All of us, unless we are particularly ignorant or terrible, recognize some words as patently offensive: “gay” or “retarded” as negative adjectives, for example, or any version of the n-word out of the mouth of a non-black person. However, some words that I think are OK to use are considered sexist or ableist by others, […]
I’m not one for resolutions, for a variety of reasons (mostly because it’s just setting myself up to fail). Last year, I finished up “The Happiness Project” just before New Year’s and chose to carry that spirit forward with my 2012 Positivity Challenge. Being in a place (both mentally and physically) of so much transition […]
So I thought it was time to give you all an update on my epic quest to stop saying “like” so much. As I explained last week, I had a few reasons for trying to cut back. But mainly it was that I realized I use it as a linguistic crutch, and my verbal eloquence […]
Yes, I’m one of those people who have a tendency to overuse this versatile, mostly meaningless word. I’m 29, which means I was a kid in the ’80s and a teenager in the ’90s. Pretty much the perfect storm of “like” exposure.
For the average person, politics and government are pretty much synonymous. At the very least, they belong in the same breath, “politics-and-government,” two concepts that always go together and occupy the same space in your mind. For folks like me, they’re two very different things.
When someone’s in a hurry to get somewhere and they spill their breakfast on their favorite work shirt or they accidentally lock themselves out of their apartment or their car has a flat, you know what that is? Frustrating. Anger-inducing. Just generally unfortunate. But never “retarded.”
For my politics column today, I’d wanted to write about President Obama’s speech last night at the memorial for the victims of this past weekend’s shooting, and about virulent language in public debate more generally. So much of it has been said already (such is the downfall of writing weekly on the subject, rather than […]
It’s that time again! Lunchtime poll time! We’re officially halfway through the work week? Who’s excited? I can’t believe how fast this month is going. Is anyone ready for the holidays? I am not. Speaking of, my sister wrote on my facebook yesterday that we need to plan our Christmas day feast. I wrote back: […]
The term “Cynic” itself derives from the Greek word kynikos, “dog-like” and that from kyôn, “dog“ (genitive: kynos).One explanation offered in ancient times for why the Cynics were called dogs was because Antisthenes taught in the Cynosarges gymnasium at Athens.
Logophilia has nothing to do with swooshes or apples or even interlocking plastic bricks. A logophile is simply a lover of words.