Archive for December, 2008

Arranging for friends in cyberspace

Posted on December 18th, 2008 by by Administrator

A neologism is a new word, or a modern usage of a word or expression.
If neologisms are used widely enough and long enough, lexicographers include them in standard dictionaries as well as specialized ones.
I came across the neologism “friending” recently. Friending is a word that describes the condition of making friends or [...]

Is Senator Lieberman a chair?

Posted on December 15th, 2008 by by Administrator

In an article relating to the status of Independent/Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the headline for Andrew Taylor’s piece on Yahoo! News read:
McCain backer Lieberman may keep committee chair
Does Taylor mean chairmanship, Lieberman acting as chairman, or chairperson?
No, the journalist meant to say “chair,” a term that has been applied over the past few decades [...]

Ending sentences with prepositions

Posted on December 3rd, 2008 by by Administrator

From a reader:
Help! What is the correct English?
a) Of what animal is this a part?
b) What animal is this a part of?
c) or something else altogether, such as: This part attaches to which animal?
Francoise
Sentence Parts response: All options are correct. The grammatical issue in this case involves a question [...]