Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies - Richard Kallan (Pantheon Books, 2005)
I'm a huge snob about you're and your. And there are plenty of other written tics that make me crazy. But I think I'm pretty laissez faire about the things that bother the true purists. And so I'm not sure what to make of Kallan's book. Rather than any kind of diatribe about our propensity to include extraneous words, it's simply a list of some of the most frequent offenders. (For example: see title) They come with cute definitions - "Hidden Pitfall: A pitfall unannounced by bells and whistles" - and charming illustrations by 19th-century illustrator George Cruikshank. Also a plus: I learned that these are technically tautologies, which helped me understand that word a bit better. This is good, given that my previous definition was something like "it's like when you define the word illustration by saying something that is illustrated." So yay. On the other hand, I found some of it pretty judgmental. I'll grant you that saying "6 A.M. in the morning" is absurd, but "twelve noon" is not. Please trust me on this one, unless you too have been stuck in an Italian airport because your ride misunderstood and is coming twelve hours from now.
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Erin's Library to Climb a Mountain
Or rather, write a novel or something in the month of November.
One of the many non-books that I read is the blog LAist. Thanks to the power of its team of bloggers, I have learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to the cool kids). As far as I can tell (their site is sloooooow today), the NaNoWriMo folk are dedicated to proving that all you need to write a novel is a little push. Their push: 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. Along with tens of thousands of your closest friends. And they even forewarn that it'll be crap. At least, most of it. But if you're me, and you like to write but don't make the time (and don't actually have a fiction story flitting around in your conscious brain), it's a pretty cool deal. So I am in the process of signing up (like I said, the site is slow) right now.
Another driving factor: I like things you can count. I am very tangible in the way I look for results. September was 10,000 steps a day + and I took great joy in calculating the change in my average performance from week to week. (I added the equivalent of an 8th day/week of walking by the end of the month.) October was sit-up and arm weight month, with similarly numerical planned gains. It got boring around the 24th. So I was trying this morning to figure out what November would be. And what better challenge than something I would never do on my own, with word/day goals, and no exercise required :) So here I go. If the novel gets far enough to acquire a title, I'll let y'all know.
One of the many non-books that I read is the blog LAist. Thanks to the power of its team of bloggers, I have learned about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to the cool kids). As far as I can tell (their site is sloooooow today), the NaNoWriMo folk are dedicated to proving that all you need to write a novel is a little push. Their push: 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. Along with tens of thousands of your closest friends. And they even forewarn that it'll be crap. At least, most of it. But if you're me, and you like to write but don't make the time (and don't actually have a fiction story flitting around in your conscious brain), it's a pretty cool deal. So I am in the process of signing up (like I said, the site is slow) right now.
Another driving factor: I like things you can count. I am very tangible in the way I look for results. September was 10,000 steps a day + and I took great joy in calculating the change in my average performance from week to week. (I added the equivalent of an 8th day/week of walking by the end of the month.) October was sit-up and arm weight month, with similarly numerical planned gains. It got boring around the 24th. So I was trying this morning to figure out what November would be. And what better challenge than something I would never do on my own, with word/day goals, and no exercise required :) So here I go. If the novel gets far enough to acquire a title, I'll let y'all know.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Meme, or, How I Learned a New Word Today
Until this afternoon, meme was one of those words (like trope and singularity had once been) that I vaguely knew but mostly dismissed as pretention. Until I got tagged by greenLAgirl, accused of falling for a pyramid scheme by Michael, and figured it was time I got an official definition. Hooray for Dictionary.com which built on Michael's expanded definition of "chain letter/thought virus" and explained that a meme was from same Latin root as "mime" and is "a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another." Like a gene, except of ideas.
Anyway, but I believe I was tagged to talk about my literary tastes, not my fondness for etymology. So, without further ado:
A book that changed my life
The Fall of a Sparrow, by Robert Hellenga. Friends have challenged this one, but I read it at the exactly the right moment, in the right place.
A book I’ve read more than once
Emma, by Jane Austen. Possibly my all-time favorite book.
A book I’d take with me if I were stuck on a desert island
I am leaning toward Tolstoy, and War and Peace for the epic sweep. But I would also consider The Bible (King James), since I haven't read much of it and I'd have the time to consider a lot of stories.
A book that made me laugh
Anything by Helen Fielding - I am particularly fond of two that I know made me laugh aloud in public: Cause Celeb and Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination
A book that made me cry
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. That book tore me apart inside.
A book that I wish had been written
My dissertation? It was going to be on life behind the lines (i.e. where they sent all the promising students and most of the government) in Soviet Union during WWII.
A book that I wish had never been written
So many books have inspired hatred and violence - I could choose one of them. But I won't, because I don't seem to be able to find it in me to wish a book unwritten.
A book I’ve been meaning to read
I've had Herodotus' Histories on the backburner since I got through half of it the first week of my graduate program. Also at least 30 others.
I’m currently reading
In addition to my pile of New Yorkers, I have begun Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee.
Mr. Library (better known to some as the voice behind Vibes Watch) has graciously consented to be tagged. And I am realizing that my blogroll is pretty limited. So.... help me build it up, yo. I recognize that Rahul is probably above this, but just in case, I'll try tagging him too. As well as HH, whose i8 I just discovered. Will you come to LA and cook for me?
Anyway, but I believe I was tagged to talk about my literary tastes, not my fondness for etymology. So, without further ado:
A book that changed my life
The Fall of a Sparrow, by Robert Hellenga. Friends have challenged this one, but I read it at the exactly the right moment, in the right place.
A book I’ve read more than once
Emma, by Jane Austen. Possibly my all-time favorite book.
A book I’d take with me if I were stuck on a desert island
I am leaning toward Tolstoy, and War and Peace for the epic sweep. But I would also consider The Bible (King James), since I haven't read much of it and I'd have the time to consider a lot of stories.
A book that made me laugh
Anything by Helen Fielding - I am particularly fond of two that I know made me laugh aloud in public: Cause Celeb and Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination
A book that made me cry
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. That book tore me apart inside.
A book that I wish had been written
My dissertation? It was going to be on life behind the lines (i.e. where they sent all the promising students and most of the government) in Soviet Union during WWII.
A book that I wish had never been written
So many books have inspired hatred and violence - I could choose one of them. But I won't, because I don't seem to be able to find it in me to wish a book unwritten.
A book I’ve been meaning to read
I've had Herodotus' Histories on the backburner since I got through half of it the first week of my graduate program. Also at least 30 others.
I’m currently reading
In addition to my pile of New Yorkers, I have begun Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee.
Mr. Library (better known to some as the voice behind Vibes Watch) has graciously consented to be tagged. And I am realizing that my blogroll is pretty limited. So.... help me build it up, yo. I recognize that Rahul is probably above this, but just in case, I'll try tagging him too. As well as HH, whose i8 I just discovered. Will you come to LA and cook for me?
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