Dear Language Nerd, So here’s my crossword puzzle clue: “Address letters.” And I’m racking my brain – issue invitations? Write out? Inscribe? Engrave? Calligraphize? And then (much later) I realize. “Address” is a NOUN, not a verb, and the answer is the 2-letter state code. Tell me with linguistics the mechanisms of this trickery, o […]
Hey Lang Nerd, can I axe you a question? Why do some people say “aks” and not “ask”? Kenneth *** Dear Kenneth, Metathesis, man. Metathesis. This is the term for when two sounds switch places in a word. It is therefore required, by custom and maybe law, that anyone explaining metathesis refer to it as […]
Dear Language Nerd, Not to brag or anything, but I have totally mastered writing in English. I don’t mean the nuances of grammar or the subtlety of poetry or any of that pishposh. I mean the physical act of writing. I put down the letters, others decode the sounds, and frankly it’s beautiful. Grown men […]
Dear Language Nerd, I’m on the phone all the time for my job, and I’ve noticed something odd. When I talk to New Yorkers, I sound a little like a Yankee. When I talk to Georgians, I sound a little Southern. When I talk to Londoners, I sound a little British. I’m not doing it […]
Think of a grammar rule. Any grammar rule. Basic, bizarre, straightforward, convoluted. Whatever. Got it? Okay, then, consider: why do you think this counts as a grammar rule? What gives it credence? Here are the usual reasons: An authority said it, like a high school English teacher or Strunk and White. Good, careful writers always […]
Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is bad for writers. This is an unpopular position, I know. Elements is beloved by literati, authors, English teachers, Supreme Court justices. Its precepts are in our stylebooks, our standardized tests, the air we breathe. People adore this book. I’m blaspheming. I don’t care. It is a bad […]
Language Nerd, Spanish and French were once both dialects of Latin, but now they’re different languages… when did they switch from 2 dialects of one language to 2 languages? *** Dear mysterious anonymous person, When Spanish and French people stopped being able to understand each other. Since I’ve been calling myself the Language Nerd for […]
Hey Lang Nerd! (BTW I loved the post about the NATO Phonetic Alphabet) Is it easier to develop a text-to-speech application for Chinese, rather than other languages, because the tones are already built into the words? Like, wouldn’t that mean that the program doesn’t have to enforce sort of a global tone to the sentence, […]
“Don we now our gay apparel / Troll the ancient Yuletide carol”? I just realized I have no idea what I’m singing. And what exactly is gay apparel? -Kakewalk *** Dear Kakewalk, Pumpkins? In this case “gay apparel” probably just means cheery and colorful. Though if there isn’t already an online Xmas LGBT clothier called […]
Hey Language Nerd, I was waiting for a friend last night, and when I messaged to ask him where he was, he answered “Oscar Mike.” Apparently that meant he was coming, because he got there soon after. But I don’t get it. Do you? -RPD *** Dear Romeo Papa Delta, In fact I do. It’s […]