Happy Valentine's Day, Then and Than

I received the following image as Valentine's Day text message from a friend who loves Fireball. I'm not sure where it originated and I have been unable to find the image on line but it does provide the perfect set up for a review of the difference between then and than.

For example:

He drank some whisky and then he had dinner. He like the whisky better than the dinner.

Than is a subordinating conjunction used to relate a sense of comparison.

Then is an adverb which conjoins two acts by order of time of occurrence.

Which reminded me of this meme that was popular a while back.

Meme image via

Variation on an Idiom

As the two frogs sat on a lily pad, one commented to the other,

“Time sure is fun when you’re having flies.”

-Mike Ridley

Of course it is also true that...

Time flies when you're having fun.

And viewing these idioms concurrently presents a perfect example of why lexical categorizations should not rely on semantic definitions.

In the first sentence "fun" is an adjective and "flies" is a noun.

In the second sentence "fun" is a noun and "flies" is a verb.

Thanks for the laugh Mike.

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Parts of Speech

Ambiguity Generators

I passed a van the other day with a custom paint job that advertised the name of a company - Budget Generators. My first thought upon seeing the van was that I would love to have someone generate a budget so my family could take a trip to a tropical island for spring break this year (This is the way my wordplay-loving, sarcastic mind operates).

Unfortunately, that is not the company's line of work.

Here is the information I found when I googled the name of the company:


Merchant Information
Generator Systems, Home, Installation, Natural Gas, Whole
Main Website,
Hours: 24/7
Payment: cash/check

The name of the company can be interpreted as (1) a noun phrase made up of an adjective plus a noun, or (2) a noun phrase consisting of a noun plus noun compound word.

(1)

(2)

It is the multiple meanings of the words "budget" and "generator" that lead to this ambiguity. From the thefreedictionary.com:

generator - a machine that converts mechanical energy into electricity to serve as a power source for other machines.

or

generator - someone who originates or causes or initiates something; "he was the generator of several complaints".

budget n. - allowance, means, funds, income, finances, resources, allocation

or

budget adj. - inexpensive, economy, bargain, sale, reduced, keen, reasonable, low-priced, low-cost, cut-price, economical, cheapo

What kind of budget generator would you prefer?

Coordinating Conjunctions - Become a Fan

A handy mnemonic device.

The word mnemonic is derived from the Ancient Greek word μνημονικός mnemonikos ("of memory") and is related to Mnemosyne ("remembrance"), the name of the goddess of memory in Greek mythology. Both of these words refer back to μνημα mnema ("remembrance"). - Wikipedia

Parts of Speech - Part II with Alex Trebek

A Final Jeopardy answer from early January:

Of the eight parts of speech, this is the only one that does not end in the same four letters as at least one of the others.

?

?
?

?

?

?

?
?

?

?

?

?

What is an adjective?

verb - adverb
noun - pronoun
conjunction - preposition - interjection

Parts of Speech with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien

Here is a cartoon from the January 25th issue of Newsweek that provides a perfect example of how a word can be used as a different part of speech to a comedic effect.



Jay's back - Jay is back. (back is an adverb)
Conan's back - Conan's (possesive) back. (back as a noun)

Adjective Noun Verbing Adverbially

I found this on StumbleUpon and I absolutely love it (but I would have used the word "adverbially").

A fun illustration and a great way to teach the parts of speech.

From ventrella.com