
supreme
total
unanimous unavoidable
unbroken
uniform
unique
universal void
whole
state-of-the-art
NOTE #1: However, you can qualify absolute
words with nearly,
almost
and hardly
because
such
words show that the ultimate condition does not yet exist.
"This certain task is most
impossible to complete." = INcorrect
"This certain task is nearly
impossible to complete." = CORRECT
"This statue is hardly
perfect in its present form compared to the
original." = CORRECT
NOTE #2: One can also use qualifiers to
dismiss doubts about an absolute condition.
"This job is really
excellent."
= CORRECT
"I am definitely
full
after today's Sunday brunch." = CORRECT
"This exercise regimen is absolutely
impossible
to maintain." = CORRECT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PORTMANTEAU
WORDS aka "SUITCASE
WORDS" aka "BLENDS"
aka "TELESCOPING"
PORTMANTEAU is French for "suitcase"
where two (2) words are folded into one (1) just
as
the two (2) parts of a suitcase fold into one piece of luggage; two
meanings are
"packed up" into
one word from elements which do not normally co-occur that
come
together as a BLEND.
BLENDING is a common source of new words through
ABBREVIATION
though not all become standard in
regular use.
alpha + beta =
alphabet
aviation + electronics = avionics
biology
+ electronic = bionic
binary + digit = bit
blankout +
beep = bleep
B category + limp = blimp
Web +
log = blog
blow + spurt = blurt
boom +
hoist = boost
bold + rash = brash
breath +
analyser = breathalyser
flame + glare = flare
flap +
drop = flop
bungle + stumble = bumble
camera
+ recorder = camcorder
flinch + funk = flunk
free +
software = freeware
chocolate + alcoholic = chocaholic
cellulose
+ diaphane = cellophane
cinema + complex = cineplex
clap
+ crash = clash
confidence + man = con man
condensation + trail =
contrail
flap + aghast = flabbergast
glamour + ritz =
glitz
globe + blob = glob
God + be (with) + ye =
goodbye
gorilla + baboon = goon
guess + estimate =
guesstimate
haggle + tussle = hassle
hazardous + materials =
hazmat
wireless + fidelity = Wi-Fi
huge + monstrous =
humongous
internal + communication = intercom
information + commercial =
infomercial
interconnected + networks = Internet
Internet + etiquette =
netiquette
jam + soiree = jamboree
medicine + care =
Medicare
melt + weld = meld
motor + pedal =
moped
modulator + DEmodulator = modem
motor + cross country =
motocross
motor + cavalcade = motorcade
multiple + complex =
multiplex
marionette + puppet = Muppet
naphthene + palmitate =
napalm
outside + patient = outpatient
parachute
+ troops = paratroops
petroleum + chemical = petrochemical
picture
[pix] + element = pixel iPod
+ broadcasting = podcasting [podcast]
precede
+ sequel = prequel
prim + sissy = prissy
poke + rod
= prod
professional + amateur = pro-am
pulsating
+ star = pulsar
rubbish + garbage = rubbage
scribble
+ sprawl = scrawl
squeeze + crunch = scrunch
sea +
landscape = seascape simultaneous
+ broadcast = simulcast
situation
+ comedy = sitcom sky
+ hijack = skyjack
sky +
laboratory = skylab
slovenly + language = slang
slap
+ lather = slather
slop + slush = slosh
smack +
mash = smash
smoke + fog = smog
snappy +
jazzy = snazzy
some + more = s'more(s)
sound + landscape =
soundscape
splash + spatter = splatter
splash + surge =
splurge
sports + broadcast = sportscast
squeeze + crash =
squash
squall + squeak = squawk
squirm + wiggle =
squiggle
tangerine + pomelo = tangelo
taximeter + cabriolet =
taxicab
telecommunication + commuter = telecommuter
television +
photogenic = telegenic
telephone + marathon =
telethon
television
+ evangelist = televangelist
teleprinter [teletype] + exchange = telex
transmitter + receiver =
transceiver
transfer + resistor = transistor
travel + monologue = travelogue
teen + between = tween
twist + fiddle =
twiddle
twilight + light = twinight
twist + whirl =
twirl
wade + toddle = waddle
video + blog =
vlogger
web + seminar = webinar
web + tabloid = webloid
wipe + sweep = swipe
work + alcoholic =
workaholic
beat + beetles = Beatles
cable + telegram = cablegram
car + armageddon = carmageddon
chill + relax =
chill-lax
Corvette + Bel Air = Corvair
cyber + librarian = cybrarian
day + vacation = daycation
ebony + phonics =
Ebonics
electronic + mail = e-mail
emotion + icon = emoticon
free + kiosk = freeosk
gigantic + enormous =
ginormous
glamour + camping = glamping
holiday + stay [at home] =
holistay
Internet + citizen = netizen
Labrador + Poodle =
Labradoodle
malicious + software = malware
mobile + weblog = moblog
motor + hotel = motel
nighttime + tranquility = NyQuil
phone + tablet = phablet
prom + proposal =
promposal quantum
+ bit = qubit
quasistellar + radio = quasar
rolling + index = Rolodex
stay
[at home} + vacation staycation
Twitter + universe = Twitterverse
vegetarian = educated = veducated
dog + goggle = doggle
mock + cocktail =
mocktail Social
+ Finance Inc = SoFi [Technologies]
Stadium
drama
+ comedy = dramedy
SPECIAL
NOTATION on "GOODBYE"
= God
+ be (with) + ye
The suitcase word "GOODBYE"
went through various versions beginning in the
16th
Century before settling on
the final version in the 19th C entury buttressed by good
night
and good
day.
When this type of phonetic attrition occurs,
the semantic connection with
the
source phrase is generally lost with differing employments in their
meaning even
though they
originally existed side by side, e.g., God be with ye = goodbye,
housewife =
hussy, etc.
In time, good-bye / goodbye was further
shortened to simply bye.
From this, some speakers
thought
it needed some fattening, so the REDUPLICATION of bye-bye
was produced. But
some
thought it needed to shed some poundage, so it was again reduced to
the almost
breezy "b-bye!"...
and all from the original GOD BE WITH YE!
CLIPPED WORDS
aka "CLIPPING"
is the process by which a word is shortened or
"clipped"
to produce a
new word
with the same
meaning. CLIPPED WORDS are abundant in English,
and this shortening is called Zipf's
Principle which is well known in the study of languages.
CLIPPED WORDS
are reductions of longer forms usually by
removing the end
of the word,
e.g.
ad from
advertisement,
but sometimes the beginning
of a word, e.g., plane
from
airplane,
or both the beginning and ending together, e.g. flu
from influenza.
ad = advertisement
plane = airplane
auto = automobile
bike =
bicycle
burger = hamburger
bus = omnibus
cent =
centum
chemist = alchemist
curio = curiosity
fan =
fanatic
fax = facsimile
coed = coeducational student
iron
= flatiron
mart = market
memo = memorandum
perk =
perquisite
scram = scramble
margarine = oleomargarine
pants
= pantaloons
pike = turnpike
movie = moving picture
prom
= promenade
specs = spectacles
spit = spittle
sport = disport
stereo = stereophonic
still = distill
sub = submarine
tails = coattails
tie = necktie
trump = triumph
tux = tuxedo
typo = typographical error
van =
caravan
varsity = university
vet = veteran
vet = veterinarian
wig = periwig
zoo = zoological garden
COLLOCATION
aka "NON-REVERSIBLE
PAIRS" are pairs of
words that always appear in
the
same order, i.e., customary phrasing based on their habitual
co-occurrence. This is
closely
related to SEMANTIC
PROSODY that describes the
way in which seemingly neutral
words
can be perceived with either positive or negative associations
through frequent
occurrences,
i.e., COLLOCATIONS.
NOTE: COLLOCATIONS should not
be confused with the notion of WORD ASSOCIATION
in psychology, which refers to any kind of
mental relationship between words.
Adam and Eve / back and forth /
the beans and the bacon / bed and breakfast /
birds and bees /
boys and girls / bread and water / cause and effect / coat and
tie /
coffee and doughnuts / cream and sugar / cream and sugar /
cup and saucer / dead or alive /
fish and chips / front and center
/ fun and games / ham and eggs / husband and wife /
knife and fork
/ ladies and gentlemen / man and wife / crime and punishment / Jack
and Jill /
law and order / life or (and) death / my/our thoughts
and prayers / nice and easy /
pen and pencil / pen and paper /
pomp and circumstance / pots and pans / prim and proper /
profit
and loss / rain or shine / right and proper / salt and pepper / shoes
and socks /
soap and water / song and dance / sooner or later /
suit and tie / sweet and sour /
tall and thin / rank and
file / sugar and spice / sweet and innocent / up and down /
whether
by hook or crook / wine and cheese /
COLLOCATIONS Using "MAKE"
make
preparations
make a decision
make a phone call
make
a promise
make a complaint
make an effort
make
a list
make a comment
make a suggestion
make
a discovery
make a noise
make progress
Using "DO"
do
damage
do research
do
justice
do harm
Using "CATCH"
catch a
ball
catch a cold
catch a movie
catch
a train
catch a crook catch
a wave
Using "HAVE"
have a
headache
have lessons
have an operation
have
a party
have fun
have breakfast
have
a baby
have a break
Using "TAKE"
take a
bath
take lessons
take a test
take
a look
take a picture
take a break
AGGLUTINATION
is the formation of new words via the process
of combining or
compounding
several words using their affixes / suffixes or word elements into a
single
word with minor or no
changes to the forms or meanings of the constituent/root words.
The etymology of the word AGGLUTINATION is
Latin for "glue together"; therefore it is
the "welding together" of two (2)
or more terms into a single unit for a single, new word.
Examples of word affixes + suffixes = new
words
"channel-ing" "class-ified"
"counter-intelligence" "crypto-zoology"
"de-classify"
"demon-ology"
"disfigure-ment" "dis-information"
"extra-terrestrial" "para-normal"
"para- psychology"
"pre-cognition" "pseudo-science"
"satan-ism" "shaman-ism"
"spell-bind"
"super-natural" "war-lock"
"witch-craft" "xeno-glossia"
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--
NEW WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: WHAT
YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
THE
PROCESS +
Special
Phrasal Constructs for Emphasized Literary Effect!
--
When you tell someone, "Let's look it
up in the dictionary and see what it says!"
to
settle a disagreement, you are referring to an ENTRY
WORD, sometimes referred
to as a LEXEME
or a LEXICAL
UNIT, LEXICAL ITEM (rare).
ENTRY WORDS in dictionaries
might
also include former PROTOLOGISMS,
which are even newer than NEOLOGISMS,
but
have yet to find their way into online form and general usage; when
they do, they will
then become
NEOLOGISMS.
A LEXEME
is the basic
abstract unit
of a
word which
all inflected forms originate from,
e.g.,
walk = lexeme; walks, walking, walked = inflected forms from the
minimal distinctive,
abstract
unit known to most dictionary users as an ENTRY
WORD.
An INFLECTION
is the name for the extra letter or letters
added to nouns, verbs and
adjectives
in their different grammatical forms. Nouns
are inflected in the plural,
verbs
are
inflected in the various
tenses,
and adjectives are
inflected in the comparative/
superlative degree.
A SUPERLATIVE
is an inflected form which signals the greatest
degree possible of that
particular
word, e.g., loud = entry word or lexeme; louder = inflected form;
loudest
=
superlative
form / early ... earlier ...
earliest
/ hot ... hotter ... hottest
/ cold ... colder ... coldest
NOTE: ALL superlatives
are types of INFLECTED
FORMS, but NOT
all inflected forms are
superlatives.
SPECIAL NOTE: The words FARTHER
and FURTHER
are comparative degrees of the word
FAR, but both of these words have undergone
DIFFERENTIATION.
In the clearest and best
usage,
FARTHER
= refers to concrete, physical distances;
FURTHER
= refers to an extension
of
time, degree or figurative distance.
far = entry word / farther and further =
inflected forms / farthest and furthest = superlatives
While FARTHEST
and FURTHEST
follow the same patterns as the aforementioned
examples,
FURTHERMOST
is a very rare superlative
equivalent of
FARTHEST,
but it is NOT
the
superlative
equivalent of FURTHER!
"Joshua Tree National Monument is
located in the furthermost
[or farthest]
part of south central
San
Bernardino County straddling the San Bernardino and Riverside
counties borders."
"Anything exceeding the speed of light
was the furthermost
thing from Albert
Einstein's mind."
=
INcorrect
"Anything exceeding the speed of light
was the furthest
thing from Albert Einstein's mind."
= CORRECT
NEOLOGISMS
or invented words are to be used carefully and
self-consciously. Usually,
they
demand an explanation or justification since the English language is
already well
stocked. New words
must fill demonstrable voids to survive, and each year some good
ones get added to the English language.
With the explosion of electronic media in the
second
half of the 20th Century, it has compressed the time and standards
for a new
word's "maturity"
which have quickly dropped, so its acceptance into mainstream use
has been greatly sped up.
NEOLOEXIA
("new word") is the act of creating a
new word and is a synonym. A
NEOLOGISM
can not only be a new word, but it can also give a new meaning to an
existing word, a new sense to an existing
word or can even be a new phrase, e.g.,
workaholic,
talk radio, couch potato, lounge lizard, sound bite, middle
management,
meritocracy, glitch,
mall rat, nitty-gritty, do-it-yourself, and prime time, etc.
COINAGE
is the word formation process in which a new
word is created either
deliberately
or accidentally without using the regular, standard word formation
processes and often from seemingly out of
nothing! A new word called a NEOLOGISM
goes
through a word formation process called NEOLOGY.
COINAGE
is somewhat rare and uses an UNcommon method to
create new words by
companies
getting their trademark
names to be used as "everyday
words of language."
However,
in today's society, media people try to outdo one another with more
and more
better-sounding words
to name their products hence some of those "coined" words
are
quickly adopted by the
masses and become GENERONYMS.
NOTE:
See above, previous entry for "GENERONYMS"following
"RETRONYMS"
DOUBLESPEAK
aka "DOUBLE
TALK" is the language of
DISinformation, and is a subset of a
EUPHEMISM;
it is language intentionally meant to be ambiguous, and is used to
deceive
especially by concealing
or MISreprsenting facts; DOUBLESPEAK is most often used by
government bureaucracies, businesses and
the military; some examples of DOUBLESPEAK
are:
torture = "physical persuasion" or "enhanced
interrogation" / genocide = "ethnic
cleansing"
/ poor people = "fiscal UNDERachievers" / hobos, "street
people," the homeless =
"non-goal-oriented
members of society" / prostitutes = "sexual workers"
or "sexual service
providers"
/ grafitti sprayers = "wall artists" / borderline students
= "emerging students" /
firing
people = "downsizing" / UNprovoked attack = "pre-emptive
strike" / died = "passed on"
INfrequently, a NONCE
WORD will eventually find its
way into a mainstream dictionary.
A
NONCE WORD is invented for a special
occasion or event,
e.g., "The entire graduating
class
spent their grad night at Disneyland and has a bad case of
'Disneyitis'!" or "The
newly
nominated candidate has already shown her 'Borkability' under intense
scrutiny
by the judicial
panel." ["Borkability" = the potential for a
candidate to be damaged by a
relentless
negative media campaign.]
Even rarer is for a HAPAX
LEGOMENON to find its way
into mainstream print dictionaries
or
online versions of generally accepted dictionaries. A HAPAX LEGOMENON
is a word
or phrase that only
has one (1)
recorded use -- ever -- in the written record of a language.
It can also be a word or phrase found only
once in
the work of a particular author. The
word
"Blimah" is a biblical HAPAX LEGOMENON appearing only once
in Job 26:7: "Who
suspended
Earth over blimah."
INTENSIFIER ADVERBS
or INTENSIVE
WORDS that have the effect of
rendering UNcertain or
hollow
the statements in which they're trying to reinforce by heightening or
lowering the
effect of another
word or concept are: candidly, clearly, compelling, definitely, duly,
frankly,
hardly, if practicable,
kind of, rather, manifestly, meaningful, obviously, perfectly, quite,
reasonable, seriously, significantly,
somewhat, substantially, terribly, undue, and virtually.
JARGON
is a term used to describe the specialized
terminology of particular groups
[UFOLOGY
/ UFO organizations] occupations, social groups or specific
professions.
Often times used in
a derogatory sense, it carries an implicit criticism that those who
employ jargon do so in order to either
exclude OUTsiders, conceal meaning from the
UNinitiated
or to create the impression of complexity or profundity [closely
related to
ARGOT].
JARGON
has a magnified importance today because we
live in an age of vague rhetoric
and
INcomprehensible jargon which predominate. MEDICAL JARGON is often
times at
the forefront of
cutting-edge jargon, e.g., "heart bypass surgery" =
"coronary artery bypass
graft"
from which comes the acronym CABG [pronounced "cabbage"],
which some heart
surgeons who
are offended at such a slang term still prefer the somewhat
pompously
arcane term of
"myocardial revascularization."
NONWORD
is a word, group of letters or speech sounds
that looks or sounds like a word,
but
is not accepted and is DISapproved by native speakers, and does not
appear in most
major
dictionaries due to its spurious origins making it illegitimate,
e.g., "conversate,"
"irregardless";
NONWORDS arise from many sources, e.g., back-formation = "orientate"
/
malapropisms = "UNmercilessly"
/ common misspellings = "forebearance" / neologisms =
"jumblicious" / there is no way
to tell whether a NONWORD will fade away or prove to be
useful
and therefore enter standard usage, e.g., donate,
stick-to-it-iveness, etc.
WORD
MIX-UPS: There
are four (4) basic word mix-up groups often w/ a humorous
effect:
MALAPROPISMS
are what you get when
someone substitutes a similar-sounding word
for another such as:
"He's the pineapple of politeness" instead of: "He's
the pinnacle of
politeness." [From playwright Richard
Sheridan who named one of his characters Mrs
Malaprop, who had a
habit of ridiculously mixing up words in the play called
"The
Rivals." Her most memorable word mix-up of
Sheridan's 1775 play was when she referred
to someone "as
headstrong an an allegory on the banks of the Nile," when she
actually
meant, "as headstrong as an alligator on the banks
of the Nile."] Former Pres George Bush
infamously used to
say: "nucular power pants” instead of “nuclear power
plants” in 2003.
MONDEGREENS
are what you get when
listeners MIShear words especially from song
lyrics and create a
new meaning, e.g., "Sweet dreams are made of cheese"
instead of:
"Sweet dreams are made of this."
Hearing
is a two-step process. First, there is the auditory perception
itself: the physics of
sound waves making their way through your
ear and into the auditory cortex of your brain.
And then there is
the meaning-making: the part where your brain takes the noise
and
imbues it with significance. That was a car alarm. That’s
a bird. Mondegreens occur when,
somewhere between the sound and
the meaning, communication breaks down. You hear
the same acoustic
information as everyone else, but your brain doesn’t interpret
it the
same way. What’s less immediately clear is why,
precisely, that happens.
In the song, "Rudolph, The
Red-Nosed Reindeer," people often hear: "OLIVE,
the other
reindeer
used to laugh and call him names” instead of “ALL
of the other reindeer.”
And
lastly, some very popular MONDEGREENS come from children’s
misinterpretations
of the Pledge of Allegiance. These are best
exampled from a scene in the movie
"Kindergarten
Cop" where the kids are saying the Pledge, and there
are lines like “I led
the pigeons to the flag” and “One
Nation under God, invisible, with liver tea and Justice
for
all.”
EGGCORNS
is
where people replace the right word with a different word -- an
idiosyncratic
substitution -- that sounds the same — a
homophone — that makes logical sense in the
phrase. This
came about when a woman substituted the phrase egg
corn for
the word acorn.
A
good example is someone who hears "windshield factor" and
didn't realize it was "wind
chill factor" or “coming
down the pipe” instead of “coming down the
pike” and “chomping
at the bit” instead
of “champing at the bit."
NOTE: UNlike a mondegreen,
the general intended meaning is not
changed.
NOTE:
Mondegreens can also serve as examples of ORONYMS which are phrases
that are
pronounced without pause/quickly and share a similar
pronunciation, e.g., "ice cream" for
"I scream,"
and "fork handles" being misheard for "four candles."
SPOONERISMS
is another particular kind of mix-up. It
happens when you swap sounds
between two words in a phrase. There
are unintentional spoonerisms that don't make
sense, such as “goys
and birls” (for “boys and girls”), and
then there are spoonerisms
that create new, funny meanings such
as “keys and parrots” (for “peas and
carrots”)
and “better Nate than
lever” (for “better late than never”).
PHATIC PHRASES/EXPRESSIONS: "PHATIC" terms are
those bits of pleasantries and
small talk we utter throughout the
day: "How's it going?" "Good to see you." "Have
a
good one!" "Good morning!" "I'm fine!"
"See you later!" etc. The
phatic function is used
to establish a social connection without
really communicating any meaningful information;
there is little
or no socio-pragmatic benefit nor functionality to these expressions.
This
type of language is used to start or stop a conversation or
to check the connection
between the sender and receiver.
OFFICIALESE
aka
"GOBBLEDYGOOK"
refers to the obscure language of
jargon-mongering
bureaucrats; it
is the inflated, pompous and meaningless gibberish which is the
formal
language of U.S.
government bureaucrats especially in obfuscation of official
documents
and letters with a
concentrated effort focused on FOIA replies to the public; with
little effort,
OFFICIALESE can
usually be translated into plain English, e.g., "retrograde
movement" =
"Retreat!"
in military lingo / "crowd management team" = riot
police/control in USG officialese
SLANG
is a NONstandard language that has any of two
(2) of these four (4) characteristics:
1)
it is INformal and significantly lower in status than Standard
English;
2) it first arises in
the language of the street, popular culture or hoi polloi;
3) it is more or less UNacceptable in
formal or polite settings, and;
4)
it displaces a conventional term with one that is vivid, perhaps
obscene/vulgar, and may
even be
taboo.
NOTE #1: SLANG
changes very quickly in English and is often
used within groups --
particularly
small or close-knit ones -- to help keep the group together and
strengthen their
inner social
circle / network ties.
NOTE #2: the word "SLANG"
is itself a portmanteau word ["suitcase"
word] blended from
the words
"slovenly" + "language" = SLANG
WEASEL WORD
is an equivocal or ambiguous word that
diminishes the force or meaning
of
a concept being expressed, which -- while intended to strengthen a
statement -- actually
has the
effect of weakening it by making its content more questionable.
ANAPHORA
aka EPANAPHORA aka EPIBOLE:
The deliberate and emphatic repetition of a
word, sound or phrase
at the BEGINNING of successive clauses, verses or sentences in
order
to achieve a specific, intended literary and artistic effect.
ANAPHORA has its roots
in the Biblical Psalms which emphasized
certain words and phrases.
EXAMPLES
of ANAPHORA:
“I
have a dream that ...” – Martin Luther King famous speech
is an example of a large-scale
anaphora
“We shall fight
in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight in
the hills,
we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the
landing grounds, etc.” Sir Winston
Churchill
ANTITHESIS:
is a type of Anaphora which
involves the placing of a sentence or one of its
parts against
another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas;
the direct
opposite of the previous phrase
EXAMPLES
of ANTITHESIS:
“It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age
of foolishness, etc. – Charles
Dickens, “A Tales of Two Cities”
“To err is
human, to forgive, divine …:”
“One small step
for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong, Moon
Landing 1969
“And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your
country can do for you – ask what you can
do for your
country!” – President John F Kennedy
EPISTROPHE
aka
EPIPHORA:
The deliberate and emphatic
repetition of a word, sound or
phrase at the END of successive
clauses, verses or sentences that are close together in text
in
order to achieve a specific, intended literary and artistic
effect.
EXAMPLES
of EPISTROPHE:
“And
that government is of the people, by the people, for the people, for
the people shall not
perish from the earth.” -- this is
perhaps the best known example of an epistrophe that being
the
concluding sentence in Lincoln's famous November 1863 Gettysburg
Address
“I want pizza, he wants pizza, we all want
pizza!”
“The sky was bright. Her smile was bright. My
heart was bright.”
“Many people spend their lives
pursuing power, consolidating power and enjoying power.”
LOAN
PHONOLOGY aka LOAN
is the study of how languages adopt foreign
words within
their language
system(s) or dialect; there are four (4) basic types of loan
processes which
have been
recognized by LINGUISTS:
1)
LOAN
WORD(S) = where both the form
and meaning are borrowed, assimilated or imported
with
some adoption -- whole or partly -- to the new language, and where
there are sometimes
NO changes
made to the borrowed word, e.g., "sputnik" [from the old
Soviet Union]; "karma"
[from
19th Century Sanskrit]; "blitz" [from 1940s Germany];
"hotel" [from France];
"kindergarten"
[from Germany]; "extrovert" [from the German word
"extravertiert"]
2)
LOAN BLENDS
= is a word which is also borrowed, but where
only one (1) element is
partly
foreign, e.g., "restaurant" with a simulated French ending;
3) LOAN
SHIFTS aka SEMANTIC
EXTENSION = where the meaning
is borrowed, but the form
is
native; a change of meaning under the influence from another
language, e.g., restaurant;
4)
LOAN
TRANSLATION aka CALQUE
= where the borrowed word is literally
translated item
by item, e.g.,
"superman" from the German word "ubermensch";
"blue blood" from the
Spanish
phrase "sangre azul"; "merciless" from the French
word "sans pitie," etc.
LOAN WORDS
Borrowed From Other Languages: Here are a few
words which have been
adopted
into the English language, and which have come from more than 120+
languages:
AFRICAN WORDS
= apartheid / banana / cola / gnu / impala /
marimba / mumbo jumbo /
raffia /
safari / samba / yam / zombie
ARABIC WORDS
= admiral / alcohol / alfalfa / algebra /
artichoke / assassin / bazaar /
carafe
/ caravan / coffee / cotton / harem / kebab / magazine / monsoon /
sherbet / sofa /
tariff / zero
AUSTRALIAN
(ABORIGINAL) WORDS =
boomerang / dingo / kangaroo / koala [bear]
NOTE:
Aboriginal referring to the indigenous language(s) of the continent
officially
classed as a
"Pama-Nyungan" language of which a handful still have
1,000+ speakers
CHINESE WORDS
= china (porcelain) / chow / chow mein / gung
ho / kow tow / mahjong /
shantung
/ soy / tea / tofu / typhoon / yen /
CZECH WORD
= robot
DUTCH WORDS
= bush / cole slaw / cookie / drill / maelstrom
/ pickle / Santa Claus /
skate /
sketch / skipper / sled / sleight / slim / sloop / split / stoop /
stove / wagon / yacht
EAST INDIAN (HINDI)
WORDS = bungalow / cashmere /
catamaran / cheetah / curry / dinghy /
juggernaut
/ jungle / khaki / loot / pajamas / shampoo / shawl / teak / thug /
veranda
NOTE: Hindi-Urdu is a
Indo-Aryan language spoken widely across the north of the Indian
subcontinent; it is the national language
of Pakistan, and one of the national languages of
India
since 1000 AD with literature dating from the 12th Century
FRENCH WORDS
= ambiance / attorney / authority / bail /
ballet / bizarre / blonde / boulevard /
bouquet
/ brochure / cadet / caprice / carousel / chagrin / charade / charity
/ chef / clergy /
clientele /
coroner / crime / debris / depot / detour / entourage / essay /
expose / fiance /
fiancee /
garage / gourmet / government / hotel / impromptu / judge / jury /
justice / liberty /
lingerie /
malapropos / mayor / migraine / minister / morale / morgue / motif /
naive / nee /
noel / nocturne /
nuance / pastor / penchant / pension / progress / protege / public /
raconteur / rebel / religion / restaurant /
resume / sabotage / suede / suite / ticket / traitor /
treasurer / troop / trophy / vague /
verdict / viola / vis-a-vis
GERMAN WORDS
= angst / automat / blitz / delicatessen /
diesel / ecology / extrovert /
Fahrenheit
/ flak / frankfurter / gestalt / gestapo / gesundheit / hamburger /
kaput /
kindergarten /
liverwurst / loaf / polka / pumpernickel / sauerkraut / schema /
spiel / sputnik /
strudel /
torte / wanderlust
HUNGARIAN WORD
= goulash
IRISH WORDS
= blarney / brat / whiskey
ITALIAN WORDS
= alfresco / attitude / balcony / ballot /
bandit / banister / bologna / brigade /
bronze
/ cannon / carnival / casino / cavalry / cello / colonel /
confetti / duel / fiasco / finale /
ghetto
/ gondola / incognito / infantry / influenza / jean / macaroni /
malaria / mascara / pasta /
pastel
/ piano / prima donna / relief / sentinel / spaghetti / stiletto /
stucco / torso / trio /
virtuoso
/ vista / volcano / wig
HEBREW WORDS
= bar mitzvah / kosher / menorah / shalom /
shekel
JAPANESE WORDS
= banzai / bonsai / hibachi / honcho /
judo / jujitsu / kamikazee / karate /
origami
/ sayonara / tycoon
JAVANESE WORDS
= batik / gong
NOTE:
is an Austronesian language spoken in central Java and by
colonization elsewhere
in
Indonesia
LAP
aka "LAPPISH"
aka SAMI WORD = tundra
NOTE:
Finno-Ugric language spoken in northern Norway and parts of
neighboring countries
NATIVE-AMERICAN WORDS
= chipmunk / pow wow / skunk / totem / wigwam +
26 state names
such as Alabama,
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Nebraska, Utah, etc.
NOTE:
referring to the languages of North America north of Mexico, which
are now almost
extinguished by
the use of English under the broad umbrella term of "AMERIND";
primary
languages spoken
were/are: Iroquoian, Mukogean, Uto-Aztecan, Salishan, Wakashan, etc.
PHILIPPINE WORD
= boondocks
POLYNESIAN WORDS
= aloha / hula / taboo
PORTUGUESE WORDS
= commando / marmalade / pagoda / peon /
samba
RUSSIAN WORDS
= commissar / cosmonaut / czar / dacha /
intelligentsia / Kremlin /
mammoth
/ parka / politburo / sputnik
SANSKRIT WORDS
= karma / mantra / nirvana / yoga
NOTE: is an Indo-Aryan language of ancient
India first called "VEDIC" and dates from the
2nd millennium B.C [2000 B.C.]; Classical
Sanskrit became the standard language, evolved
into
a vernacular form called "Prakrits"; today it is mainly
written in "Devanagari" script
SPANISH WORDS
= adios / albino / alfalfa / amigo / avocado /
armada / bronco / burro /
cafeteria
/ canoe / canyon / chocolate / corral / coyote / fiesta / flotilla /
hurricane / junta /
loco /
maoana / mesa / Montana / mosquito / palomino / patio / pinto / plaza
/ poncho /
potato / ranch /
rodeo / rumba / sierra / silo / tobacco / tomato / tornado / tortilla
/ tostada
TURKISH WORDS
= kiosk / sherbet / shish kebab / yogurt
YIDDISH WORDS
= bagel / kibbutz / klutz / nosh / pastrami /
schmaltz / schlep
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SENTENCE
TUNES aka SUPRASEGMENTAL
PHONEMES, PLURISEGMENTAL,
NON-SEGMENTAL
and SUPER
FIX is a term used in
phonetics and phonology to refer to a
vocal
effect which extends over more than one (1) sound segment in an
"excited utterance,"
such
as pitch, stress or juncture pattern. All of this affects the way
you say something which
can
change the
entire meaning
of what you're saying, and the below SENTENCE
TUNES will
convince you!
The changes in meaning are due to what are
called SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONEMES. A
suprasegmental
phoneme is one that has additional changes to the typical phoneme --
inflection/stress and pitch on certain
words that can affect the meaning of what you've
said.
This change in meaning as a result of
inflection/stress is an important characteristic of
English that needs to be explicitly taught
and known by ALL native speakers, especially
for
ESL students where English is a new or developing language.
Read the sentences below aloud emphasizing
or stressing
the
UNDERLINED
WORD
to
change
the
entire
meaning
of the sentence.
"I
did not say you stole my red purse." =
Someone else said it.
"I did
not say you stole my red purse." = Strong
indignant denial of saying it.
"I did not
say you stole my red purse." = Strong
denial of saying it.
"I did not say
you stole my red purse." = I implied it,
but I didn't say it.
"I did not say you
stole my red purse." = I wasn't talking
about YOU.
"I did not say you stole
my red purse." = You did something else
with it.
"I did not say you stole my
red purse." = You stole someone else's.
"I did not say you stole my red
purse." = You stole one of another color.
"I did not say you stole my red purse."
= You stole something else that was red.
NOTE:
Knowing this can be a very valuable asset/ability/attribute in
various professions
plus meeting
the challenges of everyday life, and discerning what people are
REALLY
telling you based on HOW
they're saying it. Therefore, being a excellent LISTENER is of
utmost importance, so one can understand,
appreciate and identify HOW certain key
stressed
words are being said.
Law enforcement
can effectively use SENTENCE
TUNES on the
interrogation/questioning
of
suspects as they pay particularly close attention to HOW a suspect is
saying something
which can go a
long way in ruling out or including someone as a suspect. It is also
a
valuable tool during the
course in all aspects of a criminal investigation, e.g., helping to
determine the credibility of
witnesses/subjects based on HOW they're communicating
their statements to police.
As a sales
associate in a retail
environment, the employee can discern what a potential
customer really wants in their purchase --
especially on high-dollar items -- by noting the
stress/inflection on certain words and HOW
they're said. What the customer says they
want
may be at odds to what they really NEED
based on specific, key stressed words.
When dining
out at a restaurant,
paying particular attention to what words your server
is
stressing and HOW they're saying it will help you in deciding what
your server thinks
is really
good on their menu and/or what they've been told to push/sell for
their main
course and dessert to
their customers for that day.
For the medical
profession, paying close
attention to not only what the patient is saying,
but
HOW they're saying it may help determine what's really bothering
them; what they
think is ailing
them may in fact be something else which can be suggested to certain
words they've UNconsciously
stressed to
the doctor.
For simple, everyday life, paying close
attention as a good listener to what immediate
family
members, co-workers and people whom you run into during the course of
a
normal day while you engage
them in casual conversation may help you conclude /
determine what they're really saying by
paying close attention to HOW they're saying it.
RELATED WORD: ACCIDENCE
is the field of grammar which deals with how
word forms
vary to express and
distinguish number, case, person, mood, tense, etc.; basically it
deals
with the INFLECTION
of words.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETYMOLOGY:
Why it's important to know one's WORD ORIGINS! BORROWED
CALENDAR
WORDS
aka LOAN
PHONOLOGY [see two (2)
sections below]
Sunday = The sun's day
Monday
= The moon's day
Tuesday = Tiw's
day; "Tiw" was the Teutonic god of war
Wednesday = Woden's day; "Woden"
was the Norse god of the hunt
Thursday
= Thor's day; "Thor" was the Norse god of the sky
Friday = Fria's day; "Fria" --
the wife of Thor -- was the Norse goddess of love and beauty
Saturday = Saturn's day; "Saturn"
was the Roman god of agriculture
January = In honor of Janus -- the Roman god
with 2 faces -- one looking forward / backward
February
= In honor of "februa," the Roman feast of purification
March = In honor of Mars, the Roman god of
war
April = a reference to
spring -- "aprilis" -- the Latin word for "opening"
May = In honor of Maia, a Roman goddess and
mother of Mercury
June = In
honor of Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage
July
= In honor of the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar
August = In honor of the Roman emperor
Augustus Caesar
September = in
reference to "septem," the Latin word for seven; September
was the
seventh month of the Roman calendar
October = in reference to "octo,"
the Latin word for eight; October was the eighth
Roman month
November
= in reference to "novem," the Latin word for nine;
November was the ninth
Roman month
December
= in reference to "decem," the Latin word for ten; December
was the tenth
Roman month
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And
finally, a last word about about the three (3) primary styles of what
one writes
and places in the
"Subject" line of an e-mail.
1) SENTENCE CASE =
"The story of my life is one of many ups and downs"
2) TITLE CASE =
"The Story of My Life is One of Many Ups
and Downs"
3) UPPERCASE aka
ALL CAPS
= "THE STORY OF MY LIFE IS ONE OF MANY UPS
AND
DOWNS"
NOTE #1: If one uses TITLE CASE, do NOT
capitalize:
a) articles a, an and the
b) prepositions of three (3) or fewer
letters, e.g., of, in and for
c) most conjunctions of three (3) or fewer
letters, e.g., as, and, or and but
NOTE #2: This e-mail list moderator --
Victor Martinez -- uses TITLE
CASE in all of his
"Subject" lines for his daily
photo stream e-mails.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And
now, for those LOVERS
of WORDS
and BOOKS,
here are some words
about words
you should have
in your vast, voluminous vocabulary!
BIBLIA
ABIBLIA = volumes of worthless books or literature with no humanist
interest
BIBLIOBIBULI = people
who read too much and have little or no other interests
BIBLIOCLASM = the mutilation, burning or
destruction of books for ideological reasons
BIBLIOCLAST
= one who burns or destroys books especially the Bible
BIBLIOGONY / BIBLIOPOESY / BIBLIOGENESIS =
the making / production of books
BIBLIOGRAPHY
= a list of books, essays and monographs on a subject; a list of the
works of a particular author; a list of all
sources one has used in writing a research paper
BIBLIOKLEPT = one who steals books; a book
thief [suffers from kleptomania]
BIBLIOLATRY
= excessive devotion to a book or books, e.g., the Bible, the Koran,
etc.
BIBLIOLOGY = the history
and science of books as physical objects; study of the Bible
BIBLIOMANIA = a passion for possessing
books; a craze for collecting rare books
BIBLIOPHAGE
/ BIBLIOPHAGIST= a book worm; an ardent, dedicated reader
BIBLIOPHILE = one who collects, cherishes
and preserves books for their physical value
BIBLIOPHOBIA
= a fear / hatred of books usually with a certain theme, e.g.,
witchcraft
BIBLIOPOLE /
BIBLIOPOLIST = a bookseller who buys and sells books especially rare
ones
BIBLIOSMIA
= the smell or aroma of a good book which is caused by the
chemical
breakdown of compounds within the paper
BILIOTAPH
= one who hides or hoards books and keeps them under lock and key
BIBLIOTECA = a library; a collection of
books; a bibliographer's catalog
BIOPHILIA
= the love of or empathy with nature and all living things; expanding
one's moral
sphere to include the environments that sustain
sentient beings is a lofty moral principle
LALOCHEZIA
= the emotional relief / feeling one experiences after using
profanity;
the use of vulgar, foul or obscene language to relieve
stress or pain
LETHOLOGICA
aka TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE PHENOMENON = the temporary INability to
recall
a proper noun or a name that is on the tip of one's tongue!
/ the temporary INability to put
your finger on the right word
though access is eventually attained via semantic cues
LETHONOMIA = the INability to recall the
right name; tendency to forget names
LEXICOGRAPHY
= the art or process of compiling, writing and editing a dictionary
or lexicon
LEXICOLOGY = a person
who studies the origins, meanings and uses of words
LEXICON = the specialized vocabulary of a
particular author OR a field of study
LEXIPHANIC
= using many hard-to-understand words interlaced with pretentious
words
LEXIS = the total
vocabulary of a specific language distinct from its grammar; a
complete
inventory of the ENTRY
WORDS or LEXEMES which constitute a language's dictionary
LIBROCUBICULARIST
= is the name for a person who likes to read books in bed
LOGOCRACY = governing by the power of
words; the ruling power is vested in words
LOGODAEDALUS
= a person who uses words with great skill, cunning and manipulation
LOGOGRAM aka LOGOGRAPH = a sign or
character representing a whole word or phrase,
as
used in shorthand, e.g., c. = century; $ = money; % = percent; @ =
at; * = asterisk, etc.
LOGOLEPSY
(rare) = a fascination or obsession with words
LOGOLOGY
= the task of discovering word patterns such as those found in
anagrams, ananyms, acrostics, isograms,
palindromes, standalones, tautonyms, etc.
LOGOMACHY
= an argument or debate about words and their actual meaning
LOGOMANIA = nonstop talking; abnormal
talkativeness; obsession with words
LOGOMISIA
aka WORD AVERSION, VERBAL VIRUS = a strong dislike/distaste at the
sight
or sound of a particular
word; type of word based on how it sounds, its meaning, usage or
word associations, e.g., moist, drool,
panties, suck, rectum, smegma, scrotum, vomit, etc.
LOGOPHILE = a word lover
LOGOPHILIA = a love of words and
word games
LOGOPHOBE
= a person who is afraid / has a fear of words
LOGOPHOBIA = a person who has an aversion,
distrust, dislike or fear of words
LOGORRHEA
= excessive or irrational talking; vulgarly known as "verbal
diarrhea"
ABECEDARY
/ ABECEDARIAN = of or relating to the alphabet; arranged in
alphabetical
order
ACEDIA = a spiritual or mental sloth;
apathy
AIDE-MEMOIRE = [gallicism] incomprehensible or pretentious
verbiage, especially
bureaucratic jargon
AMANUENSIS
= a literary or artistic assistant who takes dictation from an author
for a
manuscript when that author is unable to do so
AMBIGRAM
= are typographical designs that can be interpreted in two or more
ways,
depending on their orientation, e.g., the word “Illuminati”
itself is presented as an
ambigram, its font designed in a way
that can be read the same when flipped upside down.
ANAGRAMMATICALLY
aka ANAGRAM = words formed by rearranging the letters of another
word, e.g., limped = dimple / the
earthquakes = that queer shake / restaurant = runs a treat
ANALOG = relating to or using
signals or information represented by a continuously
variable
physical quantity such as spatial position, voltage,
wattage, etc
ANDRAGOGY
= the method and practice of
teaching adult learners; adult education
OPSIMATH
= a person who begins to learn or
study only late in life
ANOMIA
=
the INability to recall the names of people or things
APHASIA
= language
disorder/impairment due to an accident to the brain; prior to
the
injury, illness or event, the person's language skills were
considered normal
APHORISM
= A brief, instructive saying; a succinct statement or a general
truth or
observation / a pithy observation that contains a general
truth, e.g., "If it ain't broke, don't
fix it."
APOTHEGM = a short, witty, instructive saying
ARCHETYPE = (in
Jungian psychology) a primitive mental image inherited from
the
earliest human ancestors, and supposed to be present in the
collective unconscious
ARGOT
= a secret language, dialect that is unique to
a certain group within a society often
with
a negative taint since it is often associated with people in a lower
social strata such as
the
criminal element / the underground; UNlike a standard lexicon, this
group's vocabulary
is intended
to render outsiders INcapable of understanding of what is being
discussed;
used for disguise or
concealment as in the language of computer hackers / crackers
ARGUENDO = For
the sake of argument; is
a Latin term meaning "in arguing" or "for the
sake
of argument". When one assumes something arguendo, the person is
asserting a
hypothetical statement to be true for the purpose of
argument, regardless of whether that
statement is actually true or
whether they believe it to be true.
ARRIERE
PENSEE = [gallicism] a concealed thought or intention; an ulterior
motive
AUTODIDACT = a person who
is self-taught without a formal education; is a learned person
AVANT-GARDE = favoring or
introducing experimental or unusual ideas
AXIOMATIC
= self-evident or unquestionable
BAFFLEGAB
= messy, wordy jargon;
incomprehensible or pretentious
language,
gibberish, double-talk; confusing
legal lingo used especially in bureaucratic language
BARDOLATRY
= a humorous term for excessive admiration of the bard William
Shakespeare
BATTOLOGY = idle
talk, babbling; needless, tiresome repetition of words or ideas
BLATHERSKITE = A person who
talks at great length without making much sense;
foolish talk,
nonsense
BLESILOQUENT = speaking
with a lisp or a stammer in speech
BREVILOQUENT
= (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few
words;
clear, precise and concise
CABAL = a secret political
clique or faction
CAESURA = a pause near the middle of a line; any
break or interruption
CATACHRESIS = the use of a word in a way
that is not correct, e.g., the use of “mitigate”
for
“militate.”
CIPHER = a secret or disguised way of
writing; a code, a monogram
CLERISY
= A distinct class of learned or literary people
COGNOSCENTI
= people who are considered to be especially well informed about a
particular subject, e.g., computer science
engineers/IT specialists in "The Silicon Valley"
with the benefit
of a formal education [see "AUTODIDACT" above]
COLLOGUE = talk confidentially
or conspiratorially
COLPORTEUR
= a loan word from
French: a person who
sells books, newspapers, and
similar literature; used more for
door-to-door
peddlers of religious books and tracts, and
it has carried that
specific sense into the 21st century, e.g., Johovah's Witnesses
COMMORATIO = a rhetorical term for dwelling
or the pounding home of a point by repeating
its
principles in different words; winning an argument by repeating one's
strongest point
COMPROBATIO =
flattering a person in order to win them over in an argument;
approving a
virtue especially in
the listeners
CONNOTATION
= to suggest, imply or convey tone, flavor,
associations or overtones in
addition to the explicit, direct,
denoted or literal meaning of a word
DENOTATION
= the direct explicit meaning of a word or a
term; means literally
CONSPECTUS
= a summary or overview of a subject
CONVERSANT
= familiar with or knowledgeable
about something
MUGGLE
= A person who is NOT conversant in
a particular activity or skill
CONVERSATIONAL
FILLER(s) / FILLED PAUSE /
PAUSE FILLER / HESITATION FORM =
a non-silent pause
filled by "ah," "er," "um,"
"uh," etc., while one gathers their thoughts
to continue
speaking
CONVERSATIONAL
SPEECH FORMULAS:
amusing, non-sensical, short sentences
which add nothing to the
conversation and are extended versions of embolalia, e.g.,
"You've
got to be kidding?!"; "Excuse me?!"; "Hang on a
minute!" "You hear what I'm
saying?!" "Don't
know, don't care!"
CORPUS
= a collection of written texts, especially the entire works of a
particular author
or a body of writing on a particular subject
CORRIGENDUM = an item to be corrected, typically an error in a
printed book
COUNTERCULTURE = a way of life and set of attitudes
opposed to or at variance with
the prevailing social norm
CRYPTONYM = a code name
CYBERNETICS = the science of
communications and automatic control systems in both
machines and
living things
DEMIURGE = a IMperfect being responsible for the
creation of the material universe
DEONTOLOGY = a theory of ethics
that establishes rules of right and wrong actions;
the study of
determining the right way to live life, based on duty and moral
obligation
DIVINATION
= the practice of foretelling the
future by supernatural means; an especially
strong sense of
intuition or perception
HYDROMANCY
= divination by means of signs
derived from the appearance of water and
its movements
DRAMATURGY
= the theory and practice of dramatic composition
DRYASDUST = a
boring, pedantic speaker or writer
ELAN = sophisticated style and
flair
ELIDE = to omit a sound or a syllable usually the final one
when speaking; join together,
merge
ELYSIAN = beautiful or
creative; peaceful and perfect; divinely inspired
EMBOLALIA
aka AUTOMATIC SPEECH =
inserting useless words or utterances to stall for
time while
collecting one's thoughts, "like,"
"OK," "right," "I mean," "you
know," etc.
ENCHIRIDION = A
book containing essential information on a subject
ENGRAM
= a hypothetical permanent change in the brain accounting for the
existence of
memory; a memory trace
EPEXEGESIS
= The addition of words to clarify meaning
EPIPHANY
= a moment of sudden revelation; a sudden, poignant and
profound
understanding of a concept or something
EPISTEMOLOGY
= any study relating to human thought or knowledge
EPIXEGESIS =
the addition of words to clarify meaning; words added for the
purpose
of clarifying meaning
EPONYM = a person giving their
name to something; a thing or place named after a
particular
person
EUCATASTROPHE = a sudden and favorable resolution of
events in a story
EUNOIA = a healthy, well-balanced mind;
beautiful thinking / NOTE: it is the shortest
word in the English
language that contains all five (5) vowels
EUPHONY = The quality
of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a
harmonious
combination of words
EXTEMPORANEOUS = spoken or done
without preparation / a form of argumentative debate
EXTRANET =
an intranet that can be partially accessed by authorized outside
users, enabling
businesses to exchange information over the
Internet securely
FABULIST = a liar, especially a person who
invents elaborate, dishonest stories
FORMULAIC
LANGUAGE aka
STEREOTYPED EXPRESSIONS = term for verbal expressions
that are
fixed in form, non-literal in meaning, possess attitudinal nuances
and have NO
contrast, i.e., they are non-controversial expressions
where no opposite expression(s) can
counter it. Some examples are:
"God save the Queen!" "The more the merrier!"
"How do
you do?" "Many happy returns!" "Have
a great day!" do not contrast in the usual way with
other
sentences, e.g., "few happy returns," "Have a horrible
day!" etc. are not accepted fixed
forms of everyday speech
PLACEHOLDER
NAMES = refers to people or
objects that are temporarily forgotten, e.g.
"thingamajig," "whatsamacallit,"
"whosawhatsa," "what'shisface," etc.
CRUCIVERBALIST = a person who loves doing
crossword puzzles; enthusiast of word games
DEIPNOSOPHIST
= person who is a master of dinner table conversation; skilled in
table-talk
DIALECT
= a manner of speaking particular to an
individual, group, class or a region
signaled
by "stylistic markers" in matters of specific words,
pronunciation (accent) and
syntax;
dialects develop due to geographical barriers separating groups of
people and/or
divisions in the
social class; the dominant dialect becomes the "official"
language (in
written form) while
the other dialect becomes a subdivision of the standard language
CRYPTOLECT =
a secret language used by a particular group or segment of society,
e.g.
organized gangs, Internet
hackers, intelligence/spy agencies, etc.
ETHNOLECT
= the variety of language associated with a
particular ethnic or cultural
subgroup;
an ethnolect serves as a social identity both within the group and
for outsiders
GENDERLECT
= the type, variety or conversational style
used by a particular gender
or
between a man-woman, husband-wife, life partners, etc.
IDEOLECT
= one's personal dialect or linguistic system
most noticeable in their writing
style
which serve as markers in their authorship; common among "lone
nut"-assassins
SOCIOLECT
= the linguistic variety spoken by a particular
social or occupational class
as
opposed to regional grounds as in a DIALECT, e.g., a specific sports'
lexicon + the
socialization
within the members of that group, e.g., professional football
players, coaches,
sports
broadcasters, sports reporters all speak/enjoy a certain
lexicon/idiomatic expressions
DIASYRM
= rhetorical device damning the opposition by faint praise,
disparagement, ridicule
DIATYPOSIS
= a brief, but vivid and powerful presentation by the use of exciting
language
DICHAEOLOGIA = any form
of rhetoric used to defend one's failure or disgrace by blaming it
on everything and everyone else, but
oneself; extenuating circumstances are also blamed
ECHO
= the repetition of the same sound -- or
combination of sounds -- fairly close to each
other
so that they "echo" one another; a common device in verse
to strengthen meaning
and
structure, and sometimes to provide tune and melody e.g., assonance,
alliteration,
consonance and
various kinds of rhyme are all varieties of echo
ONOMATOPOEIA
(ECHOIC WORD /
"FIGURE OF SOUND") = a word that imitates the sound
associated with the subject or object it
represents, e.g., "tick-tock," "crackle," "pop,"
"gong,"
"buzz,"
"chirp," "boom," "gurgle," "snap,"
"hiss," "murmur," "cock a doodle doo,"
etc.
PHONESTHEME
= a particular sound or sound
sequence that
suggests a certain meaning,
e.g.,
"glitter," "glimmer," "glisten," the
initial "gl-" is associated with vision or light
EMOJI =
UNlike emoticons, emoji
are actual
pictures 
and are actually extensions to the
character set used by most operating
systems; emoticons are manually
input by users
EMOTICONS
= a typographic display of a facial expression, used to convey
emotion in a
text
only
medium,
e.g., :-)
ENCOMIUM =
A speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something
highly. While
there
are other words/synonyms which mean "a formal expression of
praise," ENCOMIUM
implies enthusiasm and warmth in praising a
person or a thing.
EPANORTHOSIS
= a figure of speech in which the emphatic process of taking back
and
replacing or correcting one's words even while saying them;
thinking better of saying
something else, e.g., "Thousands,
... no, MILLIONS will die if a vaccine is not
developed
SOON!"
EPILEXIS
= a form or style of argument which
seeks to shame the interlocutor (debater) into
seeing
the point, e.g., "If you had any sense at all, you would
understand that ...!"
EPIPHONEMA
= a terse summary of an argument often expressed by means of an
epigram
or sententia, i.e., a
wise, witty or pithy maxim or aphorism is used to sum up the
preceding
material in this
instance an argument
EXTRANET
= an intranet that can be partially accessed by authorized outside
users, enabling
businesses to exchange information over the
Internet securely
FELIX
CULPA = an apparent error or disaster with happy
consequences
FLUMMERY =
meaningless or deceptive compliments or flattery; silk talk, nonsense
FROIDEUR = a cool reserve
either from a single person or a small group
GAB = talk at length,
typically about trivial matters
GALLICISM
[or "loan translation"] = a French idiom, word or
expression used in another
language,
e.g., English words that are "anglicized" Gallicisms such
as lingerie, cliche, cafe,
attache,
beret, cache, cul-de-sac, tour de force, a la carte, coup d'etat
GLYPH = a small graphic symbol;
a heiroglyphic character or symbol; a pictograph
GNOMIC
= expressed in or of the nature of short, pithy maxims or
aphorisms
GRANDILOQUENT
= a lofty,
colorful style of speaking intended to impress while being vain
or
pompous in an overbearing style
HACKATHON
= an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number
of people
meet to engage in collaborative computer
programming
HAPLOLOGY = the
contraction of a word by omitting syllables when the word is spoken,
e.g.
"probably" is
often pronounced "prob-lee" or even "pro-lee" in
rapid fire speech
HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDALIOPHOBIA
= a fear of big, long words; a phobia
HOLOPHRASIS
= the expression of a complex
series of ideas by a single word;
the expression
of a whole
phrase in a single word — for example "howdy" for
"how do you do?" / the learning
of linguistic elements
as whole chunks by very young children acquiring their first language
—
for example "it's all gone" learned as "allgone"
HYPERPOLYSYLLABICSESQUIPEDALIANLIST
= a person who enjoys using really long words
HYPERTHYMESIA
aka "Superior Autobiographical Memory" = is an ability that
allows people
to remember nearly every event of their life with
great precision. Hyperthymesia is rare, with
research identifying
only a small number of people with the ability. Studies on
hyperthymesia
are ongoing, as scientists attempt to understand how
the brain processes memories
HYPONYM = a word of more specific
meaning than a general or superordinate term applicable
to it,
e.g. spoon is
a hyponym of cutlery
ICONOGRAPHER
= a person who draws illustrations or symbols based on a branch of
art
history which studies the
identification, description and interpretation of images/symbols
IDEOGRAM (IDEOGRAPH) = a graphic symbol
that represents a whole word, idea, concept
or
an obscenity / vulgar term originally developed from the
pictographic, e.g., # $ @ * % & !
INTERLANGUAGE
= a blend/mixture of two (2) languages spoken
used by an ESL learner
where
words from their native tongue are mixed with the targeted language
being acquired
and words from
both languages
are used regularly in their sentences
COGNATE
LANGUAGE = a language which
is historically derived from the same source as
another
language, e.g., Spanish/Italian and French/Portuguese with examples
of
"pere" / "padre"
[father] which are cognate words or cognates
CREOLE
(CREOLIZED) LANGUAGE = a type
of language that evolves when two (2) groups
having
their own languages integrate the more obvious features of the
other's language
which becomes
the mother-tongue of a speech community as in the case of Jamaica,
Haiti,
Dominica and other
ex-colonial parts of the world
ISOGRAM
[word play] = long words in which NO letter appears more than once; a
word in
which the letter appears
an equal number of times, e.g., ambidextrously
JABBERWOCKY = writing or speech
that contains meaningless words; an imitation of
language
containing meaningless nonsense words; gibberish
LACUNA = an
unfilled space or interval; a gap; a missing portion in a book or
manuscript
LEMMA = A heading
indicating the subject or argument of a literary composition,
an
annotation, or a dictionary entry
LOPADOTENACHOSELACHOGALEOKRANIOLEIPSANODRIMPOTRIMATOSILPHIOPAROME-
LITOKATAKECHYMENOKICHLEPIKOSSYPHOPHATTOPERISTERALEKTRYONOPTEKEPHAL-
LIOKIGKLOPLEIOLAGOIOSIRAIOBAPHETRAGANOPTERYGON
= at 177
letters long, it IS
the
longest word in
English literature; it is a
fricassee of 17 sweet and sour ingredients including
mullet, brains, honey, vinegar, pickles,
marrow and ouzo [from Aristophanes' "The Ecclesiazusae"
circa 390-393 BCE]
LYCEUM
= A literary institution, lecture hall, or teaching place
MAGNIFICO = an eminent,
powerful, or illustrious person
MAGNILOQUENT
= using high-flown or bombastic language; boastful or pompous
[See:
GRANDILOQUENT]
MAJUSCULE = large lettering, either
capital or uncial, in which all the letters are the same
height
MAUNDER = talk in a rambling manner
MAVEN = an expert or
connoisseur
MELLILOQUENCE =
pleasant-sounding speech; charming eloquence spoken
harmoniously
MERITOCRACY
= a government system in which power and advancement is based
upon
talent and performance, rather than birthright or wealth; any
organizational structure in
which people are judged based on
achievement
METANALYSIS = the
fusing of words or groups of words into new elements, e.g., an ewt
became of newt
and a napron
became an apron
METANOIA = a change in one's
mind, heart, self or way of life especially a spiritual one
resulting
from a focused, dedicated and intense study ending in a spiritual
conversion
METAPHRASE
/ VERBATIM = a literal, word-for-word translation, as opposed to
a
paraphrase; copied, quoted, or translated in exactly the same
words as were used originally
METATHESIS
= transposition of the usual sequence of letters, syllables or sounds
of a word,
e.g., "aksed"
for "asked," "irrevelant" for "irrelevant,"
etc. NOTE: over time, metathesis may
produce
a permanent change in a language
METONYMY
= a word, phrase or figure of speech of not
just what it denotes, but something
it's
closely associated with, e.g., "the White House says," =
the president; "the Crown," =
British
monarchy; "Beltway" = political Washington; "Broadway"
= NYC theater
MILIEU
= a surrounding culture and environment
MINDFULNESS = a mental
state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present
moment,
while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts,
and bodily
sensations, used as a therapeutic technique
MISOLOGIST
= person who hates knowledge; also hates argument, debate, logic,
reasoning
MNEMONIC =
aiding or designed to aid one's memory; a device such as a pettern of
letters,
ideas or word associations that assists in recalling
something
MONOGENESIS
= the theory that all languages have a single
ancestral origin
POLYGENESIS
= the theory that there is more than one (1)
independent source of language(s)
MONOGLOT
= a person who speaks, writes and understands only one (1) language
OCTOTHORPE = Another term for the pound
sign “ # ” aka number sign, hashtag
POLYGLOT
/ POLYGLOTISM = a person who speaks/writes and understands more
than
one (1) language
MONOSEMY
= the property of quality of a word
having only one (1) meaning
POLYSEMY
= a word / phrase having the
co-existence of multiple meanings
MONONYM
= a single name by which a person
or a thing is known and addressed by, e.g.;
Madonna, Picasso,
Prince, Liberace, Shakespeare, Mozart, Mantovani, etc.
POLYNYM
= a name consisting of multiple
words; may include pseudonyms for the same
person
MONOSEMY
= a word having single
meaning with NO ambiguity
POLYSEMY
= words that have multiple meanings;
approximately 40%+ of all English words
have
more than one (1) meaning, e.g., pupil = eye; pupil = student / bat =
animal;
bat = implement / foot =
mammal anatomy; foot = base of something
RELATED
TERM: HOMONYMY
/ HOMONYMS
= words with identical forms, but different
meanings HOMONYMY and POLYSEMY are both
related, but while HOMONYMS are distinct
entry
words (lexemes) that share the same form, in POLYSEMY a single entry
word (lexeme)
is associated with
multiple meanings or senses; POLYSEMY usually involves related
meanings
whereas homonymous
entry words are generally NOT related
EXAMPLES:
HOMOYNM: bank = financial institution; bank = land bordering on river
...
NOT
related / POLYSEMY: may = permission; may =
possibility ... closely RELATED
MONOGLOSSIA
= the existence of only one (1) language in a
speech community
DIGLOSSIA
= the coexistence of two (2) languages within a
speech community
TRIGLOSSIA
= the coexistence of three (3) languages within
a speech community, e.g.,
the
use of French, Classical Arabic and Colloquial Tunisian Arabic in
Tunisia
DISGLOSSIA
= aka advertising RESPELLS, e.g., Toys R Us,
Cheez-It, Factory 2 You, etc.
ENDOGLOSSIC
= the native language of most or all of the
population of a geographical area;
English
is endoglossic for most of Australia and England, but EXOGLOSSIC for
Singapore,
Quebec and others
parts of Canada (which are endoglossic as well)
IDEOGLOSSIA
(CRYPTOPHASIA or AUTONOMOUS SPEECH) = an
invented form of speech
known
only to the inventor(s) and common with "loners" / a
special form of communication
which
often emerges between twins and popularly referred to as "TWIN
LANGUAGE"
GLOSSLALIA
aka "SPEAKING
IN TOUNGUES" = is the
fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables
that
lack any comprehensible meaning often times occurring during a
religious practice/ritual;
GLOSSOLALIC
speech is often taken as "proof" of a religious conversion
marked by repetitive
phrases and
lacking any conventional reference; considered by some to be a
"sacred language"
XENOGLOSSY
aka XENOLALIA
= the demonstration of the ability by the
subject to spontaneously
speak
or write in an UNknown language which they could NOT have obtained by
natural means;
most common in
people manifesting a previous incarnation / lifetime in REINCARNATION
NEOLOGIST = a person who creates new words
or gives
new meanings to established words
NEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS
= "lung disease caused by
breathing
volcanic or other fine dust"; 45-letter monster word found in
Webster's Third New
International
Dictionary and presently
the longest word in standard, accepted English usage
NIRVANA = a state of perfect
peace, harmony and happiness w/ the world; enlightenment
NOETIC =
relating to mental activity or the intellect
NONPAREIL = an
unrivaled or matchless person or thing
NOSISM = the use of a
first-person plural pronoun (such as "we") instead of
a
first-person singular pronoun (such as "I") to refer
to oneself
NUMERACY = the ability to understand and work with
numbers
OEUVRE = taken as a whole, the works of a particular
artist or writer
ORGANON = An instrument of thought, especially a
means of reasoning or a system of logic
PABLUM
= bland, insipid, oversimplified writing for intellectual fare;
mindless drivel
PABULUM =
nourishment for the mind from books/literature with thought-provoking
ideas
PANEGYRIC =
While
this word means "a formal expression of praise," it is a
speech or piece
of writing that praises someone or something very
much and does not mention anything bad/
negative about them: She
delivered a panegyric on the president-elect.
PANEGYRIC suggests
an elaborate often poetic compliment often times used for
politcal
speeches/writing.
PANTHEON = a group of particularly
respected, famous, or important people
PARADIASTOLE
= the use of a euphemism to advance an argument by replacing an
UNfavorable term with a favorable one often
disregarding part of the truth, e.g., "illegal alien"
= "UNdocumented worker" (or even
just "worker"); "illegal immigration" =
"immigration"
PARALINGUISTICS
/ PARALANGUAGE aka “BODY LANGUAGE” = referring to the
NONverbal
speech elements in communication
such as silence, tempo, intonation, volume, voice
tone,
gesticulation, body
posture, facial expressions; in written communications such as
e-mail
and chatrooms, paralanguage
appears as emoticons, emojis, capitalization, choice of fonts,
etc.
PARAMNESIA = the INability to recall the
meaning of words OR using them INcorrectly
PARASYNONYM
= a linguistic term to describe words with close similarities, but
not
exactly matching definitions
PAREIDOLIA
= The perception of
apparently significant patterns or recognizable images --
especially
faces -- in random, coincidental or accidental arrangements of
shapes, lines and
visual patterns, e.g., people who see the Virgin
Mary in a pizza, the Devil in a random cloud
formation, the
Rorschach inkblot test, etc.
PARISOLOGY = the use of equivocal or ambiguous words
PARLANCE
= a particular way of speaking or using words, especially common to
those with
a specific job,
career or specialized interest
PARANORMAL
= the claimed occurrence of an event or
perception without scientific
explanation
in the arena of purportedly supernatural phenomena, e.g.,
psychokinesis,
telekinesis,
extrasensory perception or other events that lie beyond normal
experience
AUGUR
= to foretell or prophesy from omens certain
events, e.g., "Dark, cloudy, skies
augur
a rainstorm," "A black cat crossing one's path is an augur
of bad luck," etc.
CHARM
= a chanted word, phrase or
verse assumed to have "magic" power intended to
help or hurt the human target; an
incantation; connotation is often used in a positive sense
CURSE
= calling down evil and/or injury/harm on
someone or something by a sorcerer
HEX
= a spell brought on by a witch/sorcerer to
cause bad luck to someone
JINN
= in Muslim folklore, a supernatural being
lower in rank than angels that can take
human
or animal form and influence human affairs for either good or evil
purposes
JINX
= someone or something that causes repeated bad
luck that results in an accident;
an
extended period of bad luck
MAGICAL
THINKING aka "PRAYER"
= the belief that events or the behavior of
others can be
influenced by
one's thoughts, wishes or rituals, e.g., "our thoughts and
prayers are ... "
MYSTICISM
= the view that there are real sources of
knowledge/truth other than that obtained
via
sensory experience and deduction; any claim that such knowledge comes
through
inspiration, revelation
or other religious experiences that are not strictly sensory in
nature, and that union with the "divine"
can be achieved through a personal experience
OCCULT
= belief that certain arts, studies or
practices -- magic, alchemy, astrology, etc. --
involve
mysterious powers that some people believe can affect the way things
happen
OMEN
= an event that is perceived to signal/portend
good or evil in the near future
PHANTASM
= perception of something that has no physical
reality; creation of fantasy
PHANTASMAGORIA
= A dreamlike
state in which images both real or imagined blur together;
this
often times occurs during "lucid dreaming"
SPELL
= a word, a formula, or a
form of words alleged to have some magic power via an
incantation or resulting in a trance via
irresistible charm
PARONOMASIA
= a pun ("no pun intended") is form of word play that
suggests two (2) or
more
meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of
similar-sounding words,
for an
intended humorous or rhetorical effect
PASTICHE
= an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work,
artist, or period;
an artistic work consisting of a medley of
pieces taken from various sources
PENDANTIC
aka PENDANT = a person given to flaunting knowledge; an intellectual
show-off;
use of lengthy words
meant to impress readers / listeners in an ostentatious display
of
learning sometimes of
superficial erudition
PHILOMATH
= a lover of learning; a student or scholar, especially of
mathematics,
natural philosophy, etc
PHRONTISTERY = A place for
thinking; an establishment devoted to education or study
PICTOGRAPH
= a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase; pictographs were used as
the
earliest known form of writing, with examples discovered in
Egypt and Mesopotamia from
before 3000 BC
PLAGIARISM
= derives from the Latin word plagarius,
i.e, "kidnapper, sea raider, plunderer"
/ the act of
stealing/copying another's written work OR the expression of ideas
and then
claiming it as one's own without crediting the source of
the original cited/quoted source
material [attribution]
POLYMATH
= a person of great, diversified learning and wide-ranging knowledge;
polyhistor
PREBUTTAL
= [in politics] a response formulated in anticipation of a criticism;
a preemptive
rebuttal
PRECIS = a summary or abstract of a text
or speech
PROLEPSIS = the anticipation and answering of possible
objections in rhetorical speech;
the representation of a thing as
existing before it actually does or did so, e.g.,
“he
was a dead man when he entered.”
PSEUDEPIGRAPHIA = a term for
books or writings which have a false title and/or are
ascribed to
an author who is NOT the real one; wrongly attributed authorship that
tells the
truth while also disguising it
PSEUDONYM aka NOM DE
PLUME aka PEN NAME = fictitious name used especially by
writers
(it is synonymous with "ALIAS" though it is free of the
criminal connotation it often
carries); a PEN NAME is a writer's
pseudonym; NOM DE GUERRE is French for PSEUDONYM
which was derived
from NOM DE PLUME and is used in English writing; NOM DE GUERRE
is
also used by non-writers when they don't want their true
identity known, e.g., lottery winners
who wish to remain anonymous
and wish to be masked from public view
PSITTACISM
= meaningless speech / writing that is repetitive in the of a manner
a parrot
RACONTEUR =
a storyteller; one who seems to have an anecdote for every occasion
REDUPLICATION = a
morphological process in which phonological aspects of the root
or
stem word are repeated, but with a slight variation in
pronunciation thereby giving the
aspect of either rhymes or
alliteration, e.g., helter-skelter, hanky-panky,
hocus-pocus,
harem-scarem,
humpty-dumpty, shilly-shally, etc.
SAVANT
= a learned person, especially a distinguished scientist
SCIOLIST
= A person who pretends to be knowledgeable and well informed
SEMIOTICS = is the general science of SIGNS
which is a part of modern-day LINGUISTICS;
words,
traffic lights, gestures, Xmas presents and anything that has meaning
are also signs
SESQUIPEDALIAN =
a person who likes using long, big words in speech OR is
characterized
by their use of
long words in written form; literally means "a foot and a half"
from the 1600s
SOLECISM = an
UNgrammatical combination of words; NONcompliance with the rules of
syntax or a deviation from standard usage;
errors in grammar and styling conventions
STENTORIAN
= a loud and powerful person's voice
SYNECDOCHE = a figure of
speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or
vice
versa, e.g., "I need new wheels
to get to work," Josephine said, using a SYNECDOCHE
for a car
to describe her need for transportation."
TACHYLOGIA
= rapid and excessive talking; excessive speech often found in
clutterers
TANGENIALITY
= TANGENTIAL
SPEECH aka "flight of ideas" is a communication
disorder
that occurs when someone's thought process is disrupted
and they digress to irrelevant
topics or details. This can
make it difficult for the speaker to return to the main point of
a
conversation or answer a question. For example, someone
might start telling a story, but
include so many irrelevant
details that they never get to the point.
TAPINOSIS = the debasement of something or
someone by the use of UNdignified language
by
referring to it as something much less dignified than it really is,
e.g., calling the Supreme
Court
a "bunch of judges," the Mississippi River a "streamlet,"
George W Bush as "W," etc.
TAUTOLOGY
= repetition of an idea using a near synonymous word which adds
nothing
VALEDICTION
= the word or phrase used to close out a letter before the
signature
VANGUARD = a group of people leading the way in new
developments or ideas; a position
at the forefront of new
developments or ideas
VERBAL
DUELING = speakers try to outdo each other by uttering increased
verbal ingenuity
VERBIAGE =
words that have little or no content and are considered UNnecessary
VERBICIDE = the deliberate distortion or
destruction of a word's original meaning
VERBOMANIA
= a person who engages in an excessive, obsessive use of words
VERNACULAR = native or indigenous everyday
language spoken by either a specific
group
or individuals in a certain region which is NOT necessarily literary
nor learned formally
VERSO
= A left-hand page of an open book or the back of a loose
document
VERVE = an energetic style of a literary or artistic work
or performance
VOCABULARY = can
also mean "WORD HOARD," but in a generalized sense the use
and
access of terms in a
dictionary though a distinction must be made between an active
and
passive
vocabulary; the former refers to entry words
[lexemes] people regularly use; the
latter
to (entry) words which they understand, but do not regularly use
WORD-HOARD = the sum total of a person's
vocabulary one understands and uses at will
WORDSMITH
= an expert user of words and who uses language skillfully as in a
professional writer; can also mean a person
who coins new words
ZEITGEIST
= the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as
shown by the
ideas and beliefs of the time
ZEUGMA = A figure of
speech in which a word applies to two (2) others in different
senses
(e.g., "John and his license expired last week")
or to two others of which it semantically
suits only one (e.g.,
"with weeping eyes and hearts")
"The
PHILOSOPHY of the SCHOOL ROOM in one generation will be the
PHILOSOPHY of
GOVERNMENT
in the next." -- Abraham Lincoln
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"A
QUICK ONLINE GRAMMAR GUIDE TO MODERN AMERICAN USAGE"
is maintained by VICTOR MARTINEZ at:
VictorGM@webtv.net
http://www.victorthewizard.info/grammar.htm
http://www.victorthewizard.info/