Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. Beware the ides of March! Beware the ides of every other month, too. And the nones. And the calends. Actually, beware Roman calendars pretty much altogether. But beware the ides of March … Continue reading Wordplay: The ides of March would be where?
Category: language
Commonly misused terms for the careful writer
By Nina Munteanu When I first started writing stories—many more years ago than I care to admit—I knew that I was a poor speller, had generally bad syntax, and often misused grammar. Someone, who believed in my capacity to tell a good story despite my shortcomings in delivery, handed me a slim copy of William … Continue reading Commonly misused terms for the careful writer
The importance of language as shown by ancient Maya civilization
By Samita Sarkar Recently, I watched an informative PBS documentary about the history of the Maya language called Cracking the Maya Code (watch it online here). Much like the other indigenous civilizations of the Americas that encountered Europeans hundreds of years ago, the Maya experienced cultural and linguistic oppression at the hands of Spanish colonizers. … Continue reading The importance of language as shown by ancient Maya civilization
Wordplay: Deck, don, and troll your way through Christmas
Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. There are some things that seem to happen only at Christmas. For instance, there’s someone who wanders around all over the place and does something on your roof. Well, OK, that’s more … Continue reading Wordplay: Deck, don, and troll your way through Christmas
Wordplay: None of these people are right
Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. You have probably encountered, every now and then, people who will aver that none can take only a singular conjugation, never a plural: never none are, always none is. The argument they present … Continue reading Wordplay: None of these people are right
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