timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
2008-04-19 01:51 pm
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oh, I think I have a new word

(yes, it is very slow at work today)

I just came across an old, obscure word that I think is due for a slight update and renaissance: bloviate - "to speak at length in empty, pompous rhetoric".

I propose a modern twist: blogviate. Who doesn't think there's a crying need for this variation?
timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
2007-12-21 11:32 am
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some things just stick

There are a few things I picked up from old friends/acquaintances/boyfriends that just seem to stick. More than the people I got them from. Books I read, bands I listen to, catchphrases I say.

One of the more noticable ones is stuff yelled at other drivers. Feel free to use them yourselves:

At someone stopping at a yield sign (unnecessarily): "It says Yield, not die!"

At people going too slow/braking unnecessarily: "The skinny one on the right! Not the big, fat one on the left!"

Somehow, those are more fun to say than random swearing. And suitable for all ages.
timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
2007-08-04 04:34 pm
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a good day

Well, I'm the popular librarian today! I not only let the kids play Monopoly, but when it turned out the dice were missing, I made them paper dice from a template online. They were astonished that you could make dice.

And we also got a little grammar lesson after I heard "dices" (it just hurts my ears). They somehow thought that having only one "die" was funny.
timepiece: (sweatergirl)
2006-11-28 11:40 am
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language peeve

I have seen this too many times lately - I can't hold it in anymore.

You graduate FROM college, people. FROM. It is not a transitive verb. And frankly, if you did (graduate from college), you should know that.

So, the next person who utters the phrase "graduate[d] college" (or high school, or any other school) in my presence is going to be strangled by a crazy woman. Fair warning.
timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
2004-10-14 12:55 pm
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yes, I am a language nazi

Pet peeve: ironic means something that is the opposite of what is said (similar to sarcasm, but more subtle), or opposite to what is appropriate or wanted. Or, in the case of dramatic irony, when onlookers have knowledge that the people taking action do not, which casts those actions in a different light.

People using "ironic" nowadays actually seem to mean "weirdly apropos" or "poetic justice." It's teeth-grindingly annoying. I was just reading a book of rock and roll legends, and the author uses ironic constantly. Two band members dying at the same intersection is not ironic, it's an eerie coincidence.

Just had to get that off my chest. Yeah, I have weird pet peeves. Just watch, I'm sure a lot of people agree with me.

One more for free: one does not graduate college. One graduates *from* college. Or, even more strictly appropriate, one is graduated from college (rarely used anymore, but you do see it). If were able to do it, you should be able to announce the fact correctly. Please.
timepiece: Page of Pentacles from Tarot of the Cat Poeple Deck (Default)
2004-08-26 06:55 pm
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expanding vocabulary/ changing writing style

I looked over my last few entries. Must stop starting entries with OK, So, or Well.