While checking that I knew what I was talking about when writing about the words venomous and poisonous, I came across an interesting term: true bug. Continue reading
True Bug Waits
languages
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
R..E.M, “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” 1994
I thought about the title of this song this morning when it came on my iPod while running. There’s an interesting story behind which I remember hearing a few years ago. First, in case you’re unfamiliar with it, here’s the song:
Why is “Dick” Short for “Richard?”
It’s a pretty straightforward answer actually: one of those cases where when you see the steps between A and F, it makes sense.
Venomous or Poisonous?
Poisonous, definitely poisonous. That is, I’d much rather encounter a poisonous animal than a venomous one. Why? Let me explain…
September, and the Names of the Months
It’s September, and that always makes me think of the names of the months. September of course, is the ninth month of the year, but the name might make you think it’s the seventh, if you know your Latin.
Robots in the Skies
This was a common refrain of my childhood. From my lips, anyway, for you might recognise this as a mondegreen. Anyone familiar with 80s and 90s children’s cartoons/toys might know that I was mishearing the lyrics to the Transformers cartoon. The line of course should be robots in disguise.
Which makes a lot more sense. I mean, that’s the whole point of the Transformers. They’re in disguise. They’re robots, and they’re in disguise. In my defence, some of them could fly, so my interpretation made sense to six-year-old me. Still, on paper, in the skies and in disguise are fairly distinct. Th doesn’t sound like D, E doesn’t sound like I, and K doesn’t sound like G. How could I make such a mistake?
The Beautiful In-Laws
–How’s your beautiful mother?
A common error for French speakers, and one I think I heard fairly recently. It’s not just a mistake in that it’s generally inappropriate, but linguistically too. If a French speaker ever asks you a question like this, or asks about your beautiful daughter/sister, or handsome father/brother/son, there’s a good chance they’re asking about your in-laws.
English-Language Thoughts 