I man I work with frequently wants to give a person a "kudo" for a job well done. It is in vain that I try to tell him that he means a kudos. The word history in my Webster's unfortunately gives a grudging nod to this maltreatment.

"Although the form kudo has not achieved general acceptance and the construction 'kudos are' is often considered incorrect, the linguistic processes in the development of kudo/kudos as the singular and plural forms of an English noun are highly productive and have been going on in English and other languages since prehistoric times. The development of the singular pea from the earlier singular form pease is an examploe of the same kind of reanalysis."

I also once worked for a guy whose whole career was wrapped up in trying to impress his superiors. He once had to give a briefing that I had prepared. Most of my bosses would have let me give the briefing but this guy wanted to impress the three-star general. There was a slide he didn't understand, so he sent me a note asking me to provide him with "cryptic comments" he could use to explain the slide if the general asked him for it. I had to ask my coworkers to stop me from doing exactlywhat he wanted, which would have proved most embarrassing for him. I could not get this dope to understand that cryptic meant something other than terse, which is what he really wanted. Lord, I was tempted!


TEd