Language
November 19, 2009
- In any discussion of an abstract word or concept like “Peace,” I like to start with the point of view of the one who starts the discussion. In other words, I have to start with a premise. For me, “Peace” is more than a cessation of hostilities, whether those hostilities are between individuals, groups, communities or nation-states. In that configuration, peace means the end of war, ...
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October 27, 2009
- So, after having two guest posts here about writing and where you are, and how the two mix, I've finally written my thoughts on how it was to move countries and what that has done to my words, over at Petina Gappah's excellent blog. An extract:So we moved, with our two cats (who are now, sadly and cruelly, in quarantine), two months ago. And that is when the culture shock hit. Yes, I had been ...
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October 19, 2009
October 12, 2009
- (This is one in a series of blogs on frequently asked question that I posted on MySpace when I began that blog, and later on my own site.) I've just come back from four author visits to towns that have used Pay It Forward for their One Book, One Community reads. Two were in Indiana and two in Illinois. I got an interesting question from a young gentleman at one of the local high schools. He ...
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September 24, 2009
September 16, 2009
- I just climbed out of the The Slough of Not Writing—a place of confusion, boredom, and stoic self-reliance. During this time all kinds of projects were cached in my computer--a disorganized filing system that invariably shocks techno-people. And there were a lot floating around since I work from fragments that seem unviable, until--like shells releasing flowers underwater--something brings ...
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September 8, 2009
- I try not to get irked by words like "incentivize." I understand why other people do, but I figure there's no use in letting acceptable usages get under my skin. Best to save my energy for stuff like "enthused" in quotation attributions. ("'It's a great deal,' Thompson enthused.")But over the weekend, I heard an "incentivized" I just cannot let stand. I was ...
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August 24, 2009
- short and shriftOn some level, I like the expression short shrift. But I just can't condone such unhealthy codependency. Like trove and amok, shrift is devoted to a partner that doesn't return the loyalty. On any given day, short can be seen running around all over town with everything from sell to order cook to man's disease.This case of codependency is so bad that shrift has pretty much lost ...
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August 3, 2009
- A new German dictionary has acquired 5,000 new words and many of them are English. Around 5,000 new words have been officially added to the German language as the country's iconic dictionary, Duden, introduced its first new edition for three years. The new version contains 135,000 words, including many new words that an English-speaker would find familiar, several inspired by ...
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July 10, 2009
- The Americans did it with their phonetic spellings. India gobbled their burgers and even the Oxford-educated returned with American accents, forget those on a vacation rolling their tongues going khurrie while aching for a spicy curry. I am in no hurry, but Kolkata schools have decided that the Oxford English dictionary can go take a walk and S can comfortably be replaced with a Z. But, then, why ...
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