Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The idea for this list is courtesy of the inestimable Billy Frolick.
Some nouns in English are always plural. Can we add to this list?
pants (also slacks, trousers, pantaloons, shorts, etc.)
scissors
pliers
pajamas
The standard explanation for this phenomenon is that these are things that essentially have two parts. Yet we talk intelligibly about the buttock. (Too intelligibly, some [...]
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Actually, two new list ideas, each of which I have generously started.
ADJECTIVES THAT ONLY EVER MODIFY ONE THING
tumescent
wine-dark (thanks and kudos, Jonathan Harnum)
sopping (thanks and kudos, Billy Frolick)
scudding
WORDS THAT ARE THEORETICALLY INDEPENDENT BUT ACTUALLY ONLY EVER USED WITH ONE SPECIFIC OTHER WORD
trove
throes
Please add–or subtract, if you can find exceptions. I’m actually too busy writing my [...]
Saturday, August 29, 2009
When I was a kid, I sometimes used to stare at words just to see what they could do. I remember more than once staring at the word “soon” until it sprouted extra Os and the imagined sound of the word was strange and hilarious. Then there’s mere repetition, which can polish the most ordinary [...]
was a hilarious line in Young Frankenstein. Anyway, it was hilarious to members of the audience who recognized that the correct adjective in context was “incredible.” Soon after the movie came out, though, I swear I noticed an uptick in the general misuse of “incredulous,” as though Mel Brooks had unwittingly (or, who knows, wittingly) [...]
Thursday, January 22, 2009
These, courtesy of Google Translation and http://hephaistos639.over-blog.com/article-26960987.html, are pretty fabulous, both when they work and when they don’t. Please feel free to suggest additions, but be sure to include the original url.
- Un mec entre dans un bar : “bonjour, je voudrais un chwirzkitchuidrutec à la menthe” et le barman “Vous voulez un chwirzkitchuidrutec à [...]
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Here’s a new list. These must be substantiated.
Bullies May Get Kick Out of Seeing Others in Pain
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27592980/
Portuguese sausage sighted in North County
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/20/food/groch/z8756df8b2ffbd441882574ab0001abe5.txt
SWEETWATER, Tenn. – A woman has been charged with possession of burglary tools after police said a crowbar slipped out of her pants as she was lurking around a church. (AP, 1/28/08)
LOS ANGELES — When the rare birds of paradise escaped from his suitcase and flew over the heads of U.S. Customs Agents at Los [...]
According to critics, I’ve written:
A Sizzling Summer Beach Read: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25280915/
[F]irst-rate satire…not even the mean-spirited sniper can find anything evil to say about the endearing Amy, whose quirky Web site (called “Go Away”) is a gold mine of literary nuggets: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/review/Crime-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
A Killer Murder Mystery: http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1214037020320080.xml&coll=2
Not Your Usual Murder Mystery: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23889208-5003424,00.html
[A] black comedy about an adult-ed class [...]
Monday, February 11, 2008
This fabulous List suggested by Tom Hartley. All entries are his, unless otherwise attributed. As always, feel free to jump in.
9th Viewing of Return of the Jedi a Disappointment
Haydn Threatens to Glut the Symphony Market
Kierkegaard’s Latest Philosophical Musing Depresses No One
Mark Russell to Apologize to Nation for Not Writing a Song about Super Tuesday
Writer’s Strike [...]
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
(this being what copy editors, without whom writers would look pretty silly, have to worry about)
a while (2 wds as obj of prep)
a.k.a.
anymore (1 wd as adv)
awhile (as adv)
axe-wielding
backseat
backstory
basset hound
bioterrorist
bling
blond, fem., n. & adj.
blond, masc. or neut., n. & adj.
brand-new
buttload
buzz cut, n.
buzz-cut, adj.
cell phone
cheat sheet
computer-savvy
coulrophobic
crappitude
curricula vitarum
d.o.b., d.o.d.
diacritics
diphthongs
doofus
eftsoons
e-mail
encomium
exactamento
FedEx
Frisbee
gigue
glance-through, n.
Googling
half hour
half-filled
high school (adj.)
huzzahs
Hylocereus undatus
Internet
JPEG
kibbitzers
leukemia
likable
looky-loo
lying doggo
mal de mer
mixups
mnemonic
namby-pamby
night-blooming [...]