Shaked Rattled and Rolled

The other day my son said to me, "Mom, how do you spell shaked?"

I responded, "S-H-O-O-K."

He said, "No wonder it didn't look right."

More New Portmanteau Words

In honor of the Create a Portmanteau Word Contest, here are a few more newly created portmanteau words from the October "Word Fugitives" column by Barbara Wallraff in the Atlantic Magazine.

A reader was looking for a good word to describe things like ATMs or drugstores "that seem ubiquitous when you aren't looking for them but that are nowhere to be found when you are"?

The responses from other readers included the following portmanteau words -

neverywhere (never + everywhere)
fewbiquitous (few + ubiquitous)
elusiversal (elusive + universal)

What wonderful combinations of morphemes.

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Interjections

The Semantics of a Retreat

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. For years, I've been stealing building supplies from the lumberyard where I work."

"How much did you take?"

"Enough to build my own house and my son's house. And houses for our two daughters and our cottage at the lake."

"This is very serious. I'll have to think of a far-reaching penance for you. Have you ever done a retreat?"

"No, Father, I haven't. But if you have the blueprints, I can get the lumber."

Celery and Lettuce Idiolects

Following is an example from a dear friend's family's idiolect


Family Idiolect

Person looking at a boat: "Celery?"

Person next to the person looking at the boat: "Lettuce."

Translation

Person looking at a boat: "Shall we go for a boat ride?"
Person next to the person looking at the boat "Let's."


This is what I call having fun with language.

Sarah Palin's Regional Dialect

I just came across an article about regional dialects on Courant.com entitled " Where Y'All From?" This article talks about various regional dialects and mentions Sarah Palin's Alaskan dialect specifically. In the article Steven Weinberger, a linguistics professor from George Mason University, notes that Palin's speech has a North Dakotan flavor. He also suggests that she may exaggerate her Midwestern roots to be associated with Marge, the character from the movie "Fargo" who heroically solves everything.

Did I mention that "Fargo" is one of my favorite movies?

Contest Reminder

Don't forget to enter the Create a Portmanteau Word Contest. Also, there has been a change to the rules - you are now permitted to enter as many portmanteau words as you can create.

The Difference Between a Campfire and a Bonfire

In answer to a friends question, the difference between a

campfire and a bonfire is as follows: A campfire is a small contained fire that is used primarily for cooking and warmth, and a bonfire is a large outdoor fire that is lit to signify a celebration.

Schoolhouse Rock Interjections

Murphy's Semantics Laws

Semantics in a funny email...
MURPHY'S OTHER 15 LAWS...
1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
3. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them.
10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.
11. The things that come to those that wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
13. Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.
14 . The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in the dark.
15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

Blind Salesman Joke

A nun is undressing for a bath and while she's standing naked, there's a knock at the door. The nun calls, "Who is it?"A voice answers, "A blind salesman."The nun decides to get a thrill by having the blind man in the room while she's naked so she lets him in. The man walks in, looks straight at the nun and says, "Uhhhh, well hello there, can I sell you a blind, dearie...?"

New Oxymorons

Heads up Word Spy. I noticed two new oxymorons in the September 15th Newsweek -

Green McMansion: an environmentally friendly, large, opulent house.

Walking school bus: a group of children walking to school accompanied by at least one adult with set pick-ups for children along the way.

Create a Portmanteau Word Contest

Contest Time Again

Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the Most Unusual Word Contest this past spring. There were many great entries and some outstandingly unusual winning words. The contest was so enjoyable that I thought it would be fun to have another contest. What kind of contest? Well, the recent posts about creative portmanteau words got me to thinking, "Why not create some more?" To refresh your memory - Portmanteau words are those that are formed by combining the sounds and meanings of two different words.

Please follow the directions below and enter to win "A Walk in the Words" T-Shirts and other prizes.

To enter: Please submit a portmanteau word of your own creation that is precise and economical (ex. from last week's post - afterthoughtful) by clicking on the comment button below.

Please include your name, city where you are located, and an email address.

You may enter as many portmanteau words as you can create.

Like the Most Unusual Word Contest from the spring, the winners will be selected by a panel of judges including me and devoted Walk in the Words readers Lori and Tanya.

The contest deadline is Sunday, 10/12/08

A Word is a Word - or is it?

With all the new words that appear daily (portmanteau or otherwise) have you ever wondered how new words achieve dictionary-inclusion status?

In answer to this question - It is up to the almighty dictionary editors. New words are located by dictionary editors through magazines, newspapers, and various other media including online sources. If a word is found frequently enough in various sources with the same meaning and if the editors think the word has long-term staying power then there is a good chance the word will make it into the dictionary's next update.

Portmanteau-ver and Over

I enjoyed last week's portmanteau word, afterthoughtful, so much that I thought I would give some more examples of portmanteau words (words that are formed by combining the sounds and meanings of two different words).

Older Portmanteau Words:
Electrocute (electric + execute)
Pixel (picture + element)
Telethon (telephone + marathon)
Chortle (chuckle + snort)
Brunch (breakfast + lunch)
Motel (motor + hotel)
Camcorder (camera + recorder)
Rockumentary (rock + documentary)

More Recent Portmanteau Words:
Guesstimate (guess + estimate)
Internet (international + network)
Blog (web + log)
Smirting (smoking + flirting) came about when offices went no smoking (employees go outside to take a cigarette break and end up flirting with each other)
Emoticon (emotion + icon)
Chillax (chill + relax)
Generica (generic + America)
Irritainment (irritate + entertainment)
Swipeout (swipe + wipeout) referring to swiping a credit card when the magnetic strip is worm out
brickormortis (brick + rigormortis) referring to the poor state of the housing market
Blamestorming (blaming + brainstorming)
Bromance (brother + romance) strong male friendship

Many of these words are a result of morpheme combinations.

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Synonyms

A Portmantational Word (Portmanteau + Sensational)

For word lovers like myself, the Atlantic Magazine runs a column called "Word Fugitives" by Barbara Wallraff. The July/August column included responses to a woman's request for a word to describe her husband's " uncanny ability to to ask if I need help with a household task at the exact moment that I am finishing it." Of the many words that readers suggested, the one that was judged to be the "most precise and economical" expression for this ability of the woman's husbands was, not surprisingly, a portmanteau word.

afterthoughtful (afterthought + thoughtful)

What a sensational word. The next time my husband offers to help with something after the fact I will be sure to thank him for his afterthoughtfulness.

Prescriptive Grammar versus Descriptive Grammar

In a post a few weeks back I mentioned prescriptive grammar without really explaining what it is and for that reason I thought I would delve a bit further into the concept of prescriptive grammar - which also requires a knowledge of the concept of descriptive grammar. Both prescriptive and descriptive grammar are approaches to studying grammar and its usage.

Prescriptive grammar is what we are taught in school. Prescriptive grammar follows strict rules that can not be broken. Additionally, in prescriptive grammar there is always a right way and a wrong way. Descriptive grammar, on the other hand, simply describes grammar the way it is used every day by people. There are no set rules. There is no right or wrong.

In sum, the term prescriptive is used to tell how language should be and the term descriptive tells how language is. Grammar is not the only concept in linguistics that can be prescribed or described; spelling and phonetics can as well, for example, yesterday's post with the Hickphonics/English Dictionary was a descriptive account of the grammar and pronunciations of a particular dialect.

I have studied linguistics from both prescriptive and descriptive points of view. I know what the prescriptive rules are but I do not consider myself a strict prescriptivist. I far prefer studying language in its everyday use and I do not believe there are rights or wrongs, only variations that occur for regular, explainable reasons.

Chawbacons Terminology

Speaking of chawbacons, I was just web surfing and came across what is titled a "Hickphonics/English dictionary"

HEIDI - noun. Greeting.
HIRE YEW - Complete sentence.Remainder of greeting. Usage: Heidi, hire yew?"
BARD - verb. Past tense of the infinitive "to borrow." Usage: "My brother bard my pickup truck."
JAWJUH - noun. The State north of Florida. Capitol is Lanner. Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck."
BAMMER - noun. The State west of Jawjuh. Capitol is Berminhayum. Usage: "A tornader jes went through Bammer an' left $20,000,000 in improvements."
MUNTS - noun. A calendar division. Usage: "My brother from Jawjuh bard my pickup truck, and I ain't herd from him in munts.
THANK - verb. Ability to cognitively process. Usage: "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."
BARE - noun. An alcoholic beverage made of barley, hops, and yeast. Usage: "Ah thank ah'll have a bare."
IGNERT - adjective. Not smart. See "Arkansas native." Usage: "Them Bammer boys sure are ignert!"
RANCH - noun. A tool used for tight'nin' bolts. Usage: "I thank I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my brother from Jawjuh bard a few munts ago."
ALL--noun. A Petroleum based lubricant. Usage: "I sure hope my brother from Jawjuh puts all in my pickup truck."
FAR - noun. A conflagration. Usage: "If my brother from Jawjuh don't change the all in my pickup truck, that thing's gonna catch far."
TAR - noun. A rubber wheel. Usage: "Gee, I hope that brother of mine from Jawjuh don't git a flat tar in my pickup truck."
TIRE - noun. A tall monument. Usage: "Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, I sure do hope to see that Eiffel Tire in Paris sometime."
RETARD - Verb. To stop working. Usage: "My grampaw retard at age 65."
FAT - noun, verb. 1. a battle or combat. 2. to engage in battle or combat. Usage: "You younguns keep fat'n, n' ah'm gonna whup y'uh."
RATS - noun. Entitled power or privilege. Usage: "We Southerners are willin' to fat for are rats."
FARN - adjective. Not local. Usage: "I cuddint unnerstand a wurd he sed....mus' be from some farn country."
DID - adjective. Not alive Usage: "He's did, Jim."
EAR - noun. A colorless, odorless gas: Oxygen. Usage: "He cain' breathe....give 'im some ear!"
BOB WAR - noun. A sharp, twisted cable. Usage: "Boy, stay away from that bob war fence."
JEW HERE - Noun and verb contraction. Usage: "Jew here that my brother from Jawjuh got a job wit that bob war fence cump'ny?"
HAZE - a contraction. Usage: "Is Bubba smart?" "Nah....haze ignert. He ain't thanked but a minnit 'n 'is laf."
SEED - verb, past tense of "to see".
VIEW - contraction: verb and pronoun. Usage: "I ain't never seed New York City....view?"
GUMMIT - Noun. A bureaucratic institution. Usage: "Them gummit boys shore are ignert."

A Word a Day Keeps the Chawbacons Away

I was given a word-of-the-day calendar last Christmas and I dutifully (and happily) tear off the previous days' word each morning in hopes of learning a new word. There are a lot of fun words out there that I have not heard of before. For example, there was a word a couple of weeks ago that I really enjoyed and as it so happened I was able to use that word in a sentence the following day (which is seldom the case as the words are rarely common, everyday words). At any rate, here is what happened...

My husband and I were driving down a country road in northern Michigan when we saw a man sitting on his front porch drinking a beer. This man was wearing jeans but he was shirtless and proudly displaying his beer belly. I commented to my husband that the man on the porch was a "real chawbacon." My husband responded that he was so happy that I got to use one of my words-of-the-day. Little did I know, my husband looks at the calendar too. Good for him, everyone can benefit from learning a new word each day.

By the way, chawbacon is defined as a hillbilly, hick or yokel.

Please note: I realize that these terms are considered derogatory and my intent is not to offend, but rather to define in a lighthearted manner.

De Prefixes

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed and dry cleaners depressed? Laundry workers could decrease, eventually becoming depressed and depleted!

Even more, bedmakers will be debunked, baseball players will be debased, landscapers will be deflowered, bulldozer operators will be degraded, software engineers will be detested, and even musical composers will eventually decompose.

The Importance of Spelling

Confucious and Semantics

Humor from an email...

Confucius Says:
Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.
Man with one chopstick go hungry.
Man who scratch ass should not bite fingernails.
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left.
Man who drive like hell, bound to get there.
Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.
Man who fart in church sit in own pew.
Crowded elevator smell different to midget.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The following is for mature audiences only)
Confucious says:
Virginity like bubble, one prick, all gone.
It take many nails to build crib, but one screw to fill it.
Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day.
Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk.
Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.

Exocentric Compound Word of the Day

Sofa Spud: an alliterative version of couch potato.
Seen in the Fall 2008 issue of Birmingham Magazine.

Phonetics - Langwich Scool