Grammar Punk Blog

Heavens To Murgatroyd!

I work with a very nice lady who has a delightfully quirky way of exhibiting pique that does not involve profanity. Among my favorite of her expressions that include gems like “Geezo-Beezo”, “Cheese and Rice” and “Good grief”, is the inimitable “Heavens to Murgartroyd.”

Now this is an expression I think I’ve been aware of since I was a child and once I began researching it, it seems I was right.

‘Heavens to Murgatroyd’ is American in origin and dates from the mid 20th century. The expression was popularized by the cartoon character Snagglepuss – a regular on the Yogi Bear Show in the 1960s, and is a variant of the earlier ‘heavens to Betsy’.

The first use of the phrase wasn’t by Snagglepuss, (a pink mountain lion!) but actually comes from the 1944 film Meet the People.
It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss’s voice was patterned on Lahr’s, along with the ‘heavens to Murgatroyd’ line.

Which is certainly more than you necessarily needed to know about this obscure expression. And I couldn’t find the etymology
of murgatroyd and have no clue where or what or who it might be referring to. Which doesn’t really matter because it’s a catchy, if goofy little phrase that must not be absented from our lexicons.

So the next time you slam your finger in a drawer don’t let fly with a more mundane expletive, let loose with a hearty, “Heavens
to Murgatroyd!” You’ll feel better for it, I promise.

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing, try this exercise on your students. Challenge them to make up their own unprofanities. Then insert them into a sentence. Then share!

The Mad Hatter goes without saying. I particularly love this one and am especially fascinated by one of its etymology that harkens back to the unfortunate practice of using mercury in the making of hatbands…

The character is actually Hatta, the Hatter. Carroll never actually refers to him as The Mad Hatter. The Cheshire Cat refers to the Hatter and the March Hare as mad but this can be a highly subjective term.

The Hatter and the March Hare are seated at a nearly ubiquitous teas session because the Queen of Hearts (we’ll get to her later) sentenced him to death for “murdering the time” or wasting her time, as it were. Time halts himself and keeps the Hatter and the March Hare stuck at 6:00 forever.

None of which really explains the whole “mad as a hatter thing” except for the way stories evolve over time and we attach familiar or significant terminology to beloved stories.

Making hats used to be a fairly hazardous occupation as the hatbands indoctrinated use of highly toxic mercury, hence the term mad hatter. The fact that the Hatter does not exhibit in the slightest the symptoms of mercury poisoning, which include “excessive
timidity, diffidence, increasing shyness, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, and a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive is apparently neither here nor there. The Mad Hatter he has evolved, the Mad Hatter he remains. Just ask Johnny Depp.

Teachers of grammar, English and writing, there is no better jumping off point for writers than Alice and her Adventures. The characterization is quite literally priceless and well worth studying as students create their own Wonderlands. So, set them to
writing. Then share with us!

Orthography: correct spelling; a way or style of spelling the study of established correct spelling the study of letters of an alphabet and how they occur sequentially in words the way letters and diacritic symbols represent the sounds of a language in spelling

I am admittedly somewhat torn with this one. On the one hand I am a stickler for correct spelling and believe there should be rules and regulations (even mild punishment in some cases) dictating correct spelling. On the other hand part of me agrees with Andrew Jackson, “It’s a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word!”

The word comes from the Greek word orthos—right or true—and graphein—to write. Apparently most people didn’t get into much of a snit over proper spelling etiquette until the second half of the 15^th century and the introduction of English printing presses. Once a word is made out of metal it just makes sense to have some consistency applied. We’ve been trying to apply this dictate since 1755 and the publication of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language.

My biggest argument—and the source of my mild agreement with Mr. Jackson—is strictly the reluctance to hinder imagination. I believe proper spelling is, well, proper, and it certainly should become a part of every writer’s routine. Good spelling is discipline. Those words worked hard for that spelling and that should be respected. Having said that, when writing—especially creatively—I will occasionally misspell or even misuse a word in my haste to get the what’s in my head down on the paper (or computer screen as it were) this, my friends is what editing is for. And spell-checkers. And editing again.

So all you orthography snobs out there—I’m with you. Most of me anyway.

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing, challenge your students with this concept. And then give ‘em a spelling test with our NEW Grammar Punk Spelling/Vocabulary Resources.

Distracted from distractions by distractions

I love this one though I can’t recall who said it. It’s just such a perfectly quotable quote, especially since it is so true—and so relatable. And so much more

The word distraction: something that interferes with concentration or takes attention away from something else seems pretty cut and dried. We have a lot of distractions, maybe more than at any other time in history—or so we keep being told. I’m not sure I agree wholeheartedly.

Yes, there are distractions. Fun ones that beep, blink, shriek, hum, vibrate, chime, sing, speak, and even shout at us. Best of all the source of many of these distractions can fit in our pocket.

My main argument is that there have always been distractions, of one kind or another. Life is distracting. Distractions keep us  sane.

We used to be distracted by different things is all. If it wasn’t being distracted by those pesky saber toothed lions it was being run over by a horse-drawn carriage or avoiding the Bubonic Plague. Human beings are made to be distracted, it’s how we’ve
entertained, learned, tempered, communicated, and managed to keep from killing each other off entirely. We distract ourselves from the moment or distract someone else.

Distraction is not a bad thing; it’s just a…distraction. And if there is one thing you can say about our modern-day distractions it’s that we’re improving on the distractions themselves. After all, these distractions won’t eat you.

Teachers of English, we invite you to sound off on this particular subject. How do you feel about all these distractions? How distracting do you find them? How useful? How maddening? Challenge your students to compare distractions of old with their modern version—how do they stack up? Write about it. Then share.

Literary Allusions Abound

I’m sure there are other works of literature that have inspired literary allusions but I must say one of my all-time favorite works of fiction, Alice In Wonderland positively corners the market. I’ll be parsing these out one by one because there are so many and
they are all pricelessly perfect.

More correctly titled: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, the story itself is classically and wonderfully absurd enough to be forever memorable but it is the characters who have stayed with us—literally—ever since. And onward.

Alice herself has become synonymous with curiosity if not absolutely rampant common sense. Nowadays of course we would
not dream of taking a chomp out of a stray piece of cake simply because its label demands it. Ditto the beverages which proved nothing but trouble. However, I always admired her dogged spirit of adventure. You go Alice.

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing, we sincerely hope you and your students have already explored the many wonders of Alice and her Wonderland. Johnny Depp notwithstanding, this is a jewel among classics that MUST be read, examined, and ultimately marveled at.

Challenge your students to examine Alice a bit more closely. How did Carroll’s characterization bring this character to life? So much so she’s all but unforgettable.

Don’t Settle For Easy

Carrying on the thought that choosing words is a creative right, I want to explore big words versus small words. I remember being quite small and already absolutely enamored of the lively lilt of large, often incomprehensible words. The right words. And even though I often didn’t understand the words, certainly not the context, forget about the spelling of such words, I loved them. I yearned for them. I wanted them. And just as early on I realized that flaunting them was not always the…popular choice. But I was not deterred.

I will not argue that there is a time and a place for elevated jargon. I do not pull out my favorite argot for discourse with the clerk who is checking out my groceries. Nor do I tend towards parsimonious when I sit down to pen my blog. I love the searching for words while I simultaneously seek the concepts.

Which means there has been an occasion—or a thousand— when I have detected the subtlest of eye rolls when an esoteric sort of word slips out. Do I mind? Not a bit. Will I stop searching for that right word? Never.  

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing, this is one you—and your students—can really sink your teeth into. So to speak. Challenge your students to push their word choices to the limit. In doubt about the meaning of a word? Look it up? Google will send them right to the appropriate dictionary. Then challenge them to put that very cool, newly discovered word into a sentence. Then a story. Then share!

Resent or Resent

A fairly common homonym that I’ve not really noticed before. It is one of those pronunciation ones; therefore it’s not as flashy or annoyingly confusing at its counterparts. But it’s a good one.

Resent: to feel aggrieved about something or toward somebody, often because of a perceived wrong or injustice Resent: to send something that has already been sent once already!

The really funny thing is that I can’t even find the definition for the second case of resent. The one with the S sounding like an S instead of a Z. Which brought me around to how I stumbled across this one in the first place: I was finding myself resenting have to keep resending a particular document I’d resent more than once!

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing, examining homonyms is a fun way to help students struggling with grammar to see that they needn’t take it too seriously. This language of ours should at least elicit a chuckle or two. Challenge your students to dig up their own less than obvious homonyms. Then write about it. And share!

Good Listener—Good Listening

I’ve been told fairly often that I am a good listener. I thought of this the other day as I was on the receiving end of a rather long—semi-amusing—story concerning a missing sock and a stubborn preschooler—and I realized in the front of my head that I am indeed a good listener. Which of course means I am often on the other side of discourses that Which also means I am often
the person who hears more than one side of the same stories—from different points of view. And while this can be interesting and even enlightening, it can also be quite awkward when you find yourself in the middle of a battle which
you have no interest in—nor the wish to be wounded in said battle.

Anyway, I got to thinking about what makes me a good listener and I realized that you have to be good at listening to be a good listener. Not as easy as it sounds. It helps to find some little nugget of interest in the talker, empathy is a must, fascination with the human condition is a given, and being able to mentally balance your checkbook or complete the Times Crossword Puzzle while listening is helpful as well.

What was that? Did you say something?

Teachers of English, grammar and writing, talk to us. Ask your students what they think makes for a good listener—or good listening. What do you think? Write it down. Then share!

Parsing Your Words

I’ll say it again, I love this language.  And there’s so much of it to love. And those choices shouldn’t be squandered. Or neglected. Or abandoned.

I’m talking about the either or’s that come into play when choosing which word to use in a particular situation. The real fun is choosing the word that not only explains what you want to explain but also conveys the emotion behind the thought. And if you also come across as a bit smarter than others may have thought you were, well, that’s just the frosting on top.  

This occurred to me when I was searching for the word obfuscate. Excellent word, obfuscate, it means to confuse, disguise, conceal. Any of those words would do, any of them would have filled the concept I was reaching for but obfuscate gave the thought that extra bit of…oomph. And oomph, when it is called for, is everything.

Gravitas is another great example of a conceptual sort of word. Yes, you could say dignity but doesn’t gravitas sound more…dignified? Snuffle rather than sniff, prevaricate over lie, gesticulating over gesturing, reconnoiter instead of investigate.

The key to concision in writing is choosing carefully but not so carefully that you stifle the creative flow, just pad your vocabulary with enough inventory that the choices will make themselves.

Teachers of English, grammar, and writing this is a great point of discussion for your students. Challenge them to explore the limits of their vocabularies. And then to push those limits. Then write about it. And share!

Janus: January

In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past. Thus we have the month of January. I like this idea that we begin our new year looking forward with resolutions and goals and transitions while also looking back with just as much intensity. After all, how do we resolve to change if we don’t first examine what needs changing? Happy New Year!

Teachers of English challenge your students to write down their past and their future goals.