Grammar Punk Blog

Teacher Appreciation Week

“What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” Soren Kierkegaard

I couldn’t let this week go by without recognizing this concept. I think it’s fair to say that we have all been influenced by teachers. Many teachers. Depending upon your stage in life, this influence could be recent or not so much. Very not so much. It doesn’t matter, because teachers—and what they teach—will be us forever.

Sound dramatic? Think about it. If you are reading this blog, possibly posting a reply, then you know how to read and write. If you can balance your checkbook or help your kids with their homework, thank a teacher for imparting the wisdom of numbers into number that equal other numbers. If you can name even half a dozen state capitals, know the names of a continent or seven, know how to swim, knit, or build a birdhouse, thank a teacher.

“The highest result of education is tolerance.” Helen Keller

Teachers come in all shapes, sizes, disciplines, personalities, styles, and aptitude. Teachers share their knowledge, their expertise, their generosity and their ability. Whether you loved or loathed the subject matter some of the material covered probably seeped into your brain anyway. Teachers do that to you.

A week, even a month seems like a weak thank you to teachers. Teachers literally make the world go round. Teachers impart wisdom from our past to enlighten our future. Teachers have a largely thankless, entirely huge task. Teachers are irreplaceable, teachers are invaluable. Teachers Rock!  

“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” Lilly Tomlin

Flying Colors

Our entire English class passed the test with flying colors!

This particular saying is so prevalent and innocuous that it doesn’t even seem to have an origin. But it does. A pretty old one. FLYING COLORS, WITH - George Farquar, ‘The Beaux’s Stratagem (1706). Victorious; extremely successful. The term comes from the practice of a victorious fleet sailing into port with flags flying from all the mastheads. By the 1700’s this phrase was being used figuratively, signifying any kind of triumph.” According to “Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion, and other Combative Capers” by Christine Ammer (NTC Publishing Group, Chicago, Ill., 1989, 1999).

Who knew a phrase that is usually an indication of success or prevailing over an obstacle has its origin in victorious warring fleets? Then again, snatching the last sale-item on the rack gives me a zing that feels pretty darned atavistic.

Grammar Punk Sentence: P E 4

Beaming with pride, Estelle knew she’d passed the “How to be a Better Princess” course with flying colors; she’d show that Prince now!

Try this phrase in a sentence. Be sure and include 4 words with the letters P and E. Share with us!

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Sell, Sale, Sail

You know how I love triples. This might seem like an easy one but the sale and sell pair can be tricky.

Sell: (transitive and intransitive verb) to exchange a product or service for money, or be exchanged for money

Not to be confused (though often is) with:

Sale: (noun) the transfer of something to the ownership or use of somebody else, or the provision of something, e.g. a service, in exchange for an agreed amount of money.

So one is the activity or process, the other is the name this activity or process is given.

And let’s not forget, sail which is not as innocuous as it might appear.

Sail can mean: a large piece of strong fabric, usually triangular or rectangular in shape, fixed by rigging, masts, and booms to catch the wind and propel a vessel forward

Or

Sail: a trip in a boat or ship, especially a sailing vessel

Or

Sail: the sails of a boat or ship considered collectively

Pretty busy for a simple monosyllabic pair trio of words, huh?

Holding her head high, Natasha sailed the boat into the harbor; so what if she arrived a day late?

My favorite aunt, Mimi always says: you’ve a lot in your favor, don’t sell yourself short.

Preferring the label “cheap” to “frugal”, Simon never misses the bargains at the after-Christmas sales.

And speaking of sales, Grammar Punk is having a HUGE getting ready for Summer (School) Sale! Receive 30% off your entire order! Grammar Punk is the perfect vehicle for the teaching of grammar, punctuation, and writing skills. Best of all, Grammar Punk is fun—and Summer School isn’t—until you pull out dice and cards and students feel like they’re playing a game—as they learn!

mal·a·prop·ism

  /ˈmæl ə prɒpˌɪz əm/ Show Spelled[mal-uh-prop-iz-uh m] Show IPA

–noun

1.

an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

2.

an instance of this, as in “Lead the way and we’ll precede.”

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Origin:
1840–50; Malaprop + -ism

The terms malapropism and the earlier variant malaprop come from Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 play The Rivals, and in particular the character Mrs. Malaprop. Sheridan presumably named his character Mrs. Malaprop, who frequently misspoke (to great comic effect), in joking reference to the word malapropos.

Last time we talked about words that were created rather than evolved. Being a bit of a purist, I tend to shy away from this concept. And yes, that means I’m not always any too happy when the announcement is made, usually once a year, about the “new” words to be added to my beloved dictionary. These words are often colloquialisms, which (if you ask me) is not always a terrific reason for adding them for all time.

Here are a few examples: aerobicize, bada-bing, Disneyfied hooptie, and wonky. Okay, I kind of like wonky, but come on!

But I digress. Maybe because malapropism was added back in 1935 I haven’t got a problem with it.

Grammar Punk Sentence:

W E 5 Adv. (   )

Wendy often became confabulated (and not a little winded) when wending her wandering way home from the Winter Polar Bear extravagance.

Give it a try. Share your sentence with us. Make sure it contains 3 words with the letters W and E and try a malapropism of your own!

milque·toast

mɪlkˌtoʊst/ Show–noun(sometimes initial capital letter )

a very timid, unassertive, spineless person, esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated: a milquetoast who’s afraid to ask for a raise.

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Also called Caspar Milquetoast.

Origin:
1935–40, Americanism; after Caspar Milquetoast, a character in The Timid Soul, comic strip by H. T. Webster (1885–1952), American cartoonist

While milquetoast is not officially an uncommon word, yes, I have used it before in a sentence, I was not aware of its origin. I do so love a word that originates as a character in a comic strip. How cool is it that a writer penned a name for a metaphorical name for a character only to have the word outlive him and his comic strip, ad infinitum! The word itself tells you its definition; milk and toast? How much more bland can you get? Great insult, too, and you know how I love those.

Give it a try. Share your sentence with us. Make sure it contains 2 words with the letters M and E and the word milquetoast or one of its derivatives.

Grammar Punk Sentence:

M E 2

There he was, Clarence, that wimpy little milquetoast worm; how dare he have the nerve to show up at her engagement party without a gift?

Trying something new. I don’t know about you but I’ve always been fascinated by the origin of commonly used sayings. Some not so commonly used (that last part is probably just me.) So I will share with you my research for some of my favorite sayings, phrases, or figures of speech.

This first one is not so commonly used but I heard it used just the other day and it got me started. I knew it was from the Roman empire but after that…

Bread and Circuses

This phrase originates from Rome in Satire X of the Roman poet Juvenal (circa 100 AD ). In context, the Latin phrase panis et circenses (bread and circuses) is given as the only remaining cares of a Roman populace which has given up its birthright of political involvement. In other words, give us cheap food and entertain us and you have our vote. Have things changed so much in the interim? Hmmm?

Grammar Punk Sentence: C E 2

“It’s all bread and circuses,” Cecily murmured, passing out donuts outside the voting booth.

Give it a try. Share your sentence containing this figure of speech and 2 of the letters C and E.

Lagniappe

Main Entry: la·gniappe

Pronunciation: \ˈlan-ˌyap

Function: noun

Etymology: American French, from American Spanish la ñapa the lagniappe, from      la + ñapa, yapa, from Quechua yapa something added

Date: 1844

lagniappe: a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase; broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure

Another lovely hallmark of the English language is the liberal sprinkling of other languages. With many of these everyday words we barely notice that their origin did not originate with our forefathers. How often do you use words like déjà vu, rendezvous, or bourgeois and hardly give it a thought? We even (usually) pronounce them correctly (with the occasional ren-dezz-vuz) just for added color.

Today’s word is another I will admit to not having used before myself. It’s a lovely little word with a lovely meaning. We at Grammar Punk often include our own little lagniappe’s in with our shipments. As far as I’m concerned, lagniappe’s should be part of our lives as often as possible.

Try out today’s word in a sentence. Then try out the concept.

Grammar Punk Sentence: L E 5 Lagniappe

Beaming with pleasure, DeeDee held up the wee leprechaun outfit she’d received as a lovely little lagniappe when she’d ordered a year’s worth of iguana food; Junior was going to love it.

Share your sentence with us. Make sure it contains 5 words with the letters L and E and the word lagniappe or one of its derivatives.

Prefixes

Let’s look at prefixes. Prefixes are by definition a word element that is placed in front of a root, changing the word’s meaning or making a new word. Prefixes are not independent words but letters attached to the beginning of words to modify their meanings. Prefixes and suffixes are called affixes because they are attached to a root.

Sounds simple enough, right? And it is. Familiarizing yourself with the parts of words is also a great way to get a firm grasp of the formation, spelling, and definition of words, even big, long, scary ones.

Looking at the prefix of a given word (and not all words will include a prefix or suffix), you can right away get a hint about the word itself. 

Examples of prefixes: pre, un, dis, non, re, im, in, bi, de, anti, aqua, ex, geo

Let’s look at a particular word that contains a prefix, root, and suffix. How about, preeminent? That one takes “superior in position, fame, or achievement,” and makes it, “standing out among all others.” Cool, huh? And, “believable, seeming to be true or authentic,” to, “unbelievable, too unrealistic or improbable to be believed (and look at that, two more prefixes.)” 

Not all words containing prefixes contain stand-alone roots. Try geodesic: relating to geometry and curves—hence the geo prefix. And aquarium: a water-filled transparent container—aqua, as in water. But just by looking at the prefix you already have a clue about the word. By breaking the word into its elements even exhaustingly long words become approachable, identifiable, and manageable. The other nice thing about long words is that they do tend to give themselves away, thanks to those prefixes, roots, and suffixes. The world has enough short pithy words; long words rule!

Speaking of teachers…

 We recently received a wonderful nod to Grammar Punk and how it impacted a student’s life and learning for the better and it got me thinking about teachers and the impact they had on my life. “I have been at war with school since 4th grade— Best of luck to Grammar Punk! It made me want to sharpen my pencil and write.”

We moved around a lot when I was a kid. All together I attended eight different schools and lived in ten different towns and two different states. Which means, among other things, that I had a lot of different teachers. Several stand out. One I can definitively point out as the teacher who pointed me to my muse: writing.

Her name was Mrs. Carter and she taught English and Speech in my freshman year. It should also be noted that in this particular year of school I attended two different schools in two different states. This particular teacher was no taller than most of her students but she had a gift that put her head and shoulders above so many others. And she was funny. Really funny.

She had a shtick she did that still cracks me up. It’s hard to describe, but she would end up kind of upside down , with the top of her head under a tablecloth with her chin painted like a face and she would use great voices and—I told you it was hard to describe—but she had us, a classroom of jaded, hard to amuse ninth graders ROFL. Big time. 

She was a great teacher, who obviously loved what she did. And one day after an assignment to write a short story—mine had to do with a small-statured man who all but sold his soul to the devil for a pair of “elevator shoes”—and this particular teacher saw through the amateurish idea and said the magic words: “You really have great potential as a writer. Keep it up.”

And that was that. I am a writer. I’ve published 5 books and am working madly on more. I love to write this blog and I love working with Grammar Punk which is all about the love of writing disguised as grammar instruction.

I’ve always loved words and reading and language but would I have continued writing stories and books and such if not for Mrs. Carter? I guess I’ll never know. I do know that I have never forgotten that one moment in time, the sound of that one sentence, and Mrs. Carter and her funny faces and funny voices and the invaluable gift of teachers.

Klaxon

/ˈklæk sən/  [klak-suh n]

–noun

a loud electric horn, formerly used on automobiles, trucks, etc., and now often used as a warning signal.

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Also, claxon.

Origin:
1905–10, Americanism; formerly trademark

Cool words don’t necessarily have to be polysyllabic, it just usually works out that way. I’m also inordinately fond of originally complex words that have, over time, become simplified, and let’s face it, ordinary. Not that there’s anything wrong with ordinary, common place, simple communication, it certainly has its place. I will admit to a fondness for old movies where diction and vocabulary was the ordinary; where the way you spoke denoted who you were as well as what you wished to communicate.

Anyway, today’s word is deceptively simple, and as I’ve harped before, it’s a little-used word that I myself am sorry to see go. So, go ahead, next time the annoying nitwit behind you gets impatient just because you’re a little slow on the gas pedal at a green light, you can tell him he can stick his klaxon in his ear!

Interesting side-note, klaxon is a trademark for an electromechanical horn or alerting device. The Lovell-McConnell Manufacturing Co. of Newark, New Jersey bought the rights to the device in 1908. F. W. Lovell, the founder, coined the name klaxon from the Greek verb klazō, “to shriek”. Since then this word has become a ubiquitous label for a loud obnoxious horn noise. You go, Jersey! Dare I hope that someday Grammar Punk will become the household word for cool grammar game?

Give it a try. Share your sentence with us. Make sure it contains 2 words with the letters K and A and the word klaxon or one of its derivatives.

 Grammar Punk Sentence:

K A 2 Adv. ;

Leaning impatiently on the fire engine’s klaxon, Sidney eyed the busy intersection ahead; this was what he got for volunteering to pick up the ice cream cake!