Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
#124311 03/03/04 03:24 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
member
OP Offline
member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
Thank you so much for posting the links, they were supposed to have shown up at the bottom of my reply, I think I did something wrong for looking at it they are not there. Oh-well I am still learning the ins and outs of this system.
I chose this to give a better example. In the future I will double check to make sure everything posts, as well as make it a rule to not post anything after I have been awake for almost twenty-four hours. (I have been dealing with an asthmatic two year-old who has the croup.) Please accept my apologias, and as stated, thank you for correcting my oversight.

Rev. Alimae


Rev. Alimae
#124312 03/03/04 03:27 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Not a problem. The software on this site is a bit antiquated. I cannot edit any of my posts without the HTML pseudo-markup becoming HTML text. Strange. Hope your child gets well soon.


#124313 03/03/04 03:31 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
member
OP Offline
member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
everybody is wrong, i.e., the linguist trendy wannabes and the aged humument curmudgeons.


I believe I understand what you are saying, I have just one question, for I have never run across this word before, what is "humument"?

Rev. Alimae


Rev. Alimae
#124314 03/03/04 03:34 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
member
OP Offline
member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 164
I hope he recovers quickly as well, he is on some very potent steroids as well as breathing treatments at the moment. Thank you for the warm wishes.

Rev. Alimae


Rev. Alimae
#124315 03/03/04 03:42 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
A Humument is a treated Victorian novel created by Tom Phillips. The book that got treated was originally published as A Human Document in the 19th century. More info at the link below:

http://www.rosacordis.com/humument/



#124316 03/03/04 04:55 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
jheem, what are scare quotes, please? I looked at the site but didn't see anything unusual, except for the symbols in parts of his Montreal listing. Unless you meant that "non linguistic", "semantic", and "listed" are somehow scary?


#124317 03/03/04 05:04 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Jackie-- Scare quotes are quotation marks bracketing a word that calls attention to the word's being used in some rhetorical manner. Related to "air quotes", where the speakers crooks her/his fingers in the air while saying the word. Earlier examples, are "quote", "unquote", being used to wrap the word, phrase, or sentence.

You're not really quoting anybody when you type: My good "friend" Joe Bodaracco came to see me yesterday. Compare that with the un-scare-quoted version. Nice writeup here thanks to Google:

http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/local/doc/punctuation/node31.html



#124318 03/03/04 05:09 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Just thought of another example of this kind of rhetorical device that is geekly in origin: using "^H" to indicate backspace. E.g., The movie I saw last night suc^H^H^H stinks. The "^H" digraph comes from the representation of Control-H, which maps to the backspace or delete keys under some OSes. It's in pretty common usage since Usenet days.


#124319 03/03/04 05:15 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Whoa, cool--you learn something every day, for sure! Thanks! I've been doing this for years (probably far too much) but never knew it had a particular name. From your link:
Quotation marks used in this way are informally called scare quotes. Scare quotes are quotation marks placed around a word or phrase from which you, the writer, wish to distance yourself because you consider that word or phrase to be odd or inappropriate for some reason. Possibly you regard it as too colloquial for formal writing; possibly you think it's unfamiliar or mysterious; possibly you consider it to be inaccurate or misleading; possibly you believe it's just plain wrong. Quite often scare quotes are used to express irony or sarcasm


Are they called scare quotes because the writer is supposedly scared of associating him/herself with what is in the quotation marks?

Woops--just read the article to the end: Quotation marks are not properly used merely in order to draw attention to words...I can't really approve of scare quotes used in this way. If you think a word is appropriate, then use it, without any quotes; if you think it's not appropriate, then don't use it, unless you specifically want to be ironic. Simultaneously using a word and showing that you don't approve of it will only make you sound like an antiquated fuddy-duddy. Ah well, if the shoe fits, Jackie...




#124320 03/03/04 05:21 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
The movie I saw last night suc^H^H^H stinks.
Thank you for saying where the digraph can be keyed. I have never seen this before. Why is backspace considered insulting? Does suc^H^H^H have a pronunciation, and if so, what, please? And why are there 3 of them--to cancel out the s, u, and c? Is it a way to avoid plainly putting sucks? If so, again why 3 of them? [totally lost e]


Page 2 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,335
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 487 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,543
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,917
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5