Rabbit, Rabbit!
In our latest archive edition, we dispense writing advice, discuss funny Spanish idioms, survey the wide array of names for grandparents, and talk about “fixin’ to,” “I’m all set,” and the ditty “Toidy poiple boidies, sittin’ on a coibstone”:
Looking for the essay on the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers” Martha mentioned in that show? It’s here:
Last week marked the release of the new 12th edition of the Chambers Dictionary. Lots of coverage in the UK, including this Henry Hitchings essay.
An unusual addition to this edition of the Chambers Dictionary is “The Word Lover’s Miscellany” of lexical odds and ends. It features lists of “words for intriguing things,” “wonderful collective nouns,” “insults,” and other trivia.
This dictionary also includes a “Wordgame Companion” lists of “shorter words,” words with “J,” “Q,” “X,” and “Z” and more lists of interest to puzzle fans.
You can get a sample of the Miscellany in PDF form at the Chambers site.
Remember when we told you last week about the fascinating work on pronouns by Dr. James Pennebaker, author of “The Secret Life of Pronouns”? His site:
https://www.secretlifeofpronouns.com/
Well, writing this week in The New York Times, Ben Zimmer notes that Pennebaker has also done linguistic analysis on pronouns in Beatles songs.
As the Fab Four aged, Pennebaker says, their lyrics became more complex. They used bigger words, as well as more prepositions, articles, and conjunctions.
Not only that, the analysis revealed a big drop in their use of first-person singular pronouns–from 14 percent in the group’s early years to 7 percent much later.
More linguistic analysis of Beatles lyrics here:
https://www.uib.no/en/rg/fkp/44814/text-analysis-beatles-lyrics
BEHIND THE SCENES: Ever wonder what to call that fatty bump at the tail end of the Thanksgiving turkey? Or why we call long, flat pasta “linguini”?
Not sure why we said “Rabbit, Rabbit”? The answer’s here.
Hope you and yours have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend,
Martha and Grant
