I like to go with "[Insert Claude Raines quote here]" for note 5. It's a stock phrase for a reason, but this way people have to work for it and I tell myself they'll treasure the Flash of recognition and feel clever.
An enjoyable reminder, particularly as I climb out of a prolonged spell of not writing much at all. I admire the many ways Sallie finds to get cozy! Happy Thanksgiving, Benjamin--I'm glad you're (so generously) here.
There is — oops, that’s no way to start a sentence— another oft-mispunctuated phrase is “How dare you!,” which is almost always an exclamation, not a question.
"Highfalutin" was a word I didn't believe for the longest time. Seemed like it must MUST have had a G on the end at some point, not to mention a hyphen. But no, apparently.
Thank you for "a historian." You and the esteemed John McIntyre will have words, though. (Personally, I'm not opposed to "an 'istorian," in writing--but who would do that?)
I have often told the story of someone who attempted to conclude a conversation with me by saying "We'll have to disagree." To which I replied "I'm glad you think so." And that, as they say, was that.
‘Tis the season indeed. In the real world I was an advertising copywriter and I know that the month between Thanksgiving and Xmas is one bereft of any creativity. Too much food, too much time thinking about food (either preparing or eating or both). Actually for a retail copywriter, one doesn’t think at all until March … advertising is suspended January and February because who has any money left.
I have all sorts of perfectly dreadful ways to work around/through clichés that I think are amusing and probably aren't, like inserting "as they say" right smack in the middle of one. Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.
Before the election (or, back when we had functioning brain cells), we language-minded friends kicked around some cliched words and phrases that we will not miss and hope will be retired. Here are a few:
Permission structure
Say the quiet part out loud
Meet people where they are
Adults in the room
I'm old enough to remember when...
When someone tells you who they are (apologies to Maya Angelou)
We've just learned that Dan Rather's wife has died, so we're sorry that we included his "tight as a tick" cliche in our list. But we're still not crazy about it.
Regarding “’tis”: On a Mac one can type Shift-Option-] to get that leading apostrophe, is one is of a mind to.
Regarding “an historian”: For me(1) the difference is in which syllable is stressed. I find it smoother, more meet, perhaps, to use “an” in front of “historian”, “historic”, “historical”, and (for that matter)‚ “hysterical” because the second syllable is stressed, whereas I will say “a history” because the first syllable is stressed. It just feels/sounds/seems right to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like to go with "[Insert Claude Raines quote here]" for note 5. It's a stock phrase for a reason, but this way people have to work for it and I tell myself they'll treasure the Flash of recognition and feel clever.
*flash
An enjoyable reminder, particularly as I climb out of a prolonged spell of not writing much at all. I admire the many ways Sallie finds to get cozy! Happy Thanksgiving, Benjamin--I'm glad you're (so generously) here.
There is — oops, that’s no way to start a sentence— another oft-mispunctuated phrase is “How dare you!,” which is almost always an exclamation, not a question.
Thanks for keeping on. You're appreciated.
"Highfalutin" was a word I didn't believe for the longest time. Seemed like it must MUST have had a G on the end at some point, not to mention a hyphen. But no, apparently.
The OED does cite it earliest (1839) in "Them high-faluting chaps".
Thank you for "a historian." You and the esteemed John McIntyre will have words, though. (Personally, I'm not opposed to "an 'istorian," in writing--but who would do that?)
"An historian" always makes me happy on the rare occasion I come across it. It is pronounced "an 'istorian" though.
"A historian" is pronounced "a yistorian" unless you include an awkward stop between the two words, which I find irksome.
At the risk of using another cliché, we'll have to agree to disagree. (Respectfully, of course.)
I have often told the story of someone who attempted to conclude a conversation with me by saying "We'll have to disagree." To which I replied "I'm glad you think so." And that, as they say, was that.
Quite a few lawyers were humanities majors before they went to evil school. Love of language survives.
‘Tis the season indeed. In the real world I was an advertising copywriter and I know that the month between Thanksgiving and Xmas is one bereft of any creativity. Too much food, too much time thinking about food (either preparing or eating or both). Actually for a retail copywriter, one doesn’t think at all until March … advertising is suspended January and February because who has any money left.
Now lemme get ready for supper.
Sneakers? Old fart talk! Make mine PF Flyers.
Thank you for Tootie.
I try to alternate Tootie and Agnes.
I learned my lesson after being berated by a Newsday copyeditor for daring to write a tis-the-season lede. But I was fresh out of ideas!!!
I have all sorts of perfectly dreadful ways to work around/through clichés that I think are amusing and probably aren't, like inserting "as they say" right smack in the middle of one. Sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.
Especially before they do it to you.
Thank you for including "There is always a more interesting way to begin a sentence than with 'There is.' "
When responding to works in my writing groups, I also flag this construction with the observation, recasting the sentence always makes it stronger.
The wonderful thing is: It's almost always an easy fix, and the fix always works like crazy.
Before the election (or, back when we had functioning brain cells), we language-minded friends kicked around some cliched words and phrases that we will not miss and hope will be retired. Here are a few:
Permission structure
Say the quiet part out loud
Meet people where they are
Adults in the room
I'm old enough to remember when...
When someone tells you who they are (apologies to Maya Angelou)
Tight as a tick
Guardrails
Off-ramp
We've just learned that Dan Rather's wife has died, so we're sorry that we included his "tight as a tick" cliche in our list. But we're still not crazy about it.
I long for something to be oldfangled. This reminds me of Peg Bracken and her wondering about where one would go to find a disreputable dry cleaner.
Talking about the NYT, as much as I love Melissa Clark's recipes, if she describes one more thing as "jammy" I'll ooze into a sticky paste.
I'm happily married to a fellow who likes nothing more than to cook a jammy egg. Happily, they're delicious and he shares them.
It's not the consistency of the food that bothers me, it's the consistency of the description!
At least she’s not leaning into “unctuous.”
Or is she?
Not that I recall. But lemon always (always!) adds "brightness." She has great recipes; maybe I'll just buy her a thesaurus for the holidays.
Should lemon add zest?
Regarding “’tis”: On a Mac one can type Shift-Option-] to get that leading apostrophe, is one is of a mind to.
Regarding “an historian”: For me(1) the difference is in which syllable is stressed. I find it smoother, more meet, perhaps, to use “an” in front of “historian”, “historic”, “historical”, and (for that matter)‚ “hysterical” because the second syllable is stressed, whereas I will say “a history” because the first syllable is stressed. It just feels/sounds/seems right to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(1) – YMMV
“An” certainly goes before “anti-historian.”
That is an entirely different construct.