proud to be monolingual

By the way, this place is not a country club, it's a porn bar that serves greasy breakfast. You'd think they'd be more into plain English.

it's the annual annual sale

Go and get some flower flowers.

walking on the moon

People of my generation will remember Michael Jackson at the height of his fame, when he radiated talent, charm, and energy and made us all stare at the TV screen with our mouths open.

Everybody switched on MTV to watch his "Thriller" video. Everybody wanted to have a red leather jacket. And everybody wanted to be able to do the moonwalk, a dance move not invented by MJ, but one that even the Oxford English Dictionary associates with him: "a kind of exaggeratedly slow dance intended to evoke the characteristic weightless movement of astronauts walking on the moon...., associated principally with Michael Jackson (b. 1958), U.S. singer" (OED).



Sadly, at some point, the weightlessness disappeared. Read the obituary in the New York Times here.

And don't miss out on this correction, which includes a mondegreen.

An article on Friday about the death of Michael Jackson misstated the number of songs from his album “Off the Wall” that became No. 1 singles. There were two, not four. The article also misstated part of a comment that Mr. Jackson’s brother Jermaine offered for Mr. Jackson after speaking with reporters. He said, “May Allah be with you always,” not “May our love be with you always.”

one of the greatest cop-outs in the English language

Folks, “up to” is one of the greatest cop-outs in the English language. You know what? I’ve got a laptop that gets “up to” 1,000 hours on a charge! Because “up to” just means “something below this number.”

David Pogue in the Times

wurstkultur

Only in Germany...

what would your kid rather do...

...play with a dog or practice playing the piano?

Yeah, right:

[from an ad for Bechstein pianos, seen in Kassel, Germany]

signs for dogs that can read

Hann Muenden is an idyllic city at the origin of the Weser river in Germany (see above), but it does not seem to be crazy about dogs:

[Note here, otherwise....!]

[Here I may]

sausage truffles?

During a recent visit to Germany (more pictures to follow!) did not try this local speciality. Call me boring, but I don't find "sausage truffles" very enticing.

in and out

The iPhone may be out soon, but the prefix out- certainly isn't:

Palm's new multitouch smartphone may be the challenger that can finally out-iPhone the iPhone...

dark side of the moon

The NYT reports that due to tongue-in-cheek reviews on Amazon.com, a slightly esoteric T-shirt became a bestseller.

Employing the snarky spirit of online humor, the review began: “This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that’s when the magic happened.” ... Like the butterfly wings creating the tornado, Mr. Govern inadvertently helped set off an almost impossible marketing bonanza and pop-culture craze: The shirt has been Amazon's top-selling item of apparel every day since May 19, and it has morphed into one of those instant icons of Internet culture.

Brian Govern, the law student who wrote the review, realizes that "it’s sad, but this is probably the most impact I’ll have on the world in my life."

The best thing about this story? It's this linguistic twist:

A competing T-shirt seller, Zazzle.com, has already jumped in, promising a classy wolf shirt for refined tastes: “Have your wolf and eat it too with this modern take on a classic garment.” On an understated black background, it reads:

Three Wolves

Howling At

The Moon.

easy come, easy go

Much has been written about how fads emerge. A new study by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Stanford University looks at how quickly American culture gains and loses its taste for things and why the two may be related. The starkest example, based on 120 years of census data, is baby names: The faster they come to prominence, the faster their use declines.

The graphs come out as a little small, click on the picture or look at the original here.

Among the names that fall into the "easy come, easy go" category are Betty (1930s), Debra (1950s), and Amy (1980s). Names without a lot of ups and downs include Ellen, Caroline, and Katherine. Recent fads among boys' names all seem to rhyme: Jayden, Jaden, Caden, Kaden, Aiden.  Exciting, eh?

Don't buy a puppy on impulse

It's Farmers' Market season again. You expect to see tomatoes, tulips, asparagus, morels. You don't expect to see this:

This is terrible. Selling a puppy as if it were a sack of potatoes. To anyone who's willing to pay $45 for a dog he/she doesn't know anything about from a person he/she doesn't know anything about and all that on a whim.

If you're thinking of buying a puppy (rather than adopting an older dog from a rescue or a shelter), please read these notes by the Humane Society.

veni, vidi, exii (?)

When I wrote my dissertation in English linguistics, the regulations of the Graduate School stated explicitly that it could be written in Latin. We also had to document that we had studied Latin for at least 5 years. But at least our diplomas were not in Latin. Others are, even at universities that do not require any knowledge of Latin at all. What's the point?

CONGRATULATIONS. You are graduating this month with a Baccalaureatus Scientiae in Compertis ad Salutem Pertinentibus Administrandis. It sounds impressive, but what does it have to do with your degree in health information management? Almost no one knows, and that’s why the Latin diploma needs to go.

Latin is a beautiful language and a relief from the incessant novelty and informality of the modern age. But when it’s used on diplomas, the effect is to obfuscate, not edify; its function is to overawe, not delight. The goal of education is the creation and transmission of knowledge — not the creation and transmission of prestige. Why, then, celebrate that education with a document that prizes grandiosity over communication?

Read the whole piece, written by a classics professor, here.

a better day is possiblé

Have you seen the new commercials for McDonald's "McCafé"? They're very accent-rich. Which, according to Marlena Peleo-Lazar, McDonald's chief creative officer, shows that there is "a wit and charm to the brand, and to the products and to McDonald's." Just in case you didn't know that.

stress relievers

It's exam week. Our College Library tries hard to cheer students up. It offers free coffee doughnuts, organizes visits by the university mascot, and links to workshops on breathing techniques and relaxation exercises. However, without a doubt, the best stress-relieving technique it offers is inviting dogs into the library: Dogs on call teams normally visit children in hospital or elderly people in nursing homes, or they participate in the R.E.A.D. program, but today they paid a visit to the College Library and gave studens a break from studying. I wish they would come every week!

baby names regularized

This may strike some people as typically German, 

In a split decision on Tuesday, the German Constitutional Court upheld a ban on married people combining already-hyphenated names, forbidding last names of three parts or more. [...] Germany takes a highly regimented approach to naming. Children’s names must be approved by local authorities, and there is a reference work, the International Handbook of Forenames, to guide them. 

...but it's actually a good measure to avoid names like these:

What is a nature realated name for a boy? I am pregnant with a boy and I already have four girls. My girls are Summer Skies, Autumn Night, April Shower, and Spring Flower. Please help I am due in November. 

live like you mean it in the dairy state

Wisconsin has unveiled a new official state slogan, “Live Like You Mean It,” much to the dismay of some Wisconsinites who wondered why their tourism department spent $50,000 to come up with a catchphrase that used to be in a Bacardi Rum ad campaign.

What a misstep! Worth an op-ed in The New York Times. And don't let me get started on the logo:

(... the only thing this slogan has going for it is that it recognizes that like can be used as a conjunction)

idiosyncratic bumbling

I didn't know NYT authors are such wimps:

How does a professional writer discuss “The Elements of Style” without nervously looking over his shoulder and seeing Will Strunk and E. B. White (or thousands of readers of their book) second-guessing him? (Is “second-guessing” hyphenated or not? Is posing a question the same as using the passive voice?)

It's very easy, actually. You read George Pullum's criticism of the book (" a bunch of trivial don’t-do-this prescriptions by a pair of idiosyncratic bumblers who can’t even tell when they’ve broken their own misbegotten rules) and live happily ever after.

NYC sights

The last time I was in New York, there was a little dog park right on Washington Square. It was great to see all sorts of dogs mix and play with each other. Only people accompanied by dogs were supposed to enter the area, but I sneaked in anyway. 

When I visited last week, Washington Square was as lovely as ever, but the dog run was gone. Or under construction, I couldn't tell. But, thankfully, there were still plenty of dogs around.

And the winner is..... Bo, the Portuguese water dog!

At last! The announcement the nation has been waiting for: President Obama makes good on his promise to his daughters and gets them a puppy. From the Washington Post:

The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo -- and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo … Diddley?).

This will be quite a boost for the breed. I'm sure many people have never heard of Portuguese water dogs. And in case people get annoyed that the Obamas didn't pick a dog from a shelter: Senator Kennedy offered the dog to the Obamas after it turned out that its previous owners did not want him any longer.

Welcome, Bo! I'm sure we will see and read a lot about you in the months and years to come.

doga

You'd think that in times like these people might cut down on spending money on dog classes. Well, not across the board, according to an article in the New York Times.

[N]ationwide, classes of doga — yoga with dogs, as it is called — are increasing in number and popularity. Since Ms. Caliendo, a certified yoga instructor in Chicago, began to teach doga less than one year ago, her classes have doubled in size.

Yoga with dogs? Come again?

Appropriate or not, this is how it works: Doga combines massage and meditation with gentle stretching for dogs and their human partners. In chaturanga, dogs sit with their front paws in the air while their human partners provide support. In an “upward-paw pose,” or sun salutation, owners lift dogs onto their hind legs. In a resting pose, the person reclines, with legs slightly bent over the dog’s torso, bolster-style, to relieve pressure on the spine.

Success not guaranteed:

[P]ost-doga smiles run about $15 to $25 a class. Whether this is a bargain or overpriced depends on how — and why — the class is taught. Paula Apro, 40, of Eastford, Conn., owner of an online yoga retail store, tried a class near her home last summer. "A stuffed animal — but not even a dog-shaped stuffed animal — was used by the instructor,” she said. Owners struggled to get their very real dogs to replicate the stuffed-animal poses, she said, and bags of treats were used to get the dogs to change positions. “It was lunacy,” Ms. Apro recalled. “Peanuts, my retired racer greyhound, didn’t participate at all. Instead, I did downward-facing dog while he ate the most treats he’s ever had in a 60-minute period.

Sounds like a dog I know.

No more "War on Terror"

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the Obama administration had dropped "war on terror" from its lexicon, rhetoric former President George W. Bush used to justify many of his actions.

"The (Obama) administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself. Obviously," Clinton told reporters travelling with her to The Hague for a conference on Afghanistan, which Bush called part of his "global war on terror."

The term "war on terror" was coined after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, which were planned in Afghanistan by the militant group al Qaeda.[...]

"I have not heard it used. I have not gotten any directive about using it or not using it. It is just not being used," said Clinton when asked whether the term had been officially dropped by the Obama administration.

National Grilled Cheese Month

Apparently not an April Fools' joke.



Who needs a national grilled cheese month? You'd think the love of grilled cheese sandwiches didn't really need a lot of encouragement. Who doesn't like a grilled cheese sandwich? And of those who don't, who needs to be persuaded to change their (yes, their) mind?