Ramble: Not Just a Math Nerd: Word Fun

In case you thought I was only a math/tech nerd, here is a post at Language Log that made me laugh: The shock of seeing a new verb anniversarying. Here is my favorite quote from the article:

I don't mean to suggest that there's anything particularly wrong with verbing new nouns, of course: you can pretty much verb any noun you want to verb. But if you pick a solidly nouny noun and use it without warning or precedent as a verb, it may cause a certain shock, ....

Anyway, I am a bit of a language nerd. I like words. In a recent community meeting, I used the word penultimate to refer to the one before the last item in a list. The CEO of our association then asked me if I kept a list of words like that to use. I suppose I do, but the list is purely mental (as you might say am I).

New addition to this post. I have a new favorite initialization: MSO (minimal scatological object). I found it at Language Log Most of the People in the World Could Care Less.

The process has been generalized to give with a variety of MSOs ("minimal scatological objects"):

I could give a {damn|shit|hoot|(flying) fuck|crap|rat's ass}

The MSO can be an elaborate nonce formation ("a gnat's left testicle"; "a fart in a tornado"; "a rat's hairy scrotum").

Words are such fun.

Language Changes, but We Don't

My mother and I have some recurring arguments. The two main topics are math education (e.g., should Niece 2 have taken Calculus AB or BC?) and language (e.g., does one graduate from a school, or does a school graduate students?)

Anyway, my father has heard all these arguments and thus when he read this article in the New York Times magazine (Jan Freeman's Bierce's Bugbears), he thought of me. Language changes constantly, but that won't stop people like my mother and me from getting stuck in the past. I am already the fogey who insists that "data" is a plural. Oh well.

When he and I have an argument in another twenty years or so, maybe Boy Kid will read this post and make me re-read Jan Freeman's article. If I'm lucky, the article will be gone by then and I can pretend it just supported my point.

Update: More One Space Stuff

Breaking in a new Project Manager is tough. We need to work together to figure out new ways of communication and roles need to be clarified. I work closely with PMs, so working out a solid working relationship is crucial.

All that said, the toughest thing about a new PM is getting her/him to stop putting two spaces after a period.

It has been a while since I opined on this topic, but here is more info:

Chicago Manual of Style: In response to the question One Space or Two?

One space .... There is a traditional American practice, favored by some, of leaving two spaces after colons and periods. This practice is discouraged by the University of Chicago Press, especially for formally published works and the manuscripts from which they are published.

One Space Between Sentences: Adapted from Robin Williams, The Mac Is Not a Typewriter; Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 1990

Webword: One Versus Two Spaces After a Period is a report that includes lots of references to people who think about this sort of thing. They all agree on one space.

My company publishes quite a bit of stuff, so we really need to pay attention to this sort of thing. I know it's hard to break the bad habits your high school typing teacher beat into you, but it's the right thing to do.