Subbing for sense

From a truck-related feature that one of my colleagues was subbing today:

Only use the air-con for a few minutes to cool the cab. Once you’re on the move, don’t run the air-con if either the doors or windows are open.

Er, why would anyone "on the move" in a 44-tonner have the doors open? And if they did, the question of whether or not to use the air conditioning should be the least of their concerns.

To demagogue

A while back my colleague Sue emailed me to say:

Pres Obama referred to "demagoging" in his interview on the Today programme this morning - I haven't looked it up but surely there's no verb 'to demagogue'?

Well, I've just looked it up and not only is such a verb in fairly widespread use, but according to the OED Online, it dates back to at least 1656 (in the sense of "to play the demagogue"). It has been used as a transitive verb, meaning "to deal with (a matter) after the fashion of a demagogue", since at least 1890.

The OED does say "chiefly US", but then Obama is the US president so I'll let him off.

Photo from Flickr

Regarding 'demagoging', Google suggests that 'demagoguing' is the more widely used spelling (32,000 results as opposed to just over 4,000).

And rather bizarrely, searching Google for "to demagogue" with results limited to "pages from the UK" brings up something called JD's World as the first result. Nothing to do with me, I promise...

A MAPMe map of South London's best pubs

I've been experimenting with the website MAPMe.com, which enables users to create personal or community maps and then embed them on to their website or blog. Yes, I know, Google Maps lets you do that too, but MAPMe.com seems to offer more functionality.

Today my girlfriend and I put together a map showing some of our favourite pubs and bars in South London. It's a bit basic at the moment (with only 12 'hotspots' and only a few photos), but we're hoping to add to it over time. It's a personal map rather than a community one, I'm afraid, so you won't be able to contribute. Sorry!


Download: KML RSS | Edit this map

Pub photos courtesy of Ewan-M and Kake Pugh.

Onward communicate

From a corporate email I received recently:

Please feel free to onward communicate to your teams.

I'm not sure what I like less - the verb 'onward communicate' or the lack of subject (onward communicate what?).

Googling "onward communicate" only gives 61 results so perhaps it won't catch on.

What's wrong with cow paté?

So yesterday I read this in English for Journalists (Second Edition), by Wynford Hicks:

If your house style includes accents, make sure that you use them consistently. For example 'paté' and 'emigré' are howlers; they should be pâté and émigré.

And then today I saw this Rick Brookes cartoon in Metro (click on the image for a larger version):


(Incidentally, the picture above is actually a screenshot from the free electronic edition of Metro. For me, the main advantage of the e-edition over the print edition is that the text is searchable.)

Shill and squelette

A couple of recent finds:

First, a BBC News Magazine article on 'shill reviewing'. I've never come across the AmE word 'shill' before but I have encountered a few shill (or false) customer reviews in my time. The article also lists some other striking terms such as 'Amazon bombing' and 'Astroturfing'.

Second, the word 'squelette' (as in French for 'skeleton'), meaning a 'ruined' building that was never actually completed. Stan Carey from the blog Sentence first drew my attention to this on Twitter; thanks, Stan.

Squelettes in Egypt

(Photo by P Snelling.)

A lion? In a taxi van?

The website for delivery company TaxiVan.net displays emails and letters from satisfied customers. That's a good idea, but I'd love to know the story behind this one:


And I'm not surprised the son had "taken himself off" if a lion was about to turn up in a taxi van!

Disabilism and Ian Macrae

Over the last 20 years I've been blind, I've been visually handicapped, I've been visually impaired, I'm now sight impaired and you know what it hasn't made a ha'p'orth of difference to my life and the way people regard me.

That quote, by Ian Macrae, is taken from the transcript of a Radio 4 interview dating from 2004. I'm not sure whether it says more about language change or about life with a disability, or whether in this instance it's even wise to try to separate the two.

Anyway, the whole transcript is worth reading, not least for the discussion it contains on the word 'disabilism'.

Thanks to my colleague Emily for pointing this one out to me.

Tastes in your mouth will last beyond your journey

When I went on holiday to Turkey earlier this year, I flew with Turkish Airlines.

The in-flight meal was good, and I was pleasantly surprised (as I was flying economy) to be offered a choice of dishes, but the catering company did need to work on the wording of its menu. I'm thinking especially of this bit:

"We hope that tastes in your mouth will last beyond your journey."

Not really what I'm looking for from airline food - or any food, for that matter...