Prescribing T-Shirt Punctuation

 

As cute as the idea behind this shirt is, I paused before I read the second line because I am not accustomed seeing the singular form of the first person pronoun in its uncapitalized state.

Yes, I know that I should be in this day and age with the newly created spelling, punctuation and grammar rules of texting.

And I'm sure the same can be said about the fact that a t-shirt about punctuation is lacking punctuation.

Photo via facebook

Reversing Idioms

Love this t-shirt that my son brought home from camp this summer. It is a wonderful example of having fun with words, idioms and graphics. Unfortunately, the graphics illustrate the opposite of the idiom.

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

Fun Expressions on T-Shirts

As many people are travelling this holiday week, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite tourist t-shirts. The t-shirt is from The Asylum in Jerome Arizona, "A Restaurant on the Fringe," and was a gift from my parents. I absolutely love the expression on the back of the t-shirt, as my parents knew I would.

Abnormality is the normality at this locality.

Most Unusual Word Contest Deadline Approaches

Tomorrow is the Last Day to Enter the Most Unusual Word Contest
For more details click:
http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2008/05/most-unusual-word-contest.html
Don't miss out on your chance to win an impressive array of prizes.

Linguistics T-Shirts

A few years back while working on my MA in Linguistics, I saw that there was a lack of availability of fun, linguistics related t-shirts on the market, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I came up with the following linguistically-inspired mottos for t-shirts (only one of which I had made).

SEMANTICIANS MEAN WELL

SYNTACTICIANS KNOW HOW TO TURN A PHRASE

PHONOLOGISTS RULE THE SOUND WAVES

PHONETICIANS ARE OF SOUND MIND

PRAGMATICIANS KEEP IT IN CONTEXT

MORPHOLOGISTS CAN AFFIX ANYTHING

GOT GRAMMAR

Because I focused on topics in semantics while working on my degree, I had about 20 or so of the "Semanticians Mean Well" shirts made. I gave them away to friends and family to spread my love of linguistics. I also gave one to Professor Margaret Winters at Wayne State University as she was my thesis advisor and a huge inspiration.

I would love to hear more linguistically-inspired mottos if anyone out there has ideas. Let's give the t-shirt printers some inspiration.

The Most Unusual Word Contest

Enter to Win "A Walk in the Words" T-Shirts and other prizes.

To enter: Please submit your favorite unusual word by clicking on the comment button below.

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

You may only enter once so make sure your unusual word is really different.

The winners will be selected by a panel of judges including me and devoted Walk in the Words readers Lori and Tanya.

What qualifies as an unusual word? A word that is not well known, a word that sounds unusual, a known word with an unusual meaning. Your word cannot be made up and there must be a citable reference of its usage.

Examples: Not well known word -- pebble pup: A young child interested in studying,
collecting and working with rocks.

Unusual sounding word -- tintinnabulation: The ringing of bells.

Known word with unusual meaning -- yard sale: A wipe out in downhill skiing where skis, poles, hat, etc. end up strewn along the mountainside.

The contest deadline is Sunday, 6/08/08