Word Up? LOL & OMG Added to OED

OMG, I definitely didn't LOL upon learning of the Oxford English Dictionary's latest entrants. No longer confined to tech talk, LOL and OMG have been categorically catapulted into language legitimacy.

Color me conniption fit-red because these abbreviations hardly pass word muster. Ha! It's obvious no one cares what I think since I wasn't consulted. Still SMH.

FYI: http://www.oed.com/public/latest/latest-update

AP Stamps Cell Phone and Smart Phone as Singular Nouns

In modern technology’s thick, chances are you routinely rely on cell phones or smart phones for communication but the connectivity stops there. That is, until the Associated Press recently settled the dual spelling score, declaring cellphone and smartphone as proper for the toys talkers and texters can’t live without. Going forward, it’s advisable that you ignore spell check which continues to ping when the devices are written as singular nouns.              

Here's the skinny:

• cellphone replaces cell phone;
• smartphone is now acceptable for advanced cellphones with capabilities including Web browsing, email, and downloadable apps, replacing smart phone.

Read more here: http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/by-ap-decree-email-cellphone-smartphone-kolkata_b13043.

Don’t Blame Beyonce for “Me, Myself & I” Misuse

Megastar Beyonce wears a lot of hats but English teacher isn’t one she dons, at least not notably. Based on observation, the reference to self wreaks communications havoc on a daily basis. Long gone is Tom Wolfe’s “Me Decade” of the 70s but today many insert “myself” where “me or I” should be. The surge in third person references is as puzzling as a Rubix Cube. Rather than elevate as if we’re rock star royalty, it merely deflates our grammatical precision.

Usage is dependent on the subject or object in a sentence’s structure. Sounds complicated, right? Before you dismiss it, consider these examples:

(1)    A few weeks ago in the Houston Chronicle, an NFL draft entrant incurred a partial grammatical penalty when he made this statement: “If I don’t believe in myself, who do I expect to believe in myself?”

Correction: If I don’t believe in myself, who should believe in me? Since who is the subject of the verb clause, “should believe,” the word “me” should be used.    

(2)    A corporate professional conveyed these directions via email: “Just send it to Don, James and myself.”   

Correction: Just send it to Don, James and me.  The person speaking should refer to themselves as “me” instead of “myself.” In other words, send it to them but also send it to me.   

     (3)    A reality TV star said “How different Jason and myself are.”

Correction: “How different Jason and I are.” This statement is made in first person so “I” is appropriate. It in essence communicates that I am different and Jason is different.  

Dr. Grammar’s rule of thumb: Use myself only when you have used I earlier in the same sentence: 'I am not particularly fond of goat cheese myself.' (Brians, Common Errors in English Usage)

For a handy breakdown of when to use “me, myself or I,” don’t consult Beyonce but do read here:

http://www.marcandangel.com/2006/09/27/me-myself-and-i-grammar

Give Me a Tweet But Hold The Profanity

Look, I’m a huge proponent of social media engagement as Facebook and Twitter have propelled personal and professional connectivity to new heights. What’s disconcerting, however, is the plethora of profanity tied to some tweets, in particular. Call me prudish, but when a certain actor, now unemployed, set off “#thataintwinning” on Twitter like a raging blaze, it was as if the foul language laden dogs had been unleashed.

Adding insult to injury, the N-word also registers with Twitter frequency the same as a teenager’s texting thumbs.  Today, some defend the N-word as a casual endearment, but it replicates the same ignorance when it was coined ages ago. Plain and simple, history cannot be erased so in many circles, the word still conjures hurts.   

By no means is this an attempt to suppress free speech but a call to implore the vocabulary crippled to lean on more respectable posts. Anyone who relies on profanity and the N-word to express his or her thoughts due to stunted growth in the English language is the surefire mark of a loser like Charlie Sheen(less). Tell me, where’s the winning in that?      

Gossip Writing Sizzles With Verbal Striptease

To produce an effective writing piece, connecting with the targeted audience is crucial. If gossip writing is your pen's flavor, check out Michael Musto's tips for turning up the heat:

  How to Serve Dish

Lyric check and Spell check, Where Art Thou?

Three days after the Green Bay Packers doused Big Ben’s flame, it’s not the overhyped ads, but Christiana Aguilera’s lyrical misfire that shines blindingly. Before the final note’s fade, Facebook and Twitter were already clogged with thumbs down “disses.”   

So now, in hopes of casting a blackout on Aguilera’s Super Bowl flop, the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league baseball team, have rolled out the redemption carpet with a repeat performance invitation. Was the singer was so smug that she dismissed adequate preparation as passé? If so, she was dead wrong to do so, especially on Jerry Jones’ colossal stage.   

Similarly, utmost quality is my expectation whenever I open the New York Times, a publication hailed journalistically superior. Even if its digital dependence has rendered the proofreader jobless, factual accuracy void of misspellings is not exactly a demand extreme. Discerning eyes don’t long to peer at Steele when the correct spelling is Steel, as in Danielle, the famed author. In “Repeat Offenses,” Phillip B. Corbett exposes the newspaper’s repetitive faults.

Whether Aguilera or the New York Times, the lingering question remains: “Lyric check and spell check, where art thou?”    

Sources:

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2011/02/08/christina-aguilera-gets-chance-recover-super-fumble/

http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/repeat-offenses/       

Sealing the Sentence Deal

During a discussion at a cocktail party about communication prowess, a banker echoed: “Some of my college-educated colleagues don’t know Diddly.” As a business professional engaged in various industries, I’ve experienced the stupefied effects that incomplete and ill-formed sentences often evoke. Since most people realize spell check’s fallibility, you’d think they’d proofread more carefully, right? Wrong.

It’s not merely a matter of proofreading but first and foremost, one must be familiar with the art of sentence construction. NYT columnist Stanley Fish who penned, “How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One” dishes that most of us aren’t up to par when it comes to writing a sentence. Giving Fish’s new book more than a distracted glance might help cure this communication ill.  

Here’s an excerpt from NPR:

“Fish is something of a sentence connoisseur, and he says writing a fine sentence is a delicate process — but it's a process that can be learned. He laments that many educators approach teaching the craft the wrong way — by relying on rules rather than examples.”

Analyzing great sentences "will tell you more about ... what you can possibly hope to imitate than a set of sterile rules that seem often impossibly abstract," Fish tells NPR's Neal Conan.

A good sentence may be easy to pick out, but learning to understand what makes it great, says Fish, will help a student become a stronger writer and a "better reader of sentences."

“Just as a student of art must learn how to describe the merits of a painting, aspiring writers must be able to articulate what constitutes a well-crafted sentence.”

Read the article in its entirety here:

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/25/133214521/stanley-fish-demystifies-how-to-write-a-sentence?sc=ipad&f=1008.