So I’m working and I hear this guy use the word ‘afterneath,’ as in “there is some stuff afterneath this other stuff.”
I’ve never heard that word beforeneath now.
May 25
Not the N-word
There is an infrequently used word that describes someone who is stingy or miserly. You logophiles out there probably know the word I am talking about. For the rest of you, here it is:
niggard
If this word is new to you, it has no racial connotations. After the definition, the New Oxford American Dictionary offers this helpful note (which I have edited)*:
“USAGE: This word, along with its adverbial form niggardly, should be used with caution. Owing to the sound similarity to the highly inflammatory racial epithet …, these words can cause unnecessary confusion and unintentional offense.”
The caution comes with good reason. In 1999, Washington D.C. mayor’s aide David Howard got into a lot of trouble for using the word, owing both to its homophonic qualities and the ignorance of his audience.
So what’s my take? Personally, I wouldn’t use it. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with it, but there are multiple word, both formal and colloquial, that express the same thought just as concisely.
* I edited the NOAD’s note to avoid having the post / blog flagged as offensive by overly sensitive web filtering software, besides the fact there are a lot of words I don’t print on this site.
May 21
Juhk
n. the epithet ‘jerk’ when pronounced with a non-rhotic accent; rhymes with ‘buck.’
Example: “Pahk the cah in the Hahvad Yahd, ya juhk.”
May 16
Pardon us
I wish to apologize to the people who sat behind us at the spring concert at the middle school. It was quite rude of us to schedule and play a concert right in the middle of your conversation. My only regret is that we didn’t pick a more intuitive location for a concert other than the school gym.
However, from the volume and constancy of your conversation I was able to hear while I was trying to listen to my daughters sing, it sounds like you didn’t let the efforts of the students or educators bother you too much.
May 13
The best there is at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice
X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t really that great of a movie. It doesn’t stink like X-Men 3, but it doesn’t rock like X-Men 1 & 2.
The movie has a number of completely superfluous characters who, if you removed them from the movie, wouldn’t change the plot one bit, Gambit and The Blob being the most notable. The movie has a lot of profanity, I guess in an attempt to make it gritty, but it’s still just a mediocre movie. The big fight scene in the middle of the movie is virtually bulging with some of the lamest movie cliches ever, and some simply ridiculous things like riding a Harley through a dense forest. In terms of SFX, there are several scenes that are so obvious they were filmed against a bluescreen and had digital backgrounds inserted that it was distracting.
I don’t mean to imply that the movie was completely terrible, but I think a good editor could make a pretty kick-butt 45 minute movie out of it.
May 13
Favorite website #1
My husband finds some of the best websites (and gets me hooked on them) and I will share them all with you.
www.neatorama.com
I love this website because it updates several times during the day and the posts are very interesting. Not every post is something that I am interested in but about 80-85% of the time there is something that catches my eye.
This site also has a link to some really fun flash games. I love mindless games! Go. Visit. Post. Have fun. NOW!
