Archive for the ‘language and grammar’ Category

Every now and then, I coin a phrase, and so far, many of them have worked their way into popular culture, although, so far, no one gives me any credit for the genius of what I say. Take, for example, the very popular “What happens on the bike taxi stays on the bike taxi”, which you may have heard altered by the people in Las Vegas, Nevada, as their city slogan. Well, that was mine, I tell you. And you can believe me.

But here’s a new one that I actually did think up the other day. It’s a twist on an old phrase, but it’s pithy, trust me, so the twist is worth the effort.

Are you ready? Remember, you have to give me credit for coming up with something so purely perfect, okay? If you ever use the phrase in conversation, you have to say “As Thomas says…” first. And if you use the phrase in print or on your own web site, you have to send me a check for $0.02 so that I get my two cents’ worth.

Well if you’re sure you’re ready, here it is.

Oh, and if you don’t get it, well, that’s not a problem with the phrase itself, it is clearly your own fault for not have a good understanding of our contemporary culture and the latest technology buzzwords.

Okay, here it is:

A picture is worth a
thousand meta tags.

[bowing humbly] Thank you, thank you very much.

Why are the people reporting on the Winter Olympics spelling the name of the host city in two different ways? Turin is the English version, Torino is what the city is labeled on programmi italiani (Italian maps). Depending on which network you are listening to, you’ll hear it one way or the other.

I’ve said before that I think we should refer to other places by the names used by the people who live there. So, we’d have Italia, not Italy, etc. Why not? Is Italia hard to say? Hard to spell? Why would we want a name different from the actual place name?

But this morning’s story on Joey Cheek was encouraging. A U.S. speed skater won gold and used his “few seconds of mic time” to speak up about the genocide in the Darfur region. Here’s an exerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

Cheek won the gold medal Monday by two-thirds of a second, the speedskating equivalent of a three-touchdown blowout. Then the 26-year-old from North Carolina made real news: He would take his entire gold-medal bonus from the U.S. Olympic Committee and give it to Right to Play, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids in disadvantaged parts of the world.

“I think that’s $25,000,” Cheek said. “I’ve never won a gold medal, so I don’t know.”

I heard on NPR that Nike was donating US$30,000 of product to any organization Cheek chooses. Let’s hope others step forward too.

Some of my friends have been discussing (via email) the trouble with correcting someone else’s grammar. It reminds me of this great book review by David Foster Wallace–the review is by Wallace, the book is Bryan Garner’s A Dictionary of Modern American Usage.

If you haven’t read the review by Wallace yet, go ahead and click on the link to it and read it. Then come back here and leave me a comment.