The Language Nerd, Author at The League of Nerds

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Posts by The Language Nerd

Fifty Shades of White

August 6, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, My teacher once told me that the Eskimo have forty-five words for snow, but recently I read that they have over two hundred – a pretty big difference! How many is it really? Sincerely, [name redacted by Language Nerd] *** Dear [redacted], NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I suppose it was bound to […]

Fancy-Shmancy Reduplication

July 30, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, Duplication I get, sure, but what’s up with reduplication? -Carl S., Jr. *** Dear Carl, Reduplication is when sounds or words are said twice in a row. In English, we have a few set words that use reduplication — frou-frou, razzle-dazzle, bye-bye — that sort of thing. We also have the more […]

Author, Author!

July 23, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, I am fascinated by the news that J.K. Rowling wrote a murder mystery, The Cuckoo’s Calling, under the pen name of Robert Galbraith… and got found out! But the news articles I’ve read skip what seem to me to be the most interesting part of the story — what showed that the […]

Pairing Off

July 16, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, So I’m in the kitchen, planning to cut up some beef, holding my kitchen scissors at the ready, and I haven’t done it yet because I’m standing and thinking, why do I call these “a pair of scissors” when there’s only one of them? Please respond before my meat goes bad! Tamar […]

Naming Up a Storm

July 9, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, Merry hurricane season! As I keep a wary eye on Chantal, I’m wondering who names the hurricanes? Dwayne Boston *** Dear Dwayne, You’ve come to the right place, as your humble Language Nerd is a Gulf Coast native. Short answer: the World Meteorological Organization. Long answer: still the World Meteorological Organization, but […]

I Literally Could Care Less

July 2, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Egregious apostrophe sighting: “This was over 40 years ago and it still go’s on.” *** Saw this one on the street: “DVD’s AND VIDEO’s.” Arrrrgh!!!! *** “The issue is only confused by it’s advocates.” If its advocates use “it’s” correctly, I’m joining their side! *** You guys. YOU GUYS. This is the exact opposite of […]

An Asal Shift

June 25, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, Why do we say “orange” instead of “norange”? Amber Copsley *** Dear Amber, Finally, someone bites! Hurrah! Oranges were originally found in India, and the Sanskrit word for them was “naranga.” They entered European languages by way of Arabic, as “naranj.” So where did that first “n” go? Nasal shifting, baby. We […]

Two Parter, Parts One and Two

June 18, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, Why do we say “stand up”? Doesn’t “stand” cover everything? -Andy *** Dear Andy, Okay, here’s the plan: first, I’ll explain what a phrasal verb is, and then, right when you’re feeling secure, I will totally blindside you by saying that “stand up” isn’t really a phrasal verb after all. Ready? Let’s […]

My Kingdom for a Horse Language!

June 11, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, I am a huge fan of the Game of Thrones shows, and I was wondering, when the characters speak in the horse rider language, are they just saying nonsense? Or do the words mean something? – Amerila James *** Zhey Amerila, Nonsense? Does a language with two kinds of noun-noun compounds and […]

You Might Like This, It’s About Run-Ons

June 4, 2013 Written by The Language Nerd

Dear Language Nerd, Occasionally when I am writing technical papers, I concentrate so much on the outstanding point that I am making that I write errant run-on sentences. When I (read MS Word editor) spot a suspect run-on, I think to myself “most people won’t recognize it anyway so just leave it.” I like the […]