A bunch of Slate linksNaughty crossword, naughty NYT: I never thought about the origin of the word scumbag before. It's kind of ishy.
This article also links to another wordy article, about people who say 'literally' when they mean 'figuratively'. Apparently, it is a common failing and not so big a deal. This usage has always bothered and confounded me - they mean the opposite of each other! What use is it if antonyms become synomyms? I am not a proper speaker, myself. I always use borrow and lend interchangeably; I know that drives some people nuts. As a young child, 'itch' meant scratch and 'scratch' meant itch to me.
And finally, in 2003, Slate's Andy Bowers tried to guess what words of the current war will catch on. So far, the only one I see sticking is 'shock and awe'.
the "literally meaning figuratively" thing... arrrrgh... drives me nuts,
ReplyDeletein fact i sometimes do it to be ironic and sardonic at the same time
effin a, whackly. effin a.
ReplyDelete