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A POLYGAMY OF ESSAYETTES – ACT TWO
You may recall that I sent you some essayettes in a previous mailing. The essayettes were not long enough to be a full essay and so when they are gathered together I call them a polygamy of essayettes. I will freely concede that the word polygamy is almost always used in conjunction with a practice…
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THE MOTHER TONGUE REVISITED
Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court Justice, is a man who has his head in the sand. He insists that the law is what was written in 1776 – 1789 without any improvements to the law or the language. You may recall that Scalia is the person who gave us George W. Bush when the hanging…
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SUMMERS AND/OR SOMMERS
I have consulted with grammar experts here and in New York City and the general conclusion is that the title to this essay is something like an adverb. I was largely unschooled on the matter of grammar in the English language. So if there is a mistake in the labeling of this title as an…
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FORMS OF ALLIED MILITARY ADDRESS
It is fortunate that during World War II, a good many of the Allies spoke English. Of course there were the Brits, who included the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh. Then there were the Australians and the Canadians. All of them spoke English. My thought here today is to recognize the forms of address,…
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A FIVE-STAR QUINELLA
For a number of years, I have kept two dictating machines on a table near my desk. On the left side, there is a machine that I use to dictate what I hope is the final product for Mrs. Baker, the transcriber. On the right side, there is a machine that keeps notes for titles…
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UN OR NON
On a few occasions, these essays have introduced you to Miss Maxwell, my eighth grade teacher. She was the one who wore high-buttoned shoes and loved to recite English poetry to the consternation of her students. Miss Maxwell was also a bear cat on hour-on-hour learning the rules of English grammar. Diagramming sentences provided a…
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Tom Scandlyn Response: Country Speak
[Note from Kevin — Tom, a 92-year-old friend of Pop’s for many years, wrote this after reading “Black Speak” but his response primarily concerns essays about “Country Speak,” of which I published an example very recently. Alternatively, view all of Pop’s essays on language here.] In math sigma means the sum of. The limits…
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LICKING
I believe that it is time for us to have another adventure in country speak. Country speak is a variation of the English language. It is a language unto itself. The subject for today’s lesson in country speak is “lick.” That word is hardly ever conjugated because to do so would lead you astray. If…
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RETIRING RETROACTIVELY
The network news broadcasts and the politicians are attempting to determine what was meant by Mitt Romney’s saying that he had retired retroactively. I fancy myself a wordsmith but I am thoroughly baffled by the use of the term “retired retroactively.” The case in point involves Mr. Romney filing papers with the Securities and Exchange…