A while back I came across a news story in which a courier firm employed a transport manager called John Crook and then ended up being called before the authorities for various offences.
It gets better: the company was defended by a solicitor called Jeremy Fear.
Kent courier disqualified for hours offences
And from the same site, here's a story in which a haulage firm chief executive called Andrew Tinkler meets a government official called Stephen Fidler.
Tinkler pushes ahead with LHV prototype trial
Little things like these help me get through the day...
Acronyms: AM, MP, MEP and MSP
Raw copy today made reference to:
Who is this man, I wondered – a politician or a Welsh radio station?
AM is actually an acronym for Assembly Member; that is, a member of the National Assembly for Wales.
As such it is akin to MP (Member of Parliament), MEP (Member of the European Parliament) and MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament).
But I think that AM is less widely understood than the other acronyms, at least outside Wales...
Plaid Cymru’s Chris Franks, South Wales Central AM
Who is this man, I wondered – a politician or a Welsh radio station?
AM is actually an acronym for Assembly Member; that is, a member of the National Assembly for Wales.
As such it is akin to MP (Member of Parliament), MEP (Member of the European Parliament) and MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament).
But I think that AM is less widely understood than the other acronyms, at least outside Wales...
Beverly Hills Chee' WOW wa and rat-a-too-ee
So here's a new phenomenon: film (movie) posters that include pronunciation guides.Over on the right you can see part of a poster for the current release Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which helpfully points out that 'chihuahua' should be pronounced chee' WOW wa.
Is the apostrophe indicating stress on the middle syllable? Surely putting 'WOW' in caps is sufficient?
The only other example of this phenomenon I can think of is the poster for the children's animated fim Ratatouille (2007), as shown below.
Here the pronunciation guide is rat-a-too-ee – the syllables are separated by hyphens but this time there's no indication at all as to stress.
So how do you feel about these pronunciation guides – are they an example of dumbing-down and declining standards in education?Personally, I applaud the film-makers for not shying away from using 'difficult' words in the titles of children's films.
And can you think of any other examples? Maybe it's not a new phenomenon at all...
Friday roundup: The Engine Room is 500
I think it's time we had another Friday roundup, seeing as we've just passed the 500-post mark here on The Engine Room. How many hours of my life...
In celebration, here are our five most popular posts, this time brought to you by FeedBurner's aggregate item use analysis:
On to other matters. One blog I've been meaning to plug for a while is The virtual linguist. The linguist behind it is a regular blogger and obviously passionate about language. But she doesn't have BraveStarr videos or photos of pub toilet doors on her blog – so I guess we win. I'll add her blog to our blogroll as a consolation prize.
Another linguist more knowledgeable than I is Garik; you may have noticed some of his insightful comments here on The Engine Room. He's a thoroughly nice chap to boot, so do check out Garik's blog.
In celebration, here are our five most popular posts, this time brought to you by FeedBurner's aggregate item use analysis:
- Photo special: toilets & disabled toilet
- Friday roundup: odd book titles, scary comments
- Headlines: celery eating paramedic
- Eagle-eared listeners – and BraveStarr
- Word of the day: Bankenstein
On to other matters. One blog I've been meaning to plug for a while is The virtual linguist. The linguist behind it is a regular blogger and obviously passionate about language. But she doesn't have BraveStarr videos or photos of pub toilet doors on her blog – so I guess we win. I'll add her blog to our blogroll as a consolation prize.
Another linguist more knowledgeable than I is Garik; you may have noticed some of his insightful comments here on The Engine Room. He's a thoroughly nice chap to boot, so do check out Garik's blog.
Not muti murderers but organleggers
By its very nature science fiction has always looked to the future so writers of SF have always had to invent nouns and verbs for things and activities that don't yet exist. 'Robot' was coined, if memory serves, by a Czech writer in the 1920s; Star Trek's warp drive is one of many names coined for the faster-than-light technology that, like Asimovian robots, is still on the drawing board.
But a TV preview on the UK's Channel 4 which is on my screen as I write this promises an investigation into an activity that until now I assumed was still safely in the realms of SF.
In the 1970s US SF author Larry Niven launched a series of stories and novels set in a coherent 'future history'. Some of these stories featured criminals who Niven called 'organleggers'. Instead of the bath-tub hooch that was the stock in trade of prohibition gangsters, these 22nd century perps dealt (will deal?) in body parts.
In fact my puzzlement over tenses is irrelevant because the Channel 4 Unreported World programme promises "an* horrifying investigation into 'muti murder' in South Africa where people are being killed for body parts". And organlegging, which stuck in my mind 30 years ago as a clever name, has become a reality far sooner that Niven or I expected.
That's humanity for you: robots and warp drive you'll have to wait for. Organleggers? They're here now. And where are Niven's Co-Dominium Line Marines when we need them?
* I do have a view on the misused aspirate but launching a debate on usage based on this story might be seen as poor taste
But a TV preview on the UK's Channel 4 which is on my screen as I write this promises an investigation into an activity that until now I assumed was still safely in the realms of SF.
In the 1970s US SF author Larry Niven launched a series of stories and novels set in a coherent 'future history'. Some of these stories featured criminals who Niven called 'organleggers'. Instead of the bath-tub hooch that was the stock in trade of prohibition gangsters, these 22nd century perps dealt (will deal?) in body parts.
In fact my puzzlement over tenses is irrelevant because the Channel 4 Unreported World programme promises "an* horrifying investigation into 'muti murder' in South Africa where people are being killed for body parts". And organlegging, which stuck in my mind 30 years ago as a clever name, has become a reality far sooner that Niven or I expected.
That's humanity for you: robots and warp drive you'll have to wait for. Organleggers? They're here now. And where are Niven's Co-Dominium Line Marines when we need them?
* I do have a view on the misused aspirate but launching a debate on usage based on this story might be seen as poor taste
Homophones: Lance Armstrong is a peddling miracle
I spotted this in a London Lite article on Tuesday entitled 'The TEN coolest books all men should read':
So not only is he a brilliant cyclist but Lance Armstrong also finds time to walk around selling stuff. (UPDATE: possibly drugs; I don't know.)
(In case you can't see the image, the text reads: "You should know the story: brilliant but flawed professional cyclist falls victim to cancer, almost dies, miraculously recovers and wins the Tour de France SEVEN times. Armstrong is a walking, peddling miracle.")
So not only is he a brilliant cyclist but Lance Armstrong also finds time to walk around selling stuff. (UPDATE: possibly drugs; I don't know.)
(In case you can't see the image, the text reads: "You should know the story: brilliant but flawed professional cyclist falls victim to cancer, almost dies, miraculously recovers and wins the Tour de France SEVEN times. Armstrong is a walking, peddling miracle.")
Question of translation: Armitage and Gawain
Where was I last week? I was at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, and one of the events I attended involved British poet Simon Armitage talking about – and reading extracts from – his version of the 14th-century poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'.I say 'version' but the word that Armitage used in his talk was 'translation'. 'Translation' was also used in The Independent's review, for example.
However when I was studying Middle English at university, one of my tutors told me never to use the word 'translation' to refer to this process of writing Modern English (or rather, modern English) versions of Middle English works.
Middle and Modern English, my tutor argued, were not two separate languages, and therefore it was not possible to translate between them.
I'm not sure I agree with him, but the habit of avoiding the word 'translation' in this context has stuck with me.
My question to you is: if this process is not 'translating', what should we call it? 'Rewriting' suggests that more major changes are taking place (as does 're-imagining'); 'updating' suggests the original is somehow irrelevant.
On the theme of Simon Armitage, have you seen the film of Rufus Sewell reading Armitage's 9/11 commemorative poem 'Out of the Blue'? It's up on YouTube:
In which JD's mum mishears him
While I was away last week, I happened to phone my mum for a chat.
During the course of the conversation my mum asked me when I would be getting back to my flat on the Sunday. "Not too late," I replied, "because my bus is at two."
"You've busted a tooth! How did you manage that?" was her worried reply.
During the course of the conversation my mum asked me when I would be getting back to my flat on the Sunday. "Not too late," I replied, "because my bus is at two."
"You've busted a tooth! How did you manage that?" was her worried reply.
Photo special: America's favo(u)rite mustard
I took this snap in a South London supermarket.
French's has missed a trick here. If it really is 'America's Favourite Mustard', why not emphasise that by calling it 'America's Favorite Mustard'? I'm sure British shoppers would be able to cope.
Looks like French's has trademarked the phrase, too. I wonder if that's only for the British English spelling?
French's has missed a trick here. If it really is 'America's Favourite Mustard', why not emphasise that by calling it 'America's Favorite Mustard'? I'm sure British shoppers would be able to cope.
Looks like French's has trademarked the phrase, too. I wonder if that's only for the British English spelling?
