Use "but" and "therefore" . . . not "and then"

Trey Parker and Matt Stone on how to tell a story:



Via Andrew Sullivan

"Black English as linguistic progress"

Language nerd John McWhorter rocks. Superb interviewerer Josh Knobe asks good short questions and gets out of the way:



The next segment is good too, "The grammar of slang, yo":

5 ways to deflect public anger and demonstrate accountability

For any BCPS board member, admininstrator or task force member who is feeling under siege lately, here are some tips from a very perceptive guy*:

How to deflect anger and demonstrate accountability

1. [Create] a video record
2. Let the voters speak first.
3. Vote NO on additional compensation.
4. Zero tolerance for ethical lapses.
5. "Say what you mean and mean what you say."

The list is excellent. And it's remarkable that BCPS leaders and the politicians who oversee them have failed to do any of these things adequately in recent years.

*Frank Luntz. The list comes from page 125 of his recent book What Americans Really Want . . . Really: The Truth About Our Hopes Dreams and Fears.

Four-eyes vs. half-wit -- a thought for everyone who wears glasses

Years ago a third-grader complained to me that a mean kid at school was calling her "four-eyes". She was bothered and wanted to know how she could put an end to the name-calling. I suggested this reply:

"Half-wit."

It gives a nice symmetry to the exchange. One person multiplies by two and the other divides. And if the sequences continue, the numbers characterizing the tormentor shrink to nothingness (1, 1/2, 1/4, ...) while those describing the victim (2, 4, 8, ...) grow to infinity and beyond.

By the way, it worked very well at school the next day, and it still makes me smile when I think about it.

How to use Google to improve your English

Jim Stroud lists five ways at englishcafe.com. I've been using Google as a spelling aid for a long time -- the correct spelling of a word generally gets the most hits.

via Joanne Jacobs

Worn out phrases that politicians should retire

Before the 2012 campaign kicks off next week, I wanted to get something off my chest.

Whenever politicians let loose any of these phrases, my opinion of them nosedives. Presumably the words test well in focus groups. But more and more they are indicators of the speaker's laziness, condescension, and impending double-talk.

Dem favorites:

• "trickle-down economics"
• "tax cuts for the rich"

GOP favorites:

• "family values"
• "patriot"
  

Bi-partisan favorites:

• "working families"
• "Greatest Generation"
  

And the premier bi-partisan all-purpose indicator of imminent double-speak:

• "for the children"

"Aggressive benificence"

Definition: "[interfering when one] might have more productively left things, or people, alone."

A useful phrase. I ran across it this weekend in a a Jane Smiley novel (p. 208).

"Think" vs. "Know": wordclouds from Obama-McCain debates

Here's Obama from debate #2:


And McCain from debate #2:


I'm not sure what these mean, but they seem to confirm the notions of McCain as an aggressive pilot who makes quick decisions (but has crashed several fighter jets and rubs many people the wrong way) and Obama as a temperate lawyer who digs methodically through the pro's and con's (but hasn't accomplished much other than getting many people to like and elect him).

In any event, I watched only the first half of the 2nd debate last night. It was dull and not very informative.

Then, from 23/6 ("some of the news, most of the time") here's a one-minute video wordcloud of the first debate: