The whole tooth

You may have noticed a small Google advert on the right-hand side of this page, below the 'language links' panel. The idea behind it is that Google's clever AdSense program works out what the site is about and then displays relevant ads. For example, if the website is about pop music, AdSense might show adverts for CDs or gig tickets.

So far on the Engine Room, we've had adverts for dictionaries (that makes sense), blogging websites, social networking sites and... er... lots of ads for mouthwash. This threw me for a bit until I realised that maybe I shouldn't have been blogging about the back of my toothpaste tube...

The irony now is that next time AdSense takes a look at this blog, it'll see two posts about oral hygiene and serve up yet more mouthwash adverts. Maybe Apus and I have hit a niche - language use for dentists...

Fat's the way to do it

I don't know if you saw last night's Channel 4 programme Fat Man's Warning, but I was amused when the voiceover described morbidly obese American Steve Daly as a "victim of fast food". I would have thought anyone who regularly ate 12 soft-shell tacos in one sitting was more an "abuser of fast food"... But it is a good example of how value judgements hide in language. After all, one man's insurgent is another man's freedom fighter.

Daly also had a good turn of phrase, describing Blackpool as "the shiny toy in the Happy Meal of England"...

Lights out

This was from Friday's Evening Standard:

Bosses are being advised to call the police if workers get aggressive when told to stub out cigarettes to comply with the smoking ban. The government guidance... was branded "heavy-handed" by Conservative shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley who said: "The last thing we need is police involvement. Responsibility lies with the individual and environmental health officers."

Violent staff? Sort it out yourself or call environmental health - just don't bother the police!

Umbrella term

I bought an umbrella recently. The label informed me that I was now the proud owner not of an umbrella but a 'rain shield'. That's what I like to think of as the Ronseal approach to language: it does exactly what it says on the tin...

What's in a name?

I am indebted to my colleague for explaining that 'Air' is the name of a young person's popular beat combo but am left pondering the use of the adjective mobile in connection with phones.

JD would doubtless point out that the mobility in this case refers to the fact that the phone does not have to be attached to a landline. However, a landline phone is clearly mobile in that it can be picked up and moved, and surely it remains a phone even when it is disconnected. Similarly, doesn't a mobile phone remain a phone when it has been moved into an area where it cannot transmit or receive messages?

A trivial point, no doubt, but it opens up a wider discussion over defining things and people by their roles. Is a phone a phone when it is disconnected? Is a gunman by profession still a gunman when he has no gun? Are JD and I sub editors when we are not subbing copy? And would I have time to ponder such issues if the writers in our care took less time to return proofs?

Glow in the dark

The adjectival form of 'phosphorus' is 'phosphorous'. Much phosphorus is phosphorous phosphorus, but I wonder what it is that makes the phosphorous phosphorus phosphorous?

Foreign communication

Was just telling Apus that German slang for 'mobile phone' is 'Handy', when our web editor came out with the great fact that the French for 'walkie talkie' is 'talkie walkie' – as in the title of the Air album I suppose.

Showing off with words

As part of our job JD and I have regular recourse to the dictionary, and while checking spellings and meanings we sometime discover obscure words for simple things. Here are a few examples that we found amusing; why not try them out on family and friends?

Absquatulate: "leave abruptly". Eg (possibly during a heated argument): "If I were you'd I'd absquatulate before I lose my temper."
Adumbrate: "give a general idea". Eg (possibly in reply to a tough question): "I have no idea, but I could adumbrate for you."
Adventitious: "happening according to chance". Eg (possibly when accused of breaking an expensive vase): "I do assure you it was entirely adventitious."
Aleatoric: "random". Eg (possibly when accused of dealing cards from the bottom of the pack): "My choice of four aces was completely aleotoric."

Are these words genuine? That, I assure you, is apodictic*; watch this space for more show-off words.

*Apodictic: "beyond dispute".

Word pairs

Some pairs of words seem made for each other, but that doesn't mean they belong together. Earlier today I was rewriting some copy and used the phrase "a safe haven". Then I checked my trusty OED, confirmed that if it isn't safe it isn't a haven, and deleted the word "safe".

A reminder that we should always think of the exact meaning of the words and phrases we use – and that subs need subbing too... as JD is always happy to remind me.