best. day. ever.

okay, so i realize that my last post was in june. what?! yes. i apologize to our handful of readers out there. for those of you who have waited so patiently, i do have some big news. some of you may already know this, but some may not. For those of you who don't (and for those of you who delight in such small delights, such as i), here it is, without further ado...

"'Meh'—the apathetic expression enters dictionary"!!!!!!!!!

that's right, my friends. "MEH" is now an official** word.

"LONDON—At least someone is excited about "meh."

The expression of indifference or boredom has gained a place in the Collins English Dictionary after generating a surprising amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers.

Publisher HarperCollins announced Monday the word had been chosen from terms suggested by the public for inclusion in the dictionary's 30th anniversary edition, to be published next year.

The origins of "meh" are murky, but the term grew in popularity after being used in a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa."

oh, the fact that HarperCollins' newest word's alleged origin is an episode of "the simpsons" delights me even more. i will also have you know, that since i heard this bit of news on a recent episode of "wait, wait, don't tell me," i have attempted to use it at least once daily. and, since then, i have realized that i am all too often indifferent, because i have succeeded in using it MORE than once daily. several times daily, to be exact. it's way better than saying, "whatever" a hundred times a day. i've decided that the perfect complement to "meh" is a quick shrug of the shoulders and perhaps a slight roll of the eyes. now, if only i could stop typing it with quotations...

try it. you'll find that you love it, too.

**i do realize that meh has been used a lot for a while (just google it and you'll see), but the news part of this post is the officializing of it by publishing it in a dictionary. ahhh, the english language...ever dynamic. no wonder it's so hard for foreigners to learn. and for me to keep up on (which might explain my lack of posting of late)...

a word and a promise.

i will try to do better. that's my promise. now here's my word:

mazy \MAY-zee\, adjective:

Resembling a maze in form or complexity; winding; intricate; confusing; perplexing.

awesome! it looks like the exact kind of word i would make up to describe something, well, mazy.

supposedly is supposably incorrect?

yes. it's incorrect, but not in the way some people might think. i have found (much to my chagrin) that supposably is an actual word...but, to my unrelenting joy, it is not what people think it is. confused? well, here are the definitions:

(click the images to make them larger and, therefore, legible, which is the whole point, right?)



[images snapped from m-w.com]

the problem is, most people who say supposably mean it as supposedly. as in, "he supposably had the 24-hour flu, which is why he called in sick yesterday." this misuse makes my skin crawl (which is actually the same reaction i have when i hear the word irregardless). in looking up the prickly word, my favorite discovery was this:



i felt such satisfaction when i found that. and, upon further investigation, i found that we are not the only people to blog about this.


[image snapped from languagerules.wordpress.com]

are you happy now, rachelle? :)

have you missed us?

so, it's been awhile since i have shared a new word with you all.
i know you have missed it, but don't worry, i'm back.

so, for today's word:

ramshackle \RAM-shak-ul\ adjective
1 : appearing ready to collapse : rickety
2 : carelessly or loosely constructed

last week, i got to move into a new room in the house i live in. because of the move, i had to purchase a new desk and chair. and i had to put them together. as i was putting the desk together, i thought for sure that it was going to be a ramshackle desk. but, turns out, i'm pretty good at putting furniture together. it's still standing. and hopefully it will stay standing for as long as i own it.

don't worry. there will be many more words to come on a more frequent basis. and adriane has a new assignment...hopefully she will not disappoint. (hahaha...how's that for pressure, ade?)

exclamation!!!

have you ever had the pleasure of finding the blog of someone you know (through linking through many other blogs via the stalking you resolved not to do in 2008), only to be a little bit taken aback at the use of the exclamation point at the end of every sentence? i have had this experience many, many times. i know most people throw caution to the wind when writing blogs and that they tend to write as if they're speaking (rather than what they're really doing, which is, actually, writing). i suppose i tend to take these entries a little more literally than necessary. i might read them as if each exclamation is exactly that - an exclamation.

let me try to do it, so you can see what it's like. i will describe my morning thus far (it's probably going to bore you, so just keep in mind it's for educational purposes).

this morning i tried to wake up at 7:30! but i hit the snooze button a few (or more) times and ended up getting out of bed at 8:30! then, i got dressed and went to the gym! the parking lot was so full! i had to trek through the icy parking lot! it was freezing cold outside, too! then, i went in and my shoes were squeaking on the floor of the aerobics room! i did body combat, which is like kickboxing! we did jumping kicks and some crazy move that reminded me of something cheerleaders would do! it might have been a little too hard for me this morning! but i did still stay for the pump class! i took it a little bit easy because i didn't want to throw up! after the gym, i went to my favorite convenience store and bought a huge diet pepsi! and now i'm blogging about exclamation points!!!

it! drives! me! crazy!!!!! not only does it make me want to tear someone's hair out, i felt that, while i was writing it, my thoughts were all over the place. i couldn't form a practical paragraph, i couldn't finish one thought before exclaiming another. there is no flow. reminds me of how a kid talks. a very little kid. one who's still in diapers.

now, you decide.

a little slack.

as i was watching barack obama's victory speech in south carolina last night, i noticed that, at one point (in the very beginning of the speech), obama said, "TUH" instead of "TO".  i was a little bit surprised because, generally, i have been impressed with his eloquence.  this just brought to my attention that even the best of us can flub at times.  

now that i have gotten that off my chest, i will address a few other things that have been brought to my attention.  when i asked for suggestions about what bothers you about people's grammatical, speaking, spelling errors in general, i only got one response. apparently, our dear friends (and now i really do think that we have only 5 - or less - loyal readers) aren't as particular about the misuse of the english language as rachelle and chloe and i can be. speaking of, chloe pointed out a couple of her peeves. they are as such: "'Awholenother' is not a word. Definitely is not spelled 'definately'!"

and add to that a couple of mine:
-the further/farther dilemma.
-when you go to bed, you LIE down. you don't LAY down. you do LAY the spoon next to the knife, though.
-pronouncing FOR as FER. i catch myself doing this one all the time.
-"she and me" vs. "she and i" vs. "her and me" vs. "her and i".  such a problem for about 96% of the english speaking world.  not so much for me.
-"can i" vs. "may i"?  come on, we all know better!
-anyways. this, technically, is NOT a proper word. but i just looked it up, and this is what i got: "informal or dialect form of anyway : : you wouldn't understand all them long words anyways." exactly.

well, that is all for now.  don't be afraid to talk to me, though, because i mess up just as much as the next guy.  kind of like senator obama.

word for the day.

in honor of political campaigns around the country, a word for the day:

hustings \HUSS-tingz\ noun

1 : a place where political campaign speeches are made
2 : the proceedings or locale of an election campaign

so, remember when you go to political rallies or events, you are at the hustings.

i love words. i just have to reiterate.

suggestions?

i know we have a few readers out there who have the same weird neuroses that we do.  having said that, i am opening the blog up for suggestions.  such as, what bothers you that people do (as in speak/write/etc.) regularly?  for example, when i lived in cache valley, i noticed that a lot of people conjugate improperly.  e.g.,  "we was just over there yesterday." or, "oh, sure, i seen him running across the street!"  whenever i hear crap like that, it feels as though someone is stabbing me in my ear, which is not a good feeling.  believe me, i know.

there is only ONE, minute, tiny thing you cannot suggest, and that is the use of capitalization on this (or our other) blog(s).  on my part, it's just pure laziness.  i know the rules of capitalization.  i even know the rules of capitalizing newspaper headlines (which is weird, because when i was on newspaper staff in high school, i wasn't a writer - just a lowly photog).

so, let's have it.  you tell us what's bothering you about the general use (or MISuse, rather) of the english language.  we'll do a little research and either concur with you or set everyone straight.  how does that sound?

comment away!  or you may send your complaints and/or suggestions via email.  we love both.

new year.

as it's the new year and it's time for new beginnings and new resolutions and all of that blah blah, i have decided to attempt to post on this blog in a more regular fashion. that's right. i'm not going to dive right in and say i'll post daily...that'd be far too difficult for me and i would fail immediately. rather, i will say right now, for all the world (or you 5 or so readers) to see, that i will be attempting to post weekly. on this blog. ok? good.

now, for my word of the day:

primogeniture \pry-moh-JEN-ih-choor\, noun:

1. The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.
2. (Law) An exclusive right of inheritance that belongs to the eldest son.

seeing as how i'm not a son and i'm sure i'm not coming into some secret inheritance, the only part of this word that has any meaning to me is the first definition. i am a senior by birth among the children in my family. although i'm not quite sure how i'd use this word in a sentence yet, i now know a new word. and, as an effect, so do you. in the future i will try to make my postings a little bit more awesome. in my haste to post, i realize i lack a certain je ne est quoi here. next time will be better, i swear.

huzzah to new resolutions.

ta-da.

it's been awhile, but here is a post about a word from the english language. i know you have been missing these. don't worry, i'm sure there will be more to come. (hint, hint adriane.)

the word for today is:

sapient \SAY-pee-unt\ adjective
: possessing or expressing great sagacity

definitely a new word for me. and the best part about this word is that i had to look up sagacity. i love when i look up a word and upon reading the definition, i realize that i have to look up another word. my own mini treasure hunt. good stuff.

so the bonus word for today is:

sagacity \si-GA-si-tee\ noun
: the quality of being sagacious

and even better than having to look up a second word...looking up a third.

sagacious \si-GAY-shis\ adjective
1 : keen in sense perception
2 a: of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment : discerning
b: caused by or indicating acute discernment

beautiful. i love words. and i promise to use this word this week. and i challenge you to the same.