Archive for April, 2009

One letter, a world of difference.

Source: Company apologizes for ‘Natinals’ jersey error – MLB – Yahoo Sports.

Language Log’s latest post on less versus fewer also reminded me of Bob Sutton’s recent post on layoffs. Sutton’s general message: it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.

Link: Language Log » Once more on less.

Occasionally, I stumble across articles that are an amazing use of someone’s deep journalistic skills. For example, this NY Times article about a pretty pithy topic — Bo, the White House dog — gets impressively deep. The reporting is solid, yet it’s clear that the reporter knows that he’s writing about the White House dog, especially when he quotes Thomas Aquinas. He incorporates just the right amount of absurdity in the piece on a fairly absurd topic. I love the art of it.

I want to coin a phrase for this type of article (absournalism? Ick. I need some help here).

Link: Does Bo Know He’s the President’s Dog? – NYTimes.com

Economist Paul Kedrosky (the other Paul K.) weighed in today on which French verb form we should really be using “laisser faire” or “laissez-faire.” I agree with his logic, but adding that level of complexity goes against the “borrowed words” tradition. At what point does franglais (or Spanglish, etc.) become English? In common speech, the rules of the parent language are often quickly abandoned (see “datum”), but academics and other high-falutin’ folks tend to follow the rules of the parent language. What about publishing people, who fall somewhere in the middle, promoting good use of our language but not putting it on a pedestal?

I think I’m sticking with “lassez-faire.”

Style note: Merriam-Webster uses a hyphen in both noun and adjective forms of “laissez-faire.”