28487
#ielts #toefl #gre #english_vocabulary #english
", 1/15/2012
"Apostropocalypse again", 12/1/2019
And a couple about spaces, hyphens, and nil:
"Prescriptivism and national security", 10/4/2005
"Level(-)headedness", 3/3/2010
Update — Andreas explains the "neben" parentheses in the quoted section of the new rule:
die Grimm’schen Märchen (neben: die grimmschen Märchen), der Ohm’sche Widerstand (neben: der ohmsche Wider stand)
The meaning is identical to the version with apostrophes and capitalized names. Unlike in English (Whorf > Whorfian), when you derive an adjective from a name, you don't keep the capitalization of the name. It becomes lower-case, like all adjectives in German. So as in the possessive cases, the apostrophe enables you to preserve the original spelling (and recognizability) of the underlying name.
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The Genius Of 90 Day Fiancé (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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Drunk History Almost Had A Very Different Name (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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Word of the Day
Word of the Day: exorbitant
This word has appeared in 158 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
sit in for
to take someone's place when they are absent
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Word of the Day
fusillade
Definition: (noun) A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession.
Synonyms: burst, salvo, volley.
Usage: Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the buildings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with a continuous fusillade of deadly fire.
Discuss
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Funny Or Die (Youtube)
Derek Waters' brainchild: Drunk History (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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The Sobering Truth About the First Episode of Drunk History (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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Language Log
Doing well
The current Dinosaur Comics:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/DinosaurDo.png
Mouseover title: "why do other verbs when "do" does do all you did do are doing or can and will do??"
Of course do already does most of what Ryan North wants — Wiktionary gives it 31 senses, from (1) "A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be" (Do you got there often?) to (31) "To drive a vehicle at a certain speed, especially in regard to a speed limit" (He was doing 50 in a school zone). Along the way we get (29) "To take drugs" (I do cocaine), which is not far from Ryan's "do beers tonight" — and for that, there's already a t-shirt:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/JustDoBeers.webp
Do's utility has been around for a while, judging by the OED's recital of Germanic cognates and further-out IE connections:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/OED_do_etymology.png
Other languages have taken a different path in choosing an everything verb, for instance starting with "make" rather than "put" (French faire / Spanish haver), resulting in a somewhat different the semantic spread.
Commenters will no doubt be able to fill us in on what other lexical seeds have similarly sprouted in other languages.
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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
zonked | zonked out (1)
under the influence of drugs or alcohol
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Idiom of the Day
bottom of the ninth
The final and critical moment or moments of a tense, important, or desperate situation. It refers to the ninth inning of baseball, the "bottom" of which is batted by the home team as their last chance to win the game. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. Watch the video
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Language Log
PIE *g’enH1 and *gʷenH2 as cognates ("king" and "queen")
[This is a guest post by German Dziebel, commenting on "PIE *gene- *gwen-" (8/10/23).]
I will strike a dissenting note here. The two roots in question – *g’enH1 and *gʷenH2 are likely cognates. There seems to be a non-random distribution of palatalized and labialized velars in IE stems with nasals – palatovelars are favored in stems with m, while labiovelars are favored in stems with n. E.g.,
nGʷ roots: *nogʷno- 'naked', *nogʷt- 'night', *snoigʷho- 'snow', *h₂ongʷo- 'anoint', *h1ngwni- 'fire', *negʷhro- 'kidney', *gʷenh₂ 'wife', *kʷoino- 'price', *penkʷe- '5', *h₁lengʷʰ- 'light', *gʷʰen- 'slay, strike', *sengʷh- 'sing', *neigʷ- 'wash'
vs.
mG'-roots: *H3moiǵhlo- (assimilated to njegull(ë) in Gheg Alb), *meǵh₂s 'great', *meh₂ǵ- 'smear, anoint', *ǵheyōm 'winter', *dheǵhōm 'earth', *ḱoimo- 'household, family', *mreǵh-, *mosgho- 'brain', *h₂melǵ- 'milk', *smeḱur 'chin, beard', *deḱm̥ '10', *h1ḱm̥tóm '100' *h₂émǵʰu- 'narrow' (Hitt hamenk- 'tie, bind').
Although there are seeming exceptions (e.g., PIE *gʷher- ‘hot’ yields -mo-derivatives in Gk θερμός, Alb zjarm, Arm jerm, in all those branches the labiovelar is found in a palatalized state), those exceptions are limited in number and can be explained as later assimilations. This is likely what happened with PIE *g’enH1 and PIE *gʷenH2 where only *gʷenH2 is “legal”, while *g’enH1 is likely assimilated from either *g’emH1 or *gʷenH1. As a supporting proof for this inference one can cite Baltic *gmti ‘beget, give birth’ (Lith gimti, Latv dzimt, OPruss gemton) that must be going back to *gʷem- (no connection to PIE *gʷen- ‘come, step’ (Lat venio:, Gk baino:, etc., with assimilation creating stems such as Germ *kwemaną (comp. *faima 'foam' < PIE *spoineh₂), PToch *kum (comp. mekwa ' nails' < *nogʷho-) and InIr *ǰámati (comp. Skrt ūrmí, Avest varəmi 'wave' but Lith vilnis, Slav *vъlna 'wave')). PIE *gʷem- went through assimilation and generalized labiality across the stem in exactly the opposite way from PIE *g’enH1 that generalized palatality. As a sum total, it’s most likely that the PIE word for ‘beget, give birth’ was * gʷen(H1)- and hence it can hardly be separated from *gʷenH2 ‘woman, wife’. Germ *kʷēniz 'wife' was likely applied to ‘queen’, too, as in Old English, and was a cognate counterpart to *kuninga- ‘king’. It’s to be expected that the words for ‘king’ and ‘queen’ were derived from a single root as they do in so many IE languages – living and dead – from Hitt hassu ‘king’, hassusara ‘queen’ onward.
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Funny Or Die (Youtube)
Comedy's Double Standard: Beth Stelling on Why Women Aren't Afforded The Opportunity to Fail
Surprise! Comedy has a double standard.
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Language Log
English influence on German spelling
Below is a guest post by Andreas Stolcke.
This is an item maybe worthy of a note on Language Log — Philip Oltermann, "Germans decry influence of English as ‘idiot’s apostrophe’ gets official approval", The Guardian 10/7/2024:
A relaxation of official rules around the correct use of apostrophes in German has not only irritated grammar sticklers but triggered existential fears around the pervasive influence of English.
Establishments that feature their owners’ names, with signs like “Rosi’s Bar” or “Kati’s Kiosk” are a common sight around German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate the genitive case or possession. The correct spelling, therefore, would be “Rosis Bar”, “Katis Kiosk”, or, as in the title of a recent viral hit, Barbaras Rhabarberbar.
However, guidelines issued by the body regulating the use of Standard High German orthography have clarified that the use of the punctuation mark colloquially known as the Deppenapostroph (“idiot’s apostrophe”) has become so widespread that it is permissible – as long as it separates the genitive ‘s’ within a proper name.
I couldn't believe they did this, and looked up the new rule. The relevant part is
2. Der Apostroph steht zur Verdeutlichung der Grundform eines Personennamens vor einer Endung:
*
* gelegentlich vor dem Genitiv-s, sofern der Personenname mit dem folgenden Substantiv zusammen einen Eigennamen (z. B. Firmen namen) bildet ‹§ 80 E1›;
Zum Beispiel:
*
* Willi’s Biomarkt
* Andrea’s Kiosk (hier auch verdeutlichend zur Unterscheidung vom männlichen Vornamen Andreas)
* Aber nur: Willis Karotten, Andreas Ware
*
* vor der Adjektivendung -sch ‹§ 62, § 80 (2)›.
Zum Beispiel:
*
* die Grimm’schen Märchen (neben: die grimmschen Märchen), der Ohm’sche Widerstand (neben: der ohmsche Wider stand)
2. The apostrophe stands for clarifying the base form of a person name before a suffix:
*
* occasionally before the genitive -s, as long as the person name together with the following noun forms a proper name (e.g., of a company)
For example:
*
*
* Willi's Biomarkt
* Andrea's Kiosk (here also to differentiate from the male given name "Andreas")
* but only: Willis Karotten, Andreas Ware
[These cases require the forms without apostrophe, because the whole phrase is not a proper name]
*
* before the adjectival suffix -sche
For example:
*
*
* Grimm's fairy tales, Ohm's resistance
Are you aware of other languages (e.g., English) where spelling or punctuation rules are specifically different for named entities? Of course I recognize that, being names, their spelling is always de facto less regulated and often idiosyncratic. But, Germans being rule-loving folks, they come up with a rule for when the rule has an exception ;-).
BTW, another area where I noticed English having exerted definite influence on German is in the segmentation of noun compounds. Unlike in English, in German you traditionally must either join or hyphenate compounds. However, recently I'm noticing more and more simple juxtaposition (separated by spaces) of nouns to form compounds. So where you would traditionally write
Taylor-Swift-Konzert
you now occasionally see
Taylor Swift Konzert
A more extreme example is "Tailor Swift Eras Tour Kleidung" — http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/DeutscheErasTourCompound.png Anecdotally, I find this often involves English borrowings or proper names, as you might expect.
Language evolving …
Above is a guest post by Andreas Stolcke.
A few of our many past posts about apostrophe usage in English:
"A soul candidly acknowleging it's fault", 6/9/2004
"Angry linguistic mobs with torches", 4/16/2008
"'Grammar vigilantes' brought to justice", 8/22/2008
"Apostropocalypse Now[...]
Funny Or Die (Youtube)
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Who Doesn't Love a Good Cry? (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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The Direct Pipeline Between Drunk History and Ancestry (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
on the blink
out of order, not working
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Idiom of the Day
bragging rights
The authority and freedom to boast or brag of one's achievements that comes from having won a contest or succeeded in some way, especially against a close rival. Watch the video
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Funny Or Die (Youtube)
Derek Waters Inside The FOD Vault: A Sober History of "Drunk History" and its Unreleased Season
This week - writer, actor, director, and creator of “Drunk History,” Derek Waters jumps into the origins of his hit show from the Funny or Die Vault. He and our host Marcos Gonzalez address every question Drunk History lovers have been dying to know. From getting drunk at networking events to test screenings in Las Vegas to Spanish pirates, Derek and Marcos uncover the past, present, and future behind the drunks.
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Derek Waters is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director. Waters has appeared on television programs such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Sarah Silverman Program, Santa Clarita Diet, and The Middle. He has also appeared in films such as The Brothers Solomon, Hall Pass, For Your Consideration, and This Means War.
Waters co-created and hosts the Comedy Central series "Drunk History." The show originally started as a series of shorts for Funny or Die. The show has won multiple awards, such as the jury prize in short filmmaking at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for seventeen Primetime Emmy Awards, garnering Waters eight nominations.
Instagram: @dw34
X: @derekwaterss
Key moments
3:10 Drunk History’s Origin Story & Jake Johnson’s involvement
5:21 Michael Cera replaced Justin Roiland in the pilot
13:41 Drunk History TV show development
18:32 Alternative Show Titles
21:07 Lip Syncing Behind The Scenes
35:42 The Unreleased Season of Drunk History
38:34 Speed Round Questions
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Funny Or Die (Youtube)
Drunk History vol. 1 - Featuring Michael Cera (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 2)
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Language Log
University commas
The current xkcd comic:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/university_commas_2x.png
Mouseover title: "The distinctive 'UCLA comma' and 'Michigan comma' are a long string of commas at the start and end of the sentence respectively."
I guess Penn, Brown, Berkeley, CalTech, …, should be grateful for being left out.
I'll spare you our past posts on the Oxford comma, except this one.
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Word of the Day
Word of the Day: debacle
This word has appeared in 259 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
hang out (1)
to hang wet clothes outside to dry
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Word of the Day
orifice
Definition: (noun) An opening, especially to a cavity or passage of the body; a mouth or vent.
Synonyms: opening, porta.
Usage: The nose was but a gaping orifice above a deformed and twisted mouth.
Discuss
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Funny Or Die (Youtube)
TOMORROW we welcome Derek Waters Inside the Funny or Die Vault
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Language Log
Gyro, part 3
"Turkey’s döner kebab spat with Germany is turning nasty", by Daniel Thorpe, The Spectator (10/5/24)
Last April, German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier decided to bring along a 60-kilogram döner kebab on his state visit to Turkey. It did not go down well. Turks found the stunt condescending; Germans were mortified. Ankara lodged an official request with the European Commission to make the dish a ‘traditional speciality’, thereby regulating what can be sold under the name ‘döner’ in Europe.
It's not just a culinary matter — it's political, cultural, and technical:
Though seemingly rather mundane, the latest disagreement over the classification of döner kebab indicates there is little love lost between the two capitals. Turkey aims to standardise and dictate through the European Commission what can be sold as döner kebab, breaking it down to the finest details, such as the meat composition, pH value, salt content, and the thickness of the slices that come off. German politicians and business owners, including those of Turkish background, are not happy.
I don't blame them — döner kebab has become a central element in German culture, especially among youth, but because of the garlic sauce and raw onions, you'd better be careful about when you eat it:
Today, the döner kebab is the most popular fast food in Germany, even more than the godforsaken currywurst. A German village so small that it does not even have a pub might still have a döner kebab eatery. It was introduced by the Turkish migrant workers in the 1960s and 1970s. As often happens with dishes cooked far from their motherlands, the döner kebab started to be prepared in ways different from the ‘original’, catering to local tastes with the available ingredients.
Customers are not too concerned about shops having to sell the product under different names, such as Greek gyros or Arabic shawarma, What really grates is the rising cost of a döner kebab:
‘A few years ago, the price of a döner kebab was around four euros. Now you pay up to eight-thirteen euros,’ [Niko Schmitz] laments. Schmitz is not alone. ‘I’m paying eight euros for a döner,’ a protestor shouted at chancellor Olaf Sholz in 2022. ‘Speak with Putin, please. I want to pay four euros for a döner.’
A brief note on the history of the mouth-watering snack:
The döner itself can be traced back to the early 19th century Ottoman Empire, when someone had the ingenious idea of flipping the existing horizontal stack of marinated meat on an iron rod vertically. Turning the rotisserie upright not only saved much of the juices and fat from dripping into the fire but also rendered it more suitable for urban spaces.
Where is all this headed? Over such contentious issues as those being argued about by the German and Turkish governments, the product may branch into different varieties, and the plethora of names for them will undoubtedly continue to proliferate. Selected readings
* "Gyro" (6/26/20)
* "Gyro, part 2" (9/28/24)
* "Teen attacked by kebab van" (9/5/12)
* "Nontrivial script fail" (5/18/11) — 7th comment
* "'Ingenious herd of charcoal fire'" (4/5/11)
* "Why Do Canadians Eat Donair?" (4/13/07)
* "If you're uneducated you say it right" (2/2/09) — in the comments
* "Ajvar and caviar" (8/1/22)
* "Respect the local pronunciation: runza and Henri" (6/13/24)
[Thanks to Mark Metcalf]
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