Category: Uncategorized
-
And the “Oscar” goes (back) to…
It’s hard to snub the spectacle completely, the Oscars. Movies have such a significant standing in America’s cultural, historic, and economic life. Sure, there is gilded excess and celebrity worship. Yes, the Academy has a history of failing not only to award but even nominate great films, directors, actors, writers, and other industry creatives. And…
-
monger
Before we begin, I want to welcome all my new readers–or, dare I say, my fellow blog-mongers. But seriously, though. Wow; I’m flattered. Really. Thanks! Now, let’s get to the scoundrels. Part of me thinks of monger as an historical artifact or romantic relic of a simpler time, a time when our work was our wares.…
-
super bowl
Whoever wins, I think the real champion of the Super Bowl is “Super Bowl.” Generation after generation, the roots of super and bowl have been moving their linguistic chains down the field. But before we look at their etymological playbook, why did the Super Bowl even take that name? “Bowl” Games In the late 1950s, there was a…
-
bully
Bully Language is always political, but my interests here are linguistic, not partisan. (And my interests here are little late for our today’s news cycles.) Twenty years ago, if a governor and party figurehead uttered in a press conference, “I’m not a bully,” those words may have spoken in jest. Now, in 2014, they are…