Clearing the air: abbreviations

e.g.

e.g. stands for exempli gratia. It's Latin. That probably doesn't mean much to most of us.

Or for our purposes, let's just say e.g. means "for example," or "such as." 

Used in a sentence: I'm a big fan of mainstream, flannel-shirt-wearing, 90s rockers (e.g., Stone Temple Pilots or Pearl Jam).

i.e.

i.e. is Latin for id est. 

Simply put, i.e. means "in other words" or "put another way." 

Used in a sentence. I'm a big fan of mainstream, flannel-shirt-tastic, 90s rock music (i.e. "grunge rock"). 

A colleague of mine says he remembers the difference between "e.g." and "i.e." by thinking "e.g." stands for "example given."

Go forth and impress people with your ability to use e.g. and i.e. appropriately — they're misused way too often.

Word Debate (busybody: what does it mean to you?)

Time for a vocabulary discussion.

The word: busybody.

The situation: in the past few months, I've heard the word used differently than what I understood it to mean. I grew up thinking that a busybody was nearly a synonym for someone who is nosey — or the neighborhood gossiper.

This differs from what I've heard lately from acquaintances, friends and strangers. Their usage seems to be more a literal translation of the words, say, "one who keeps their body busy — or rarely stays idle." (Used in a sentence: When Mr. Smith sold the classic car he restored, I doubted he would give up the hobby because he's always been a busybody.)

(See what the Free Online Dictionary has to say about the word here.)

Discussion: is our generation changing the definition of this word? It's happened with other words so it could happen again. Wikipedia tells me that the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage" is called semantic change. 

Here's a semantic change example from Wikipedia. "Egregious originally described something that was remarkably good. The word is from the Latin egregius (outstanding) which is from e-, ex- (out of) + greg- or grex (flock). Now it means something that is remarkably bad or flagrant."

What do you think "busybody" means? Or what words irk you to hear used incorrectly?

p.s. I do enjoy English, grammar and general semantics but by no means always choose my words correctly...

Action Verbs

I am not sure what has prompted this blog post today, though I would imagine it’s thinking about the impending start to coordinating my employer’s 2008 annual report.

Who doesn’t love a good action verb? They are so much more fun than passive verbs and convey much more interest. Action verbs are robust, powerful, meaningful and invigorating. I have to admit that non-business action verbs are much more lively than work ones; nonetheless, try beefing up your business dialogue with a few of these:

A is for administered.
B is for budgeted.
C is for coordinated.
D is for directed.
E is for encouraged.
F is for financed.
G is for grew.
H is for handled.
I is for increased.
J is for journaled.
K is for kept.
L is for lowered.
M is for monitored.
N is for negotiated.
O is for operated.
P is for piloted.
Q is for quarantined.
R is for rehabilitated.
S is for streamlined.
T is for trimmed.
U is for updated.
V is for vied.
W is for wrote.
X is for Xeroxed (okay, I couldn’t come up with anything better for X or Z).
Z is for zipped.

The Big Nerd (Right Here)

So here's how it all went down...

My sister called Saturday to ask me what the Jabberwocky is. The name popped into her head on the road and she couldn't remember what a darn Jabberwocky was.

I was taking a nap when she originally called, so I texted her when I woke up and said, "The Jabberwocky is from a Lewis Carroll poem and was also the dragon-like monster in the non-cartoon version of "Alice In Wonderland."

When she and I talked voice-to-voice yesterday, she said she did eventually figure out what the Jabberwocky was by googling it on her boyfriend's phone. I did, however, nonchalantly point out that the "The Jabberwocky" included a good verb but I couldn't remember what it was. She promptly reminded me that I was a giant dork for even saying the words "good verb."

And it, with "it" being the good verb, came to me today... "chortled."

This blog goes out to Elizabeth Hamrick for memorizing that poem in either Mrs. Zorn's class or Ms. Padgett's class. She's the reason I remembered the good verb.


For background info, here's the poem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky.

Mini Grammar Lesson

I must begin with another one of my famous disclaimers. While I am about to share a few quick grammar lessons (a.k.a pet peeves of mine), I do realize that I am not the grammar guru or knower-of-all-that-is-the-English language... just putting that out there.

A semi colon separates two related but independent clauses. This means that the string of words before the semi colon could stand alone as its own sentence; similarly, the words on the other side of the semi colon could also be their own sentence.

Correct:
I think your blog entry looks fantastic; however, I would be sure to correct the spelling of "narcissism" before publishing.

Incorrect:
I think there are many types of delicious chicken wings at Publix; like mardi gras, traditional, spicy garlic and extra hot.

(Key: if the words before or after the semi colon cannot be a complete thought by themselves, then it doesn't make sense to use a semi colon)


When you're describing the people in a photo, and one of those people is you, you should say "and me" instead of "and I." So if you have captions with your myspace, flikr or facebook photos, write accordingly.

Correct:
Joe Bob Scatwally and me at the state fair. (Or just Joe Bob and me)

Incorrect:
Linda Shae Twitty and I at the hotdog eating contest. (Or just Linda Shae and I)

(Key: take away the other person or people and see if the caption still makes sense. For example, "This is a picture of Ben and me" would become "This is a picture of me." Then you know you have it right.)


When you use a prepositional phrase, such as “in the classroom” or “of the choices” you use a verb that goes with the word that the prepositional phrase modifies. This may sound a little tricky, but it’s easily understood with some examples.

Correct:
The students in the classroom are behaving.

Incorrect:
The students in the classroom is behaving.

Take away “in the classroom” and it should be easy to tell which is correct. Use the verb form that goes with “students.”

The students are behaving.

(versus)

The students is behaving.


And that’s it for today, kids!