Originally posted on Peachleaves. You guys, I learned a new phrase for weird language behavior: eggcorn! How did I never hear of this before? Particularly since they’re a useful tool for writers of crossword puzzles. Now I know that saying chalk full and chock it up are not malapropisms but eggcorns. I like this better; now it’s a quirk,… Continue reading Eggcorn
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Some stories about math
This post originally appeared at Peachleaves. I. I used to say that I was no good at math. I said this partly because sometimes I made Bs in math classes as opposed to As in every other subject. I also said it because it was easy to say. Everybody I knew (with one or two… Continue reading Some stories about math
When to use ellipses
To indicate an omitted word or phrase. To indicate a meaningful silence. [Colloq.] To indicate that a sentence has trailed off, leaving a meaningful silence. When not to use ellipses: In place of a punctuation at the end of a complete sentence. I keep getting Emails today in which requests or mere statements are punctuated… Continue reading When to use ellipses
Scenes of Unsolicited Literary Criticism
This post was original published on Peachleaves blog. Last fall My GP is usually an in-and-out kind of guy, which I appreciate; no need to hang around getting to know one another once I get what I came for. But while I was undergoing the first round of thyroid tests, I guess he realized we’d… Continue reading Scenes of Unsolicited Literary Criticism
“An I-word Salad”
This post originally appeared on Peachleaves blog. A friend sent me this link to an article about a psychologist’s study of pronoun use: The Secret Language Code In brief, the study notes the frequency with which speakers or writers use different pronouns (first person singular words like I, me, my vs. first person plural words… Continue reading “An I-word Salad”
Whoa whoa whoa!
This post was previously published at Peachleaves blog. Slow day at work, so I finished reading Louis Menand’s The Marketplace of Ideas. In the final chapter, my leisurely read-while-at-work pace was jarred when I reached this paragraph: What the surveys suggest is that if doctoral education in English were a cartoon character, then about thirty… Continue reading Whoa whoa whoa!
Sara Davis 