It just so happens that most of my good finds for this week were about nerdy stuff - punctuation, word definitions, etc. So, go ahead and geek out with these random readings.
- Watch Yer Language reports that Birmingham, England is doing away with apostrophes. (I particularly like the AP Story that calls it an apostrophe catastrophe.)
- Brandilyn Collins talks about the Washington Post’s list of alternate definitions from 2008. These are really funny, although I was bummed when I couldn’t find a list for 2009.
- Buzzwhack is a site dedicated to de-mystifying buzzwords. (WARNING: If you can use more than three buzzwords in a single sentence while keeping a straight face, this site is not for you.)
I particularly liked these definitions from the Buzzwhack site:
- buzz.word (buz´wûrd) n. A usually important-sounding word or phrase used primarily to impress laypersons.
- buzz.whack.er (buz´wak er) n. A person who receives some degree of pleasure in bursting the bubbles of the pompous.
Heard any good buzzwords lately? A couple that I hear around my office are "turnkey" and "proprietary" - annoying, empty words that don't mean a thing. And they are used All. The. Time.
