__non-english speaker joke

Tags

english, english as a second language, funny, joke, language, meme, native english speaker joke, tumblr

As someone who has many non-native-English-speakers in my life but who speak English better than many native English speakers I know, this was too funny not to share.

– Ermisenda

What Your Bumper Stickers Really Say

Tags

bumper sticker, grumpy cat, language, writing

I still remember my first pink sparkle pzazz Daddy’s Little Princess bumper sticker. When I sometimes shared my car with my dad, he hated it. Since then, I got over the bumper sticker craze. For one thing, I don’t want people cutting me off or tailgating me because they voted for the other presidential candidate. Maybe it comes with being an introvert, but I’m too private to display information like that to the whole world.

At this point, you may be rolling your eyes. What harm could possibly come from a bumper sticker? Well, it’s one of the things that fascinates me about language, whether it be the written word or family-hieroglyphics and grumpy cat window dressings.

There’s more to the window dressings and bumper stickers than you might think. You’re telling people where your kids go to school, possibly what sport or musical instrument they play. You could be telling people that you live alone because you’re divorced or your husband is in the armed forces. They could bond with you over the illness you’re passionate about signaled by the color of the cancer ribbon.

The only bumper sticker I’m willing to have on my car now is grumpy cat. What about you? Is your car a moving billboard of your life or a blank slate?

-Eliabeth Hawthorne

When did it become an “accident?”

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internet slang, language, life, words, writing

It’s always fascinating to be aware of when a word is invented. We google and tweeet things; we are pinners. Sometimes, it’s not a new word, but a change in what is politically correct. Often, it is subtle and we don’t realize the change in the moment. For example, when did a wreck become an accident? “Wreck,” “crash,” nope, now it’s an “accident” on the highway. I guess because the latter sounds less intentional?

Car wreck or car accident? Any other words you now realize have changed over the years?

-Eliabeth

__txt 4 lyfe

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article, comic, drawing, english, funny, harvard, image, language, learning, life, photo, school, skills, text speak, txting, writing

I found this picture and I thought it was pretty funny. With certain individuals you can find this kind of text talk on facebook as well. I’m not a grammar Nazi but I don’t like text talk. I find it can often take more time to figure out what they’re trying to say then it would have taken to write it out properly. When you’re writing in a text message, I understand the desire to shorten, I do too from time to time. But if I have the room, I’ll just write it out properly.

I went to school for so many years so, why throw out all the English I learned? Presumably, despite what the teachers may have liked to think, English’s core purpose (at the very least) during high school was to improve one’s communication skills and confidence with the written language to prepare one for reading and writing (rather than specifically essays, poetry and creative writing skills). So, at the very least I can use full words instead of text speak in everyday life. That’s what I figure at least.

What are your thoughts?

EDIT: Hilarious article, a must read!

“If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.”

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/i_wont_hire_people_who_use_poo.html

– Ermisenda Alvarez

Book Review: Fade by Lisa McMann

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action, book, book review, dream catching, high school, language, lisa mcmann, love, paranormal, plot, romance, sexual predators, stories, writing, YA

Fade

by Lisa McMann

genre: paranormal, YA

Are you fascinated by dreams? Did you like WAKE? I am and I recently read Wake, so when I heard about this sequel I had to read it!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)
For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They’re just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.

Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody’s talking. When Janie taps into a classmate’s violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open — but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie’s in way over her head, and Cabe’s shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability — and it’s bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what’s to come is way darker than she’d feared….

It’s all in the phrasing

Tags

grammar, language, multi-lingual, punctuation

I read an article months ago, loved it, bookmarked it, and can’t for the life of me find it now, so if anyone knows what article I’m trying to reference, leave a link in the comments so I can put it in the original post, please!

The article was about how language changes our interpretation of a situation.  I thought about it again because Ermisenda and I were writing a scene last night, and it didn’t quite feel right.  It came down to the difference between “she’s my girlfriend” and “I’m the boyfriend.”  While they technically say the same thing, the first sounds possessive where the second sounds like a position of honor.  It reminded me of the article, which is when I went looking for it and couldn’t find it.