Language Peeves - Where Are You At?

From a reader -

I used to monitor the HAM 2-meter frequency which is for local radio communications. Most of the people asked location by saying, "Where are you at?" I always wanted to ask, "What's the difference between 'Where are you?' and 'Where are you at?'"

The word where, by semantic nature, includes the preposition at, so asking someone where they are is the same as asking "at what location are you?"

That said, it would be redundant to ask the question, "At what location are you at?"

For the Love of Facebook - I Couldn't Care Less

Take this quiz to find out which male celebrity would best suite you.

A man who could careless...but still looks good, of course!

The word could is a modal verb and a modal verb always modifies a main verb. The word careless is an adjective not a verb. For this reason, I'm sure that the writer of this quiz intended to use the two separate words "care" and "less" with the modal verb could modifying the main verb care.

A man who could care less...but still looks good, of course!

By the way, "could care less" is an idiom that indicates a lack of interest in something. Of course, it should be noted that this idiom originated, and makes much more sense semantically, as "couldn't care less." Think of it this way - if someone "could care less" it means that they do care to at least some extent whereas if someone "couldn't care less" it means that it would be impossible to care less because they do not care at all.

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I know that Facebook quizzes do not suite me because they are filled with so many errors that they make my head spin - punctuation, grammar, spelling, capitalization...the list goes on and on.

Save the Words - Adopt a Word - Ossifragant

I just adopted a word through a great new site from Oxford Dictionaries - http://savethewords.org/

Please join me in saving and promoting great words - http://savethewords.org/.

By the way, the definition of ossifragant is bone breaking.

(and beecher is one of my nicknames)

The Difference Between Lay and Lie - Past Tenses and Past Participles

Credit for the chart goes to Martha Brockenbrough. I could not have presented it more precisely myself.

Language Peeves - "Went Missing"

A reader recently commented that it really bothers him when news headlines report a missing person by using the phrase "went missing" instead of "is missing."

In regards to this language peeve, the difference between "went missing" and "is missing" is a bit more involved than one might initially think...not only are the verbs in the phrases different, the verb type and tense are different as well. These verbal differences result in semantic differences, and the choice of using one phrase rather than the other may or may not be intentional.

Went is the past tense form of the verb to go. To go is an action verb.

Is is a present tense form of the verb to be. To be is a verb of being that is considered a linking verb.

Semantically, action verbs imply that choice is involved because people choose their actions, whereas linking verbs simply form an association between a subject and its complement. So, saying that a person "went missing" implies that that person chose to go missing and saying a person "is missing" implies that there was not a choice and that whatever happened was against that person's will. Additionally, because went is past tense, "went missing" leaves open the possibility that the person is no longer missing.

The choice of using one phrase rather than the other may be intentional if the possibility exists that the missing person is on the lam or it could just be that a copywriter was lazy and didn't give much thought to the semantics of the chosen verb.

Language Peeves - Don't Feel Badly for Linking Verbs

A reader recently asked me to write about one of her language peeves. This reader can't stand it when a person says he or she is "feeling badly." This statement makes her think that the person has a problem with the sensitivity of his or her fingertips and therefore cannot feel things properly. Indeed, semantically, that is what "feeling badly" implies. The proper way for a person to express the feeling of being physically unwell is to use the statement "I 'feel bad'."

How can this be when feel is a verb and badly is an adverb and adverbs modify verbs?

The answer is that adverbs modify action verbs and feel is what is known as a linking verb. Semantically, linking verbs behave differently than action verbs. Here is a good example: another linking verb is am and that is why, when responding to the question "how are you," the response is "I am good" not "I am goodly."

Learn a New Language

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Laying versus Lying

The Difference Between Lay and Lie

Intransitive verbs do not take objects, transitive verbs do.

Semiotic Billboard Advertising is Eye Catching

There is a billboard on southbound I-75 near Saginaw that advertises advertising on billboards (A fun topic about which I have previously posted). This particular billboard relies upon semiotics to succinctly deliver its message. The billboard is simply an image of numerous eyeballs being scooped into a net. I was unable to snap a picture of the actual billboard so this is my, admittedly, lame attempt at reproducing it.

The symbolism of the eyeball/net combination can be interpreted as either "catching eyes" or "eye-catching." I believe that either interpretation successfully delivers the message that advertising on billboards works.