Slashdot Mirror
A Word a Day
For anyone who finds MBA-speak infiltrating daily life (I'll admit to once telling a friend we could "table the discussion for later"), learning new, cool, real words is a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. Anu Garg runs A.Word.A.Day, the website, where, instead of the morning's daily dose of spam, acolytes can receive daily linguistic edification. (The urge to use big words in a review like this is difficult to suppress.) Now he's taken the best of these words and themes and collected them in a slim little volume good for both casual grazing and sit-down-reading.
What's to Like Garg has a logical mind, dividing the book into small chapters with clever themes. There are some humdingers of words, but there are also many surprisingly small entries, as in the chapters "Words that Make the Spell-checker Ineffective" (example: specie, meaning "in kind") and "Words Not to Put on Your Resume" (example: distrait, or absentminded). Anyone who wants to get really meta will like the chapters that are words about words (example: verbigeration, the obsessive repetition of meaningless words and phrases). The truth is, it's just fun to learn new words, stretch the brain a little bit, and to find out how certain etymologies came to be. Pixilated (as opposed to pixelated), meaning whimsical or eccentric, came from the word "pixie," for example, while cremains (from the combining of the words cremate and remains) means exactly what you think. What's to Consider Late in the book, Garg introduces the concept of the malapropism ("the humorous misuse of a word by confusing it with a similar-sounding word"), which seems like an important idea in geek culture. Lots of geeks are autodidacts and readers, and we fall into the habit of mispronouncing or slightly misusing big word. (For years I said prejudice as "pre-justiced" because that was how I thought of the meaning.) To be exact in language -- both in pronunciation and in meaning -- is to have a certain kind of power. It may seem a little prissy to worry about it, but communication is one of those things in daily life that really matter, that people use to make a judgement about how smart or interesting a person is. A weblog filled with all "like, you know" kind of commentary is tedious; a witty one gets forwarded to friends.As corporate-speak becomes more and more intertwined with technology, it's up to all of us to create a discourse community (a concept a friend from Harvard told me about) that makes conversation sparkly and yet exact, even in the middle of a cube farm. But mostly, it's just fun to think about words and how they could be used. Not that it will ever happen, but maybe at the next meeting, during the next inane bizdev presentation, someone will lean over and whisper "Clearly Manager X must have been decerebrated over the holidays, or he would never have perorated like that this afternoon." And we'll all actually know what he's talking about.
Summary Anu Garg loves words, and the book reflects it. He has a natural curiosity and desire to explain bigger concepts about how language evolves and becomes useful. Playful and humorous in his writing style, he's created a book that other people will want to borrow from you.You can purchase A Word a Day from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
defenestrate
Never approach a vast undertaking with a half-vast plan.
What's the criteria for a book review to get a front page post vs a sectional post?
Slow news day, eh?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
I believe you were being precipitous in your assesment. Unfortunately yours is not the first post; instead it is the penultimate post. Still thank you for playing; please try again ..
"the obsessive repetition of meaningless words and phrases"
Yup, that about describes my posting....
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
I think the "thr0d p1st su|ers!!" comments will ultimately be more entertaining then any productive discussion that could possibly be conceived on this topic.
Rediculous
Wierd
Definately
Loose/Lose
Perhaps my all time favorite common misspelling is "retarted" when used as an insult.
is 0.000185bps.. Man , that sucks!
I read slashdot for the articles.
and his 2003 State of ShrubCo Speech"
Cheers,
W00t
Get Your War Crimes On
Callipygian I wouldn't even have imagined that there would be a word for it.
Is that most geeks are male, most slashdotters are geeks, most males are left-brained, and communications is a predominantly right-brained activity. Is it any wonder that IT is consistently faulted for having poor communications skills? Reading this book will not change the fundamental problem.
The preceding comment has been reviewed and declared to be compliant with HIPPA Phase II regulations.
Yes but dictionary.com may not appreciate getting /.ed.
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
Example
GROYNE n. ~ This is the correct term for one of those little wooden fences or brick walls that run down English beaches and out into the water for some distance, as a device to check the drifting of the same. Pronounced, and sometimes spelled, groin. "Shall we get together down by the groyne?"
His multiplicating miskpronounsciations and misconstruations are meaking me want to do a retaskification of my thinkisms.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Don't forget your/you're! What is it so hard for some people to realise that one should be used in place of "you are"?
How lame. How racy can it be if the title has been neutered?
Blar.
I'm a bit of a wordsmith, and find that while learning words on a day by day basis is a good idea, it's actually using them that helps me retain them.
But more importantly, you can learn MANY more than 365 words a year if you look up the 'etymology' of the words you learn (the history and background of how they came into being).
Why? Well, take the word 'malapropism' that was highlighted in this review. It's find learning what it means, but if you rattle along to its dictionary.com entry you find out it comes from the word 'malaprop'. Digging further, you can learn what this really means.
Any French student knows that mal means 'bad' or wrong.
Now, à propos means 'to the subject/purpose'. But what does it also sound like? It's sounds like malappropriate doesn't it?
Now it's a lot easier to remember.
bad + appropriate + for subject = malapropism
a word that's inappropriate for the topic = malapropism.
Now next time you hit words like malice and malfunction you won't have to wonder whether mal meant good or bad.. because you looked up the etymology!
So, look up the history of words you learn, because you could easily end up being able to guess many hundreds of OTHER words simply by knowing the roots.
mogorific carpentry experiments
Did anyone else just check their prefrences to see if there was a word-of-the-day Slashbox? I know, I was disappointed too.
I read the internet for the articles.
Noone it's/its/its'/i'ts/ets
Well, this is a shame. This is a well written, edifying assessment. In spite of this, the manuscript doesn't really do anything for me. I just wanted to articulate my exhilaration with the excellence of the evaluation. This brings back the old days of paper writing in middle school. With a little writing and the powers of thesaurus (shift-f7) = A on papers. :)
vulturant?
site has a Word of the Day function:
http://www.oed.com/cgi/display/wotd
Today's word is 'mutton', which isn't very interesting until you read the the archaic forms. There is one from 1518: "And from thens to the halfe strete, To get vs there some freshe mete. Why, is there any store of rawe motton? "
Okay, I find the archaic bits interesting. YMMV.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
One of the chapters of Steven Jay Gould's book Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms
A lot of people underestimate the importance of clear communication, not to mention the role of proper spelling. Want people to take you seriously? Those who have power tend to have education, and if you write poorly, they won't take you as seriously. The internal logic is, "If this person doesn't care enough to take the time to make sure the grammar and spelling are correct -- which are simple enough things to do -- then why should I take the time to read what they have to say, or care about it?"
I'm not saying that someone who spells poorly is stupid, or always wrong about things -- just that they're perceived that way. If you can't even learn to spell properly, what are the odds you can learn to think properly? Yeah, it's a gross oversimplification, but life isn't always fair.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
J. Lo.
wier'd, verb, past tense (archaic). To turn someone into a small dam.
retarted, verb, past tense. Bill Gates after he has just been hit with another cream pie.
then lackadaisically would mean "with a shortage of flowers"..
/usr/games/fortune)
(Yes, I get all my posts from
I use dictionary.com all the time. I love randomly typing in words like "audacious" or "syllogistic" (...my favourite def'n EVER!!: "Of, relating to, resembling, or consisting of a syllogism or syllogisms." BUHAHAHAH!)
Learning the exact meaning of a word, it's variants, and it's etymology really helps me get a grip on nuances in language. A lot of the time I'll get a little surprise when I look up a word, ESPECIALLY when I think I already know what it means. It's also good prectice for SCRABBLE.
I've got a bad attitude and karma to burn. Go ahead. Mod me down.
It's surprising than anybody can natter on about the history of 'malapropism' without mentioning that it originates in a coinage: Mrs. Malaprop is a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals.
I just subscribed and was alarmed to see that there's no confirmation required. At least it's not a high-volume list (I'd estimate that you'd get, er, one mail a day, making it a poor choice for mailbombing) but it's still a while since I last encountered a mailing list that trusting.
At least the unsubscribe link is prominently displayed on the introductory mail.
"Are you being weird, or sarcastic?" said Emma. I said I didn't know because I get the two feelings mixed up.
Yada yada, look it up. Word a day is a great site, i'd expect the book to be funny++
Eschu obfustication.
Unless, of course, you think somebody else already said it, in which case you should mod it: -1 Pleonastic
pr0n
Look it up, you'll like it more!!
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Maybe some one should send a copy to KDE. ;-)
[Please type your sig here.]
linkage.
sig my booty, check my website
callipygian considered to be overrated?
This reminds me, wouldn't it be great to incorperate the word-of-the-day functionality into the moderation system? That'd keep the moderators on their toes (or at least on their dictionaries). Besides there are a lot of AC posts that make me pine for a -1 Emetic moderation.
I read the internet for the articles.
Aquadextrous - adj. Possessing the ability to turn the bathtub faucet on and off with your toes.
Gurmlish - n. The red warning flag at the top of a club sandwich which prevents the person from biting into it and puncturing the roof of his mouth.
Sniglet (snig'lit) - n. Any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should.
Lactomangulation - n. Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk carton so badly that one has to resort to using the "illegal" side.
Mozzalastics (maht suh las' tiks) - n. Large deposits of cheese that stick to the top of the pizza box.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
I've been getting a Word of the Day from the good folks at dictionary.com for a few years now. It's been working out really well. My english are now delicious.
It is not OT.
Yawn
Anyone find the irony in a Slashdot story telling US to go to dictionary.com?
Err... you mean "ridiculous", right? ;)
Since I became one, I've always liked the fact that I am a speaker of a neolatin language in an English-speaking society; most of the words that are considered "big words" by English speakers are directly derived from our group of languages, and to us they are simple and common words. Many of the "big words" in the review are an example of that. It takes no effort to understand them, and we can always use them if we want to impress someone :).
Seriously speaking, though, it's interesting how (apparently, at least) most, if not virtually all words in English (that come from a non-Latin root) have one or more Latin-derived synonyms. It's always fun to think of them for any random word.
The archives of AWAD is located here. What's the point of linking to the main site?
I'll probably buy that book just because I love the service they provide (for free) so much, but really, it's all in the archives if you want to spare a few bucks.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" - Derek Bok
What planet are YOU from? ;)
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
Carcinoma (n.), a valley in California, notable for its heavy smog.
Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightie.
Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
Bustard (n.), a very rude Metrobus driver.
Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.
Flatulence (n.), the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
Semantics (n.), pranks conducted by young men studying for the priesthood, including such things as gluing the pages of the priest's prayer book together just before vespers.
Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.
Marionettes (n.), residents of Washington who have been jerked around by the mayor.
Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.
Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
Frisbatarianism (n.), Belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
annmariabell.com
foldplay your photos won't know what hit them.
Several years ago Sir Mix-A-Lot came out with a song called "Baby Got Back," hailing the beauty of large tooshes. In the video, there was an oversized magazine cover featuring a woman on the front, much like Cosmopolitan, but it showed her backside and the title of the mag was "Callipygian!"
I hate call waitin`~+~~~
NO CARRIER
Formication. Something you don't want your parents to catch you doing?
Actually, Bush already has his own book.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" - Derek Bok
Apparently Don King is parading around Slashdot under an "Unknown Poltroon" alias.
...on /. we can't even get people to conjugate verbs correctly. There still exists a large enough group here that chooses to conjugate verbs relating to companies in the plural as in:
"Microsoft are doing something evil."
as opposed to the proper:
"Microsoft is doing something evil."
If they can't figure out simple singular/plural conjugation, do you really think they gain anything by reading such a book.
-Tom
-Tom
...keeps the doctor away
this is not an apple story!
I hope that Slashdot articles continue to improve in the areas of spelling and grammar. The last few months have seen noticeable but inconsistent improvements.
As for online dictionaries, I paid the ~$30 per year to get access to http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/. It's worth every penny. No paper dictionary or other online dictionary beats it for either speed or thoroughness. I guess the OED would be more thorough, but I'd argue that that is not just a dictionary, but an encyclopedia of the language. The Unabridged MW also has WAV files, so you don't have to learn yet another pronunciation key system.
I think AWAD on Slashdot is a great idea. As the first word, I suggest:
hacker n.
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis hacker.
That's been debated for far too long. And as for the argument that use define word meanings, dictionaries don't, that's basically shooting yourself in the foot, as everyone and his brother using "hacker" as in "cracker" is what prudists are arguing against in the first place.
Runner-ups: computer science, operating system, free, theft, intellectual property.
I have a nagging feeling that all the stuff being debated daily on Slashdot could be easily settled in a day or two if we could just agree on what certain keywords mean.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" - Derek Bok
George Carlin does a great job on words and how they have changed in his 1998 album "Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics"
Shell Shocked became Post Tramatic Stress Syndrom
Fired became Reducing Redundencies
Killing became Population Adjustment
Deaf became hearing impared
Stupid became Has a Learning Disorder
Old became Senior Citenzen
RudeDude
Perl/Linux/PHP hacker
It seems to me that a 'word of the day' book must be closely matched to its readership. My wife once worked in a lab that employed research assistants in various stages of education. One of these was studying a 'word of the day' desk calendar in hopes of scoring well on the vocabulary section of an admission exam.
These words for the most part seemed rather quotidian - hardly worth studying. But one day the student was able to stump everyone:
Student: What does 'dreeahdest' mean?
Everyone: I don't know.
Student: Arid or stultifying.
The 'word' of the day was the phrase 'dry-as-dust'.
"The good reader is a rarer swan than the good writer."
I previewed this twice and still missed the "time" typo. Darn human error. I guess is time to write a browser hack to check textarea's for spelling before submission.
RudeDude
Perl/Linux/PHP hacker
Another point:
;)
Given the almost instantaneous nature of e-mail and web-based/electronic communication, it is all too common for something to be written without even a cursory check-over before getting sent out.
We see that in terms of content (flame wars are usually the result of hot-headed reflexive replying) and also in terms of typos. If you just let your fingers fly and then hit "SEND", how much thought went into your post?
My assumption is that as you get used to electronic communication mediums you subconsciously notice a correlation between typos and inane comments that hold very little content, such as:"Frist Post! Y0U=TEH SUCK!"
An interesting metric for Slashdot to collect is how often the preview button is used before posting. Chances are I think its in the low 20% range. (I know, cuz I'm guilty
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Today's word is "Legs". Lets go back to my place and spread the word.
g
Getting "meta", eh? I'm sure the book includes this word, then:
SESQUIPEDALIAN
n.
A long word.
adj.
Given to the use of long words.
Long and ponderous; polysyllabic.
source
----------
Cheese it! It's the FEDS!
...while cremains (from the combining of the words cremate and remains) means exactly what you think.
Ah, so that's what that white, powder-like substance that people add to their coffee is called.
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
Yeah, and he meant "Weird" and "Definitely" too. That's the point. It's a joke, son.
Let's not leave out mute. Not the inability to speak, but when used instead of moot.
Every time I hear someone say it's a mute point, I want to rip their tongue out and render them mute. Then their poor spoken grammar would be a moot point.
Sigh...I feel better now.
Klingons writing books on the English language?!?!
What's Next? "The Joy of Correct Spelling" by the Slashdot editors?
Inflammable means flammable?! Boy, what a country.
I always figured one book was more than enough for Dubya...
Sentimentality is merely the Bank Holiday of cynicism.
- Oscar Wilde
How many years ago?
Anonymous Cowards - Oh God, How I hate you
Being a bit of a word freak, I took the Google search button
c lient=googlet&q='+escape(q)
o m/search?q='+escape(q)
javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
for(i=0;i q=frames[i].document.getSelection();if(q)break;
}
if(!q)void(q=prompt('Keywords:',''));
if(q)location.href='http://www.google.com/search?
and modified it for use with dictionary.com. The result
javascript:
q=document.getSelection();
if(!q){
void(q=prompt('Enter word to define using dictionary.com. You can also define any word on this web page by highlighting the word and clicking Dictionary.',''))
};
if(q)location.href='http://dictionary.reference.c
is a button on your personal toolbar allowing you to lookup a word which you have highlighted in any webpage.
BTW, I had to insert html breaks in the code to get past slashdots javascript filter.
Yeah - what's up with all of the confusion between 'Loose' and 'Lose'?! It's not that freakin' hard!
I was beginning to think I was alone, like maybe it was a European thing. (See 'Aluminium'.)
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
Also:
seperated
Wordnik, a dictionary project which aims to collect
Please do ! This would add a certain value (as in spelling and education) to the Slashdot readership.
Don't make too many assumptions here.
Firstly, the dominance of brain hemisphere by gender is an assumption.
Secondly, the left/right brain function differentiation is not only based upon native language, but evidently culture as well.
Scans show that, for example, English speakers and Japanese speakers have opposite sides of the brain light up when the sound of running water is perceived. But this also turns out to be more or less true of people raised in English-speaking and Japanese-speaking places, even if they are raised speaking another language. And then, by and large, 2nd generation (Nisei) Japanese Americans will register the sound on the opposite site of the brain than their Japanese-born parents, even if they (the Nisei) are raised speaking Japanese.
All this is to point out that the whole left brain / right brain dichotomy is nice in theory, but is not absolute. Furthermore, even in nice clean cases where we're talking entirely about a group of people with a common language and culture, the degree of dominance of one hemisphere over the other is a spectrum, not a boolean.
In short, tech people shouldn't make technical excuses for not caring about communication.
.
.
.
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
people to realise that
...idiots...
(emphasis mine)
Don't you just love it when people complane about spelling/grammar mistakes and make one of their own?
*glares*
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
Gotta be a troll.
The best part about dictionary.com's free Word of the Day emails sent straight to your inbox is how they make sure to have appropriate ones for certain days: Last year they had "philter" for Valentines Day and "jollification" for Christmas Day.
My name is Carlos Montoya. You share files of my music. Prepare to die.
Another good site for the logophile is Take Our Word For It, the weekly word-orgin webzine.
This week the spotlight is on plural diseases. Ooh! Mumps, Measles, Hives, Shingles. Why are they all plural. That and more fun.
(-1, Troll)
Complane? Realise?
Alcohol and Calculus don't mix. Don't drink and derive.
The following is just a set of "Stupid JavaScript Tricks" that modify the original Google lookup script to allow similar easy lookups of other sites, including Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com. (If you're really into wordplay, you can even build one of these to automatically pump the text into an anagram generator or the like...)
The GoTo one is a bit different, though: select the URL (making sure not to select the "http://" part due to the way JS processes things) and Voila! you're instantly at the site that some goon didn't bother to make a hyperlink.
Anyway, here they are, to use them just create personal toolbar items with these URLs:
Notes:
1. Columbine Bookmark Merge Users: These URLs are too long for that wonderful but dated program to handle and will be truncated in the mrege process.
2. One of these days, I suppose I should modify the scripts to open the lookup in a new tab or window... Any JS experts wanna fix that real quick?
"The future's good and the present is nothing to sneeze at." - Roblimo's last
I'm a fan of yourdictionary.com It contains a large list of dictionaries in many languages ranging from traditional like several English-French dictionaries to more specialized, like the Somali-English-Italian Online Mathematical Dictionary and the Hebrew-English Basketball Dictionary. There are also word games, rhyming dictionaries, links to places to learn languages and lots of other stuff. another site that caught my attention recently is http://oneword.invisibleland.tv/ wordgeeks unite!
*Sigh*
I considered adding something to the end to indicate that I knew that I was making a spelling error. But, then I thought maybe people would be able to tell that without me making it blatantly obvious.
Apparently I was wrong. I'll use <sarcasm> tags to give a subtle hint.
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
Disregarding your misspelling of complain, you should know that realise is a valid spelling in some parts of the world.
--
Promoting critical thinking since 1994.
Bah..
And I suppose you'll tell me that "connexion" is correct, too!
Withdrawal before climax is very ineffective and those who try this are usually called "parents."
(from "Black Adder 3 - Ink and Incapability")
"Here it is, sir. The very cornerstone of English scholarship. This book, sir, contains every word in our beloved english language"
"Every single one, sir?"
"Every single one, sir."
"Oh, well in that case sir, I hope you will not object if I also offer the doctor my most enthusiastic contifibularities."
"What?"
"Contifibularities, sir? It is a common word down our way."
"Damn."
"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compuctuous to have caused you such pericombobulations."
"What what what??"
"What are you on about, Blackadder? This is beginning to sound a bit like dago talk to me."
"I'm sorry sir. I merely wished to congratulate the doctor on not having missed out a single word."
"Realise" is the British spelling.
Long ago when I worked at ParcPlace, we got an email saying we'd all be "enervated" by the upcoming push to fix bugs, with the comment that the author "would have used 'energized', but didn't want to remind Dick Gabriel of his last project"
"enervated" does not mean "energized", though it is an accurate description of how it feels to fix bugs.
Funny thing is, JK Rowling also seems to be confused about it, so I can't read HP4 w/o thinking of ParcPlace.
The book is compiled from Wordsmith.Org's "A Word A Day"; Dictionary.com's word of the day is completely different.
(But yes, both lists do have free online archives.)
requiring the preview for posts (like /. has for Journal Entries) has one flaw:
/.,
;)
I can click preview, then immediately click send without actually having previewed. This is called "lying to your computer."
So let's rephrase:
instead of It would be nice if at least one preview was required by
change that to:
it would be nice if posters gave a rat's backside about what they were saying, instead of karma-whoring by being the first one to post one of the same 5 comments that gets made on every story.
So from now on, my posts will only be a ruse to hide a "Made You Look!" message inorder to make people look.
P.S.- dear reader, you've been had!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Yep, I've never understood the "retarted" misuse. No one I know pronounces retarded that way, why do so many spell it that way? I've become a tart again? Was I ever a tart?
The meme police, They live inside of my head
Perhaps my all time favorite common misspelling is "retarted" when used as an insult.
My favorite: niger
No, I don't like the word nigger, but I find it entirely hilarious when somebody can't spell it and actually thinks they've got it right.
Another good reason to learn Ada. Since separate is a keyword, you'll learn to spell it in no time.
I have enough trouble walking into a bar and when someone chooses to talk to me, explaning that I'm a molecular biologist. I get two responses: a blank look of confusion and the rapid departure of the person and the always trite, "Oh that's so noble." Followed by a story about someone in their family who has a disease or condition that is not relevant to what I study.
Imagine being the poor person who has to explain that they work on a gene responsible for nice arses in sheep.
>This pithy gem from sfgate:
>
> == The Daily Word ==
>
> It's almost like learning something
>
> gimcrack \'jim-'krak\ noun [origin unknown] (1676)
> A showy object of little use or value - a gewgaw
> gimcrack - adjective; gimcrackery - noun
>
> Usage example: And with that, Lynne Cheney ran off into
> the woods yet again, cackling and hissing and dangling
> Ashcroft's testes from her scaly neck like a gimcrack.
HOW DID THAT GET PAST THE CENSORS????
Can you tell humor when it walks up abd bites you?
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
What would be ripped out of someone who has poorly typed grammar? ;-)
Would you render them Slashdotless?
- Sprechen Sie mit der Hand, weil die Ohren nicht hören.
Nothing. Poor is an adjective modifying the noun grammar, as is spoken. If I was modifying a verb, then poorly, as an adverb, would be appropriate. In this case, poor is acceptable.
;-) right back at you.
Go back to Freshman English, dumbass.