jethomme

The use of mechanical devices and equipment as on public transport to aid disabled people has increased in recent years creating big profits for the companies who make them. A spokesperson for one of these companies recently stated on National Public Radio (7/22/2010): “It’s not that people are using these appliances more , it’s that more people are using these appliances.” Used as an adverb, “using…more,” emphasizes that it is not the same people using the appliances repeatedly. Used as an... Read Full Story

More on clichés using the perfectly good word “good,” yet, when over-used, ugh! I’m speaking of the clichéd phrases: good to go and it’s all good. No, it’s not “all good” if one can’t think of more creative phrases. A cliché was once fresh and appealing. We paid attention. But once over-used, as these two at one time well-coined phrases have become, they stale and fail to communicate any strong color of emotion. It’s worthwhile to stop and consider any spoilt, over-indulged phrases we might... Read Full Story

  Newfoundland puppy The NBA playoffs have arrived, and with them the possible abuse of Grammatical Person in the use of personal pronouns; that is, how certain players will refer to themselves in the post-game interview. Too many players will refer to themselves by using the third person pronoun–”he,” instead of “I.” They may also refer to themselves by using their own name. These choices seem to be made by design possibly to deflect negative attributes mentioned by the interviewer, but also... Read Full Story

As we have said. Former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan is better termed “bubblemeister” than “maestro.” Both words mean skilled and masterful. The connotation of “meister,” which may appear playful, is deadly serious, at least in economic terms, and especially as applied to average tax payers as we shall see. Presently, we should apply a third term to the former Fed chairman: Magus, meaning “magician, sorcerer” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary). Quick! Identify the following... Read Full Story

  Palm Trees in wind outside of Blythe Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and subject of previous postings on this blog, recently said of the sub prime mortgage debacle: “This was an accident waiting to happen.” Apart from using a cliché to describe an economic collapse that might have been avoided through prudent Central Bank policies, or the rare case of the government using its regulatory capabilities, Greenspan himself could be accused of having set the scene for the... Read Full Story

Comedian Dennis Miller wasn’t so funny when he blundered in his choice of verb tense on the Bill O’Reilly show, “The Factor,” on Fox Television. All of us blunder while speaking, but Miller’s proved a gross error. After all, Mr. Miller makes his living through talking, so we may expect better of him. Empire shade In the aftermath of cohort Bill O’Reilly’s recent interview with Senator Hilary Clinton, Miller commented to O’Reilly: “It was a nice confab, but I don’t think it should have went... Read Full Story

From Guy Geldworth, a friend of Sentence Parts: Life is jittery in the office these days. Just trying to take care of our clients’ portfolios. We emphasize uncorrelated measures as we try to moor assets in safe harbors, yet it appears there’s nowhere to hide. I have to say it, the deregulated market seems to have been the tipping point of the end of a thirty year growth market dominated by the bulls. No more, it appears. (These words are ineffable in the office, of course. It took forever... Read Full Story

“The fuel tax thing impacted the wrong way,” Keith Olbermann said when commenting on Senator Hilary Clinton’s strategy of proposing a fuel tax relief–effectively short term relief. Senator Obama seemingly chose correctly when he chose otherwise. At least this is Olbermann’s point of view. We might be able to say that the “demand for such a tax savings is in short supply.” (see definition below). Yet, why not choose perfectly good alternatives: influenced, swayed negatively, affected adversely... Read Full Story

The accrual of power A Reflective Mary Jonathan Zittrain, a lecturer at Oxford specializing in Internet governance and regulation, appeared on the Charley Rose Show and spoke on future uses and abuses of cyberspace and the internet. Along the way, Rose asked Zittrain what he believed a good social use of the Internet might be. Zittrain considered the question carefully, improving upon it while responding: “…how to establish ordered solutions to social problems that come up without having to... Read Full Story

The word “thing” can be used with good effect. See Keith Olbermann, “The Fuel Tax Thing” next posting. However, when used indiscriminately, as had a Los Angeles television reporter while reporting on a fire threatening the ruin of nearly completed condominiums, “things” like using language to actually name a solid object can cause alarm. As the reporter from local station KTLA channel 5 approached a harried construction worker her microphone at-the-ready, the fire was still a concern. Lives... Read Full Story