Archive for the 'Language' Category

If I only…

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

I was thinking about language again (as I often do, in a lackadaisical sort of way), and about language changes that have happened within my lifetime - how catch phrases and catch words rise, achieve ephemeral popularity, and then mostly fade away to become tomorrow’s curios. When I was at university in the mid-80s, ‘mega’ [...]

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Pique condition

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Via I can no longer remember where, this week I discovered the concept of eggcorns (something I had earlier mentally tagged as verbal mondegreens). Hours of endless fun for those who, like me, are easily amused by quote on quote unintended humour. When I don’t find it mildly irritating, that is.

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