It’s back … fun with headlines!
Spotted (ha ha) today in wikiHow:
How to Make Luggage Easier to Spot
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), GrammarGarnish (wordplay), tagged confusion, English, grammar, language, luggage, spot, usage, Web, wikiHow, words, writing on November 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
It’s back … fun with headlines!
Spotted (ha ha) today in wikiHow:
How to Make Luggage Easier to Spot
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), tagged 1069, 2009, 40, alien, anniversary, Apollo 11, asteroid, astronaut, bingo, black hole, Captain Kirk, comet, countries, country, Earth, English, fun, galaxy, grammar, headline, Hubble Telescope, hurricane, July 20, language, license, meteor, milky way, Moon, nebula, news, plate, rocket launch, satellites (3), saturn, solar system, space, space capsule, space explorer, space shuttle, space station, space vehicle, spacecraft, speed limit, stars, stop sign, sun, To The Moon, tow truck, UFO, United States, usage, Web, Webb Telescope, wired, words, years on July 17, 2009| 1 Comment »
Since we were around to see the Apollo 11 Moon Mission 40 years ago, we’re following the coverage of its anniversary with piqued interest. What exciting times to be alive!
We came across a great headline today, from wired.com:
“Things to Do on the Way to the Moon”
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
And, not just any road trip … the ultimate. So, to avoid the almost inevitable “Are we there yet?” the astronauts should have some games to play and songs to sing along the way, don’t you think?
Here are a few items we put together for their entertainment …
To start, a scavenger hunt of sorts …
Next, what about a new twist on an old favorite …
And, to round out the trip, there must be a theme song. We thought this might be appropriate …
As a bonus, we started building a soundtrack for the journey. Our initial thoughts …
Now those tunes ought to keep you entertained for a while. Enjoy!
Sources: Wiki – List of space agencies, Mom’s Minivan, License Plate Mania, License Plates of the World, Our iTunes Collection
Posted in General, GrammarGarnish (wordplay), tagged confusion, daily, deliver, devotional, English, faux pas, forgive, frustration, fun, gaffe, goof, grammar, language, laws, literature, online, prayer, rules, style, Tips, usage, Web, words, writing on July 16, 2009| 8 Comments »
Please join us in our daily devotional …
Our grammar, which art in English, respected be thy style.
Thy rules become, thy laws be done online as they are in literature.
Give us this day our daily tips and forgive us our goofs as we forgive those who gaffe against us.
And lead us not into frustration, but deliver us from faux pas.
Amen.
Copyright © 2009 Grammar Police a.k.a. GrammarCops
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), tagged chicken, confusion, drum, drumstick, English, flavor finder, fun, grammar, headline, Ice Cream, language, Nestle, scream, sticks, turkey, usage, Web, wikiHow, words on July 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Fun with headlines today …
An iGoogle wikiHow headline reads:
“How to Choose Drumsticks”
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
We suggest using the “Flavor Finder” to choose your drumsticks! Yummy.
Posted in General, GrammarGab (quotes), Vocabulary Builders, tagged advertisement, brand, canned, commercial, confusion, definition, dictionary, email, English, fun, grammar, ham, Hormel, language, market, Monty Python, name, noun, spam, SPAM®, spiced, usage, verb, vocabulary, Web, words, writing on July 6, 2009| 8 Comments »
(click here to read about SPAM®)
From The Writer’s Almanac 7-5-09
It was on this day in 1937 that SPAM came onto the market. The canned meat product from Hormel Foods Corporation was given its name by a contest winner; the prize for his ingenuity was $100. On one occasion, a Hormel spokesperson said the name was short for ‘Shoulder of Pork and Ham’; on another, a company official said it was a conflation of the words ‘spice and ham.’ All sorts of parodic acronyms have circulated over the years, including ‘Something Posing As Meat.’ The original recipe, still sold as the ‘Classic’ flavor, contains pork shoulder and ham meat, salt, water, sugar, and sodium nitrate. There’s a gelatinous glaze on top, which forms like that after the broth cools down.
Spam sold in the Americas is mostly produced in Austin, Minnesota — ‘Spam Town USA’ and home of the SPAM museum. Hawaii’s residents consume more Spam per capita than the residents of any other state, and the canned meat has been nicknamed ‘The Hawaiian Steak.’ Spam is the main course in the Israeli Defense Force’s combat meal kits, but the pork is replaced by beef so that it’s kosher.
There’s a Monty Python sketch that came out in 1970 where the actors go into a cafe; and try to order breakfast, but almost everything on the menu contains Spam. One woman doesn’t want Spam in her breakfast and gets into an argument with the waitress, who tells her that the menu consists of ‘Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam, and Spam.’ It’s from this Monty Python sketch that ‘spam’ acquired the use so familiar today: unwanted or unsolicited e-mail. The first recorded use of the word in this way is in 1993. It’s also become a verb in the English language, for the action of sending out spam.
And the word ‘spam’ itself, untranslated, is now a noun in French, Portuguese, and Vietnamese. The verb ‘to spam’ in German is ‘spammen’; in Czech the verb is ‘spamovat’; and in Italian it’s ‘spammare.’ There’s a new Monty Python’s musical, SPAMALOT, currently playing in San Francisco.
And now, for our word of the day:
Spam. noun, verb, spammed, spamming.
1. Trademark. a canned food product consisting esp. of pork formed into a solid block.
–noun 2. (lowercase) a disruptive, esp. commercial message posted on a computer network or sent as e-mail.
–verb (used with object) 3. (lowercase) to send spam to.
–verb (used without object) 4. (lowercase) to send spam.
——————————————————————————–
Origin: (def. 1) sp(iced) + (h)am; 1990–95; referring to a comedy routine on Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Brit. TV series.
Be sure to see our related posts:
Sources: The Writer’s Almanac, dictionary.com
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), GrammarGarnish (wordplay), tagged administratium, clever, email, English, fun, governmentium, grammar, heaviest element discovered, language, non-original, usage, Web, words on July 1, 2009| 1 Comment »
Rarely do we come across non-original material that we feel compelled to post … here’s something that’s going around in email of-late. We think it’s clever and we want to pass it along. Enjoy!
HEAVIEST ELEMENT DISCOVERED
Research has led to discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that normally takes less than a second to take as long as 4 years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neurons and deputy neurons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization causes more morons to become neurons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, which has half as many peons but twice the number of morons.
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), GrammarGarnish (wordplay), tagged bus, bus stop, confusion, Detroit, English, fun, gang busters, grammar, headline, iGoogle, language, news, shot, stop, students, usage, Web, words, writing on June 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »
An entry for our “Fun with Headlines” category … the iGoogle news headline for this story is:
“Students shot at Detroit bus stop”
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
Posted in General, GrammarGag Reel (fun stuff), Vocabulary Builders, tagged confusion, definition, dictionary, English, fun, grammar, headline, health, language, learn, mosquito, news, novel, People's Pharmacy, technique, usage, vocabulary, Web, words, writing, zap, zapping on June 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »
We love the health site, The People’s Pharmacy. Not only do they offer wonderful tips for safe and healthy living, their headlines often provide great fodder for our “Fun with Headlines” blog posts. For example, one of today’s headlines reads:
“Novel Technique for Zapping Mosquitos”
(click here for the real story)
What comes to your mind?
Here’s what came to ours:
Let’s look at our word of the day: novel.
1. novel. noun.
2. novel. adjective.
3. novel. noun.
Source: dictionary.com
Posted in General, GrammarGrave (lost causes), GrammarGripes (pet peeves), PunctuationPerils, tagged blog, comma, confusion, correct, definition, dictionary, English, fun, grammar, Harvard, issue, language, mark, oxford, punctuation, question, serial, tweet, twitter, usage, Web, Wiki, words on June 29, 2009| 2 Comments »
We have been asked several times, “what’s your opinion on the Oxford (or serial) comma?” So, we’re going to cross-post an entry from our sister site: Comma Clout for our readers here …
From last week:
A lot of buzz around this issue today … Barrett got us blogging when he sent this tweet:
Per Wiki, the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma and the Harvard comma) is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction (usually and, or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. More simply, as per AskOxford.com, the ‘Oxford comma’ is an optional comma before the word ‘and’ at the end of a list.
For example, this three-media list can be punctuated as either “Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter” (with the serial comma) or as “Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter” (without the serial comma).
There is no consensus among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. Most American English authorities recommend its use, but it seems to be less frequent in British English. In many languages (e.g., French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish) the serial comma is not the norm; it may even be explicitly forbidden by punctuation rules – but it may be allowed or even recommended in some cases to avoid ambiguity or to aid understanding when reading.
Wikipedia actually has an excellent section on this topic. Take a look:
Contents
1 Arguments for and against
2 Ambiguity
3 Usage
4 References & External links
We have relaxed our own position on the use of the serial comma. Before text limits of 140 characters or thereabouts, we would insist, but now, we say lose any extra character you can while preserving meaning.
There are many views on this little mark. Click here to read one solution. What’s your view?
sources: Wikipedia, dictionary.com, AskOxford.com, Twitter
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