Grammar Punk Blog

At one fell swoop: all at once, in one sudden move, finality at its most final.

I don’t know about you but I’ve used this particular phrase a lot. I love this phrase, not only because it so neatly, even elegantly encompasses its definition, but it’s Shakespearean! You can’t do better than that.  Good old Shakespeare, you’ve gotta give him credit for having a way with words. I adore Shakespeare and having read most of his plays admire him as much for his stories and ideas and imagery as I do his way with the language.

I also like this phrase because while it is pretty widely recognizable yet at the same time taking the words apart and removing them from the phrase it doesn’t really make a great deal of sense. Probably why the words that make it up are often misspelled: fail instead of fell; fowl (since the origin has to do with birds) instead of fell.

So where does it come from? Shakespeare we’ve already established, Macbeth is the play. Of course, good old Macbeth which brought us “toil and trouble” as well as “out damn spot!”

This particular phrase is indelibly sad, incredibly tragic, very, very final. The word “fell” pretty much says it all. It’s an old word, in use by the 13th century, that’s now fallen out of use apart from in this phrase and as the common root of the term ‘felon’. The Oxford English Dictionary defines fell as meaning ‘fierce, savage; cruel, ruthless; dreadful, terrible’, which is pretty unambiguous.

Shakespeare either coined the phrase, or gave it circulation, in Macbeth, 1605:

MACDUFF: [on hearing that his family and servants have all been killed]

All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?

The kite referred to is a hunting bird, like the Red Kite, which was common in England in Tudor times and is now making a welcome return after near extinction in the 20th century. The swoop (or stoop as is now said) is the rapid descent made by the bird when capturing prey.

Shakespeare used the imagery of a hunting bird’s ‘fell swoop’ to indicate the ruthless and deadly attack by Macbeth’s agents.

In the intervening years we have rather lost the original meaning and use it now to convey suddenness rather than savagery.

Grammar Punk Sentence: P E  

Staring aghast, Clementine was horrified to see that she’d destroyed the towering paper cup display at one fell swoop with a carelessly placed elbow.

et·y·mol·o·gy

et-uh-mol-uh-jee

–noun, plural -gies.

1. the derivation of a word.

2. an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word.

3. the study of historical linguistic change, esp. as manifested in individual words.

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Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L etymologia  < Gk etymología,  equiv. to etymológ ( os ) studying the true meanings and values of words ( étymo ( s ) true ( see etymon) + lógos  word, reason) + -ia -y³

You know I have to love this word. I’m all about the origin of words. And this is one of my true loves: a word with Greek roots. Etymo = true and logos = reason. The true meaning of a word! I told you roots were cool.

Grammar Punk Sentence

L E 4 Etymology

Uncertain of the precise etymology of the word, Stan was nevertheless entirely enamored of the word calliope; though quite frankly carousel horses creeped him out.

Give it a try! Write a sentence with at least four words that contain the letters L and E and the word etymology.

Patriotically Patriotic!

Patriotism: a proud supporter or defender of his or her country and its way of life

Is it just me or do you choke up a bit every time you have occasion to recite The Pledge of Allegiance, attend a parade, watch an old war movie on television or pretty much see a flag? It could just be me. Times that by about a million at this time of year. I’ll be pretty much a blubbering ninny the whole weekend long. God Bless America!  

I just have to wax patriotic at this time of year. I am an American and couldn’t be prouder of that fact. As well as feeling incredibly blessed. And I so hope that anyone reading this feels the same way about this country or their own place of birth. Where we come from and live should be more than just where we come from or live. Patriotism, if at all possible, should be a part of our everyday life, if only in theory. While every place has its limitations, problems, and less-than-perfect parts, it is after all, where you’re from.

Take a moment this 4^th of July—or whenever your particular home-town has it’s annual Appreciate Us event—to stop and be happy where you’re from, or, at the very least, where you’d like to be.

Happy 4^th of July! Now go light a sparkler!  

ped·a·gogue

[ped-uh-gog, -gawg]

–noun

1.

a teacher; schoolteacher.

2.

a person who is pedantic, dogmatic, and formal.

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Also, ped·a·gog .

Origin:
1350–1400; ME pedagoge  < L paedagōgus  < Gk paidagōgós  a boy’s tutor. See ped-¹ , -agogue

Now this one has always fascinated—and puzzled—me. I love a dual definition, especially when the two definitions seem to have little to nothing to do with one another. A teacher. A pedantic person. What’s that supposed to mean?! Teachers, especially those tasked with teaching grammar are fun, peppy, fabulous people!

The word began its life as a teacher of boys. Well, duh. Since it originated in the 14^th century and boys were pretty much the only ones being educated…don’t get me started. But what does any of that have to do with being pedantic (too concerned with what are thought to be correct rules and details, e.g. in language)? Okay, so maybe it makes a bit more sense. And I must admit that I can be a bit on the pedantic side on occasion. All right, maybe it’s not such a huge mystery after all. Carry on.

Grammar Punk Sentence

P E 3 (  )

Standing in front of the classroom the substitute pedagogue (or substitute teacher to those of lesser gray matter) pinned the rowdy class with a pedantic scowl; they would learn soon enough that she meant business.

 Give it a try! Write a Grammar Punk Sentence with at least three words that contain the letters P and E and the punctuation symbol parentheses. The sentence must also include the word pedagogue.

Write your own sentences and share!

Teaching Grammar

Now before your move on at breakneck speed to anything besides the subject of, gulp, GRAMMAR, hold on a minute. Grammar is cool—or should be. Grammar is fun—or can be. Grammar is easier than you think—or will be. With Grammar Punk. Grammar is all around us—no kidding.

What I’m really talking about is making the teaching of grammar fun. No, really.

We at Grammar Punk are, admittedly, geeks of the first order, and not just because we happen to love Grammar. What we really love is the language and the words we use to form the language. The letters that make the words that create the sentences that form the paragraphs that build the stories that Jack built. We warned you about the geek part.

Grammar: Rules for language; the system of rules by which words are formed and put together to make sentences. That definition pretty much says it all. Grammar is a system of rules, probably why it’s become such a deadly dull topic. The dry recitation of a bunch of rules is the great idea of very few. And it’s why it’s become a subject that can be neglected, or even, gasp, left out altogether. But it’s that important, that vital to a well-rounded education. To be even more blunt, it’s that vital to a barely functional human being. Writing, unlike, say algebra, is essential. We all have to write. Whether it’s with a keyboard, a phone pad, an i-pad, or what-have-you, writing is a must-have.

So what, you might ask, does this have to do with the teaching of grammar? Frankly not all that much with the way that grammar has been traditionally taught. Admit it, as you’re tapping away on whatever apparatus you choose the fish diagram thing you did ad nauseum in elementary school (also known as grammar school, by the way) is not front and foremost in your mind. You know how to write, we all know how to write, why? Wait for it, because we had to learn. How well we learned it is a whole different matter. Enjoying it, another subject still.

So, let’s talk about teaching grammar in a different way. Let’s talk about the purpose of the teaching grammar, which is at the end of the day, to make better writers. Good writers. Coherent writers. Even great writers. And step number one should be:

Writing is fun.

Writing is communication. Writing is how facts, thoughts, emotions, and opinions are expressed. Writing is how books that enlighten, frighten, amuse, sadden, and thrill get made. Writing is how all those television series, movies, and comic books go from someone’s imagination to the screen. 

The first tip for making the teaching and learning of grammar fun is to get realistic. Realistically, why should we care about the rote-memorization of the (many) rules pertaining to punctuation and the parts of speech if students struggle to write the simplest of sentences?

Okay, long introduction over. I, on behalf of Grammar Punk the home of “writing is fun-ville”, will be adding a weekly teaching grammar is fun sort of exercise. It will contain the rules which will be immediately followed by something fun to ease the sting of the rule thing. Play along, participate, just read, that’s cool. Whatever, if you pay the slightest bit of attention you’ll find that writing really is fun. Promise.

Lesson No. 1

We’ll start slow but sure. Periods. Kind of a duh sort of punctuation symbol, but not really. Periods after all dictate the length of sentences, whether they be simple, run-on, fragmented, complex, etc. Periods also do things like abbreviate words, create acronyms, and denote fractions and monetary incremental factors. See? And you thought periods were simple.

Okay, here we go.

Periods end declarative and most imperative sentences. Periods are also used in abbreviations, to show decimals, and denote dollars and cents in writing. Think of periods as causing a “full stop” at the end of a sentence.

We begin with periods in our Grammar Punk™ 4-9 Intermediate Program. Students will not only learn each and every rule by not only by reading about them, hearing from their teachers, but by using the rule in a sentence. By writing that sentence. Again and again. And because they will be doing things like rolling brightly colored dice and doing what the dice dictate, and because the words they use will be their own and also inspired by the dice, the sentence writing will be fun. The classroom (of whatever size or type it may be) will be noisy and raucous and involved. And it will be fun.

Periods end declarative and most imperative sentences. Periods are also used in abbreviations, to show decimals, and denote dollars and cents in writing. Think of periods as causing a “full stop” at the end of a sentence.

1.    Use a period at the end of a complete sentence that is a statement.

1.    Use a period at the end of a complete sentence that is a statement.

Grammar Punk™ 4-9 Example: S I 4 | Sylvia was quite astonished to find that she had slept through the entire dentist visit.

Learn more about us at www.grammarpunk.com

Antimacassar

This is a word that immediately transports me to drawing rooms and murder mysteries and a cast of characters gathered to discover whodunit. I’m willing to bet that few of my readers have even heard of this word but if they’ve ever read an Agatha Christie or watched an old Sherlock Holmes movie they would have seen more than a few antimacassars strewn about on the period-piece furnishings.

I love a word that comes with its own mood and setting.

an·ti·ma·cas·sar

   /ˌæn tɪ məˈkæs ər/ Show Spelled[an-ti-muh-kas-er] Show IPA

–noun

a small covering, usually ornamental, placed on the backs and arms of upholstered furniture to prevent wear or soiling; a tidy.

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Origin:
1850–55; anti- + Macassar (oil)

The word origin really tells the tale. Antimacassars are protective coverings thrown over the back of a chair or the head or cushions of a sofa, coined 1852, from anti- + macassar oil, imported hair tonic from Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The cloth was laid to protect chair and sofa fabric from people leaning their oily heads back against it. The original antimacassars were made of stiff white crochet-work, but later soft, coloured materials, such as embroidered wools or silks, were used. In the 20th century, the use of antimacassars largely died out. Thank goodness for ooze-proof hair gel, huh?

Grammar Punk Sentence: M A 2

Olive eyed the rummage sale items with skepticism; it was obvious someone’s old auntie had died and left a houseful of “treasures” judging by the number of tchotchkes and antimacassars up for sale.

Give it a try. Write a sentence or three that contains 2 words with the letters M and A and also includes the word antimacassar. Better yet, write a cool sentence using a colloquialism of your choice.

Tarantula and Triantula

Tarantula: a large spider that has a hairy body and legs and feeds on invertebrates, toads, small reptiles, and young birds

Triantula: No definition—not a word!

I know this is hardly the usual commonly confused pairing but it’s one that just annoys the bejeebers out of me. Pronunciation, people!

Like Calvary and cavalry it’s all in the pronunciation. Except it’s worse because there is no such freaking word as triantula! Which makes it more like my previous rant about jewelry and joolery. Again, two words often pronounced incorrectly, with one of the words not a real word!

Yes, you guessed it: I recently heard this particular word being mangled on a television show, which just makes me doubly crazy. Seriously, do you know how many people were involved for something to make it on television! Come on, people! It’s not like this is one of those commonly used words that can get blurred and muffled with disuse. It’s a spider, for Pete’s sakes! 

But listen up, listen for the mention of this particularly hairy and repulsively beautiful of the arachnid family; I’m willing to bet that a good 50-60% of the time it will be pronounced triantula (or joolery). Which is just wrong, wrong, wrong! So stop it!

Hummingly…Disappointed

I so wanted to add and expound and create my own mini-encyclopedic account of the meeting and mating of hummingbirds this year, but alas, we are hummingbirdless.

Sort of.

She came back. Esme came back.

Kind of.

You may recall (if you tuned in to my hummingbird saga last spring/summer—still available in the archives) that I mentioned that hummingbirds may (or not) revisit past nesting spots, building new nests on top of old, on top of old, like a tall, teeter, something out of Dr. Seuss looking construction. I was so hoping. I also mentioned that hummingbirds are inveterate thieves, sniping spider’s webs, seed pods, bits of carpet and such to build said nests. Well, apparently, they are also smart enough to visit old nests and snatching bits and pieces of old construction to enable the new. Why reinvent the wheel and all that.

It was Esme, I just know it.

I was beyond thrilled, holding my breath as I stood at the window and saw—yes!—a hummingbird flitting about that stretch of ridiculously thin extension cord! “She’s back!” I shrieked—to no one in particular since I was alone in the office at the time. She’s going to build a new nest on top of her old nest and I get to experience the whole thing again.

Not.

The little thief was stealing bits and pieces and snippets and snips of her old nest! Not an easy task, I might add, the old construction having been superb, but Esme is not faint-hearted. She came back over several subsequent days, snatching and tugging until all that is left of the lovely old conical nest is a tattered bit of old spider’s webs, seed pods, and pieces of carpet hanging valiantly onto the wire. Sniff, sniff.

Fine. Glad we could help, Esme. Not!

col·lo·qui·al·ism

 /kəˈloʊ kwi əˌlɪz əm/  [kuh-loh-kwee-uh-liz-uh m]

–noun

1.

a colloquial expression.

2.

colloquial style or usage.

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Origin:
1800–10; colloquial + -ism

Not only do I love this word, I happen to adore colloquialisms. And loathe them. Simultaneously. More familiarly known as slang, they are after all the beginning of the end of my beloved formal English. That being said, the original English have quite a lovely array of colloquialisms themselves. Maybe not more than we Americans, but it’s close.

I have to complain at this point about the particularly banal colloquialisms that have been springing up. Not only are they banal but they are particularly pedantic in that their creativity depends solely on their obviousness—and their opposition. Sick is good. Gay (using its original meaning: happy, light-hearted) is bad. Sweet is a sign of approval, awesome is used waaaay too much. Told you I don’t usually approve of colloquialisms. The kind I favor are the creative type, clever and colorful ways of making the mundane…magical. Or at least interesting.

Let’s face it, the Brits have it all over us when it comes to colloquialisms.  Of course, I’m used to ours, and you know what familiarity breeds… Still, Lollipop Men instead of Crossing Guards? Come on, they have it all over us in the colloquialism department. As well they should, being the Mother of our tongue. So to speak.

I’ll be revisiting this subject and sharing some of the more interesting and memorable colloquialisms from our cousins across the pond as well as our own. So stay tuned.

Grammar Punk Sentence: C O 3

As appreciative as we all were of Oliver’s colorful colloquialisms, oftentimes no one in the office had the first clue what he was talking about.

Give it a try. Write a sentence or three that contains 3 words with the letters C and O and also includes the word colloquialism. Better yet, write a cool sentence using a colloquialism of your choice.

Summer, ah summer. I used to literally live for summer’s coming. As a kid. From January 2 on it was a countdown to summer and namely, summer vacation. Because of course that was the double whammy of it all, SUMMER VACATION. Not just beautiful warm hot days lazing around a pool, hiking in the mountains, riding bikes, playing hopscotch (one of my all-time favorites) and on and on and on, summer was endless, summer was freedom, summer was there waiting. And altogether too short.

I didn’t realize it then but that idyll called summer was indeed destined to be short-lived. Who knew that as I grew older summer would lose that magical, ethereal feel? Who knew that I would even come to resent (if only slightly) the idea of summer? Who knew, as a kid, counting the school days as they crept closer to the end of May, that there would come a time, all too soon, that would end the concept of a summer stretching before you? What kid knows (in the front of their head) that summer happens without you?

How many of us adults find ourselves peering wistfully out of our office windows at the deep blue sky, cotton candy clouds and endless days? And aren’t those days just longer than they rightfully should be? So if you’re still young enough for summer vacation to mean SUMMER VACATION, don’t squander it. Relish it, be cognizant of it, enjoy every minute of it because adulthood is calling. And it lasts an awfully long time.