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Grammar Giggle – Two Words Change Everything

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I was recently looking up some information on the State Bar of Arizona website looking for groundbreaking women attorneys in Arizona for potential speaking engagements. As I read through them all, I noticed that two words completely changed one sentence. Lisa Loo is the first Asian American WOMAN PRESIDENT of the State Bar, not the first Asian American of the State Bar. Those two words make quite a difference.

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Grammar Giggle – A Little UNFirendly

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A blog reader sent this to me from her local newspaper. This is another example of people not reading headlines–or headings in legal documents. And if you have the Word setting turned on to not check words in all caps, turn that off right now! That will help you find errors in headings and important documents that use all caps for titles.

diabetic-firendly

If you find something that is Grammar Giggle-worthy, take a picture and send it to [email protected].

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Grammar Giggles – I’ll Drink To that!

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Menus are a great place for finding Grammar Giggles. Here is a great example.  This is another issue with an apostrophe and an issue with using “compliment,” which means to praise someone, and “complement,” which means to add something that enhances or improves it.  While I’m sure they want you to COMPLIMENT them on all their food, I think they mean that it enhances all of their food.

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Grammar Giggle – I Want A Thing-Sliced Sandwich!

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A reader shared this from a sign in an airport. This is something that spell check or reviewing quickly will not find because the word is not misspelled–it’s just the wrong word. But she did say that the “thing” actually sliced up an excellent sandwich!

airport-menu-item

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Oxford English Dictionary 2016 Additions

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oxford-english-dictionary-via-hype-my-new-college-groupThe Oxford English Dictionary recently added some new words. I always like to see what kind of words make it into the dictionary each year. My very favorite–the “Word of the Year”–will show up in a couple of months, but for now, here are some of the new words that have shown up in articles about these additions.

Biatch – A sassy version of “bitch.”

Clickbait – A story or content that draws you in with a headline but probably won’t deliver.

Clicktivism – Using social media and the internet for social or political activism.

Jagoff – An obnoxious and rude person who is usually characterized as a man.

‘Merica – A shortened (and some think more patriotic) way to say “America.”

 Moobs – Slang for “man boobs.”

 Resting B*tch Face – A facial expression exuding annoyance making it appear that the person doesn’t mean to look annoyed.

Shoplifting – Stealing something from a store without paying for it. (I’m not sure why this word hasn’t been in the OED before now.)

Squee – A screech that comes out when you’re really excited about something.

Vom – A shorter way of saying vomit or to explain that someone is in the act of vomiting.

 YOLO – An acronym for “you only live once.”

There are more than 500 other words added, but I chose just a few. Since I don’t have a subscription to Oxford English Dictionary, I can’t get their “official” definitions, but I am assuming if they are adding words that are now part of our language, definitions found on the Internet will be close.

  • cheek kiss, n. – a ritual or social kissing gesture to indicate friendship, perform a greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone, to show respect, or to indicate sexual or romantic interest
  • cheerer-upper, n. – a person or thing that cheers a person up
  • clientelist, adj. – a political or social system based on the relation of client to patron with the client giving political or financial support to a patron (as in the form of votes) in exchange for some special privilege or benefit <In some countries, such as Greece, there has been a clear policy of “clientelism” in which political parties have rewarded their supporters with jobs and benefits that have been funded by the general taxpayer. — The Economist, 14 Apr. 2012
  • clientitis, n. – (also called clientism or localitis) is the tendency of resident in-country staff of an organization to regard the officials and people of the host country as “clients.” This condition can be found in business or government.
  • freemium, n. – is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering or application such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for proprietary features, functionality, or virtual goods.
  • fuhgeddaboudit, int. – Forget about it – the issue is not worth the time, energy, mental effort, or emotional resources. 2. Definitively
  • grandwean, n. – grandchild
  • kegerator, n. – a refrigerator that has been designed or altered to store and dispense kegs. By keeping the keg in a refrigerated environment and using CO2 to pressurize and dispense the keg, it will allow the contents to remain fresh and carbonated for an extended period of time, generally a couple of months.
  • kinder, n. – short for kindergarten
  • little old lady, n. – 1. one who is seen as weak, and feeble, and/or feeble-minded.
    2. a dainty, elderly woman.
  • scrumdiddlyumptious, adj. – Extremely scrumptious; excellent, splendid; (esp. of food) delicious.
  • shopaholism, n. – medical term used to define the compulsive desire to shop
  • shoppertainment, n. – a retail tactic to engage customers through an entertaining in-store shopping experience.
  • upspeak, n. – Affliction affecting my in today’s society not just teenagers where a person makes a question out of a sentence that isn’t a question (or more simply speaks “up” at the end of a sentence).
  • yaya, n. – 1. term of endearment for an old Greek grandmother. 2. used by feminists as a reference to a woman in her prime. 2a. meaning, in this context, an old stupid whiny bitch with delusions of sexiness to anyone who is not a feminist
  • Yogalates, n. – a fitness routine that combines Pilates exercises with the postures and breathing techniques of yoga

The entire list of words added to the Oxford English Dictionary is here – http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/september-2016-update/new-words-list-september-2016/

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Grammar Giggle – Title Wave

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A reader sent this to me from her research on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

title-wave

According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a “tidal wave” is:

  • : a very high, large wave in the ocean that is often caused by strong winds or an earthquake

  • : a very large amount of something

while “title” is:

  • : the name given to something (such as a book, song, or movie) to identify or describe it

  • : a published book

  • : a word or name that describes a person’s job in a company or organization

so “title wave,” unless it is the name of a book, song, or movie (in which case it should be capitalized), is incorrect. The proper term in this case should be “tidal wave.”

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