Your D.E.L.

[Evangelion]

In the interest of helping some of our folks who speak English as a non-native language, I'd like to provide some helpful thoughts on certain oddities of the English language. So, without further ado...

Your Daily English Lesson:

Students are taught early on that synonyms are words with like meanings and antonyms are words with opposite meanings. As a developmental tool, students are encouraged to use thesauri (dictionary-like tools that contain words listed with synonyms and antonyms) to build their vocabulary and gain an understanding of the different usages for words and their synonymous and antonymous counterparts.

That said, it is not often that a third "-nym" is brought to light: the contronym. Contronyms are, in short, words with contrary definitions. In essence, when used in contextually appropriate ways, these words are their own antonyms. Some examples include:

Bolt

1) To secure; to fasten

2) To flee; to escape

"He attempted to bolt from the scene of the accident, but found himself bolted to the car."

Custom

1) Traditional; usual

2) Special; unique

"The tribe, as per its custom, provided each guest with a custom, one-of-a-kind basket."

Weather

1) To withstand; to endure

2) To fade; to be worn away

"The shrine was built to weather the test of time, but a few thousand years have contributed to its weathered look."

To conclude, contronyms are not a commonly misused facet of the English language, but they are certainly an interesting one.

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[Evangelion]

Your Daily English Lesson:

As a people, English-speakers often adopt words from other languages and time periods to give character to their speech. There is one category of adopted words, however, which is often overlooked as something so commonplace in the vernacular that we don't even consider them to be special or oddities. What are they, you ask? Proprietary Eponyms.

The term eponym, deriving from the Greek "eponymos" (meaning to give one's name to something), is the term used to identify the alleged source of a naming. This word ranges in use from names of products, ideas, and institutions. When coupled with the word proprietary, we can take a look at all sorts of eponyms in the English language that stem from some surprising places.

For example, most people know that a Kleenex, a Band-Aid, and a Post-It are not actually generic terms, but rather brand name items. These trademark names have fallen into use in a more generic sense as each brand triumphed in its particular market and became a part of the vernacular. As a result, many of these words have become household terms used to describe similar items in the generic. Hence, when you ask for a Band-Aid and are given a generic, self-adhesive bandage, it seldom leads to an uproar and a demand for the proper item.

Some surprising proprietary eponyms include: Breathylzer, Dumpster, and Jacuzzi; all three of which are actually trademarked names commonly assumed to be generic.

So if you ask for an aspirin and are handed some Tylenol, don't be surprised. It's just a function of the English language.

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[f0xx]

Good thread. I will follow it with interest.

[jibber]

And that's why I love the English language.

[Evangelion]

Your Daily English Lesson:

The words "flammable" and "inflammable," though appearing different, serve to identify the same quality; that is, the quality of being combustible. Inflammable comes from the Latin "inflammare", which, when translated, means "to set fire to." The term "flammable" began to receive more attention than its slightly longer progenitor in the early 1920s when, according to various sources, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) encouraged the branding of items as "flammable" as opposed to "inflammable." The reason? The NFPA worried about confusion over the prefix "in-" (primarily meaning "not") to suggest that a substance or item was, in fact, "not" flammable. As such, they advocated that "flammable" become the vernacular term.

Both words are, in fact, correct when used to identify something as combustible. Neither, however, is correct when used to identify something as not being combustible. Proper adjectives for that quality would include the phrasal "flame retardant", conjunctive terms such as "non-flammable," or simply "fireproof."

In an ironic twist of linguistic fate, the words "combustible" and "incombustible" do not share this trait; thus, it would be highly inaccurate (and dangerous) to refer to an "inflammable" substance as "incombustible."

[Evangelion]

I've already written tomorrow's lesson, so I'm going to go ahead and post it now since I probably won't have a chance to get on here tomorrow.

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Your Daily English Lesson: Writing, the Oxford Comma, and You

There has been a question in the world of rhetoric for some time as to the necessity of a questionably superfluous punctuation marking when establishing a list of nominal entities. This punctuation mark, referred to as a serial comma but perhaps more notably coined as the Oxford or Harvard comma, is used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (that typically being an "and" or "or") to signify the end of a list of three or more things.

To be certain, a number of arguments exist both for and against the conventional usage of the Oxford comma - most of them centering around the idea of creating and resolving uncertainty in the writer's message - though none have led to any conclusive resolution.

Some examples of that ambiguity include:

"This poem is dedicated to the loves of my life: my mother, Marie, and God."

Without the presence of the Oxford comma prior to the coordinating conjunction, the sentence would read:

"This poem is dedicated to the loves of my life: my mother, Marie and God."

This sentence is ambiguous in that, without the serial comma, the writer's message may be interpreted to mean that his mother is both Marie and God. Alternatively, with the Oxford comma, one could interpret the message to read that the writer dedicates the poem to his mother (a woman named Marie) and God. Granted, this example is designed specifically to elucidate ambiguity and is remarkably difficult to write in a sincerely clear manner (particularly if the writer was, in fact, intending to thank three people - his/her mother, the unknown Marie, and their chosen deity).

At this point, one might be questioning the value of this particular daily lesson. The value lies solely in the knowledge that there is simply no absolutely right or wrong answer when it comes to the usage of the serial comma. Nonetheless, the debate continues.

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[Enethier]

English is my primary language, and I still find these enjoyable. Thank you!

[ledgerbay]

+1

[Evangelion]

Your Daily English Lesson:

Prepositions are one of the most commonly misused tools in the arsenal of an English-speaking person. For those that don't know, prepositions are words that describe the relationship between an object (noun) and an action (verb). There are a number of rules that govern when, where, and how prepositions can be used. The most important of those rules is this: in order to be considered a preposition, the word in question must be part of a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase, in turn, is defined as a phrase containing an object (noun) and a preposition.

Examples include:

"Around town," "with love," and "circa 1972" (yes, "circa" is a preposition)

Another rule about prepositions: a prepositional phrase must contain a preposition followed by a noun and a noun only. That is to say, a preposition may never be followed by a verb. Some confusion arises at this rule when verbs are used in the infinitive (i.e., proceeded by the word "to" - a common preposition). Since "to" is part of the infinitive, it is not considered a preposition when used in this manner. Additionally, prepositions are sometimes followed by gerunds - progressive tense verbs ending in "-ing" - which are categorized as nouns, thus leaving the rule intact.

Finally, prepositional phrases always act as adjectives or adverbs; that is, they are a sub-clause which describes the object of a greater clause. The easiest way to ensure you are using a prepositional phrase appropriately is to see if the sentence makes sense when the phrase is omitted.

Example: The car with the flat tire is outside.

You could simply say "The car is outside," but in order to be more descriptive you add the prepositional phrase, "with the flat tire." Like all adjectives, prepositional phrases are used to add detail.

One last rule: never end a sentence with a preposition. Or, as enthusiastic English humorists like to say, never leave your prepositions laying about.

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[Evangelion]

Your Daily English Lesson:

Metaphor, a rhetorical device used to compare the qualities or characteristics of one subject to another, is one of the most misunderstood aspects of the English language. Essentially, any time a comparison is made between two entities, it is a metaphor. The term simile is slightly different, in that a simile is a form of metaphor using a comparative conjunction (most commonly "like" or "as"). For example:

"My love for you is a burning fire." <- Metaphor

"My love for you is like a burning fire." <- Simile

The criteria for selection is, quite simply, the success of the comparison - whether or not it accurately conveys the message of the sender to the recipient. So whereas the strictly metaphorical statement suggests that the sender's love is an actual burning fire, the simile offers the imagery associated with the object of comparison. In this case, the simile is (most likely) the more apt usage. Please note, however, that all similes are metaphors - but not all metaphors are similes.

One common misuse of metaphor is that of the "mixed metaphor" - an aptly termed phenomenon - by which two metaphors are combined to create one nonsensical statement (e.g., "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it."). Mixed metaphor is sometimes used for comic effect, but is also sometimes the product of simple misunderstanding. Another common problem is the use of "dead" metaphors, or metaphors which have become so cliche that they lose their potency. For example, the term "war" is defined as hostile conflict between two armed forces; yet the United States has declared "war" on Terror, AIDS, and just about everything else. As a result, the term "war" has lost much of its original meaning (and, in turn, comparative potential).

Overall, many uses of language are, in fact, metaphorical. The concept behind this is a linguistic phenomenon known as "narrative imagining"; that is, as language-users we most commonly relate messages and ideas through narrative means. To avoid beating a dead horse, however, we can simply say that metaphors are one of the most commonly used and abused facets of language in general, but English in particular.

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[Evangelion]

Your daily English lesson: The word "Alumnus" and derivatives thereof.

Alumnus - the masculine/neuter singular. "He graduated in 1976, an alumnus of Harvard University."

Alumna - the female singular. "As a proud alumna of Duke University, she attended all of the basketball games."

Alumni - the masculine/neuter/mixed plural. "The alumni huddled together, reminiscing about their time spent together in school."

Alumnae - the female plural (largely unused, replaced by "alumni" in the neuter). "The women of James Madison sat together, forming a row of enthusiastic alumnae."

Therefore, one individual can never be "an alumni," and a group of individuals can never be "alumnus" or "alumna."

Get it right or get it wrong - now you know.

[Demiterracotta]

These are awesome man. Keep it up.

Fun to read through even for a native english speaker.

[Evangelion]

Sorry for not keeping on top of this as much as I'd like. Been pretty busy lately.

A D.E.L. will be forthcoming. Topic? Most likely comma splices (I'm looking at you, FL playerbase, with your crazy description writing "techniques").