Tag Archives: language

You complete the world.

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Robert Basil

It seems staggering that the brand new mayor of NYC, Eric Adams, could use the words “low skilled workers” to describe anyone who works in his city. I could walk for hours through Manhattan before seeing *anyone* whose work I … Continue reading →

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The root of beauty …

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Robert Basil

… is boldness, wrote Pasternak. “That is what’s brought us to one another.” Apropos: After Wolfgang Pauli had given a colloquium on some ideas related to particle physics, Pauli said to Neils Bohr: “You will probably think that what I … Continue reading →

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Abandoning One’s Mother Tongue

Posted on January 7, 2017 by Robert Basil

I had not thought this possible. A very poignant story via the great Language Log.

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Real Words

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Robert Basil

One of the best pure writers I have ever seen was a psychology student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University named Emily (she gave me permission to use her first name). She could amalgamate and compress numerous, complex source articles into a … Continue reading →

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More on Clichés …

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Robert Basil

From professor Jonathan Mayhew: One of Orwell’s sillier pieces of writing advice is “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Orwell advises “scrapping of every word or idiom which … Continue reading →

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Clichés Used in Journalism

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Robert Basil

The Washington Post compiles a helpful list; it’s up to 200. I am guilty of using the following in speaking (and the first one listed here in writing, too – alas): Any “not-un” formulation (as in “not unsurprising that you’d … Continue reading →

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No Word

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Robert Basil

A friend in the media emailed me this morning: “Everyone keeps talking about hostages having been taken in Paris. Doesn’t the word ‘hostage’ imply a demand on the part of the terrorists? They made no demands; they intended all along … Continue reading →

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Ricotta / Ree-goat

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Robert Basil

In Fairport, New York, where I grew up, there were lots of Italian American families, and I had many Italian American friends (still do). I married an Italian American from Liverpool, New York, and have a son from this marriage … Continue reading →

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“Epic translation success”

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Robert Basil

Read more at the always alert, amusing, and erudite Language Log.

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On Poetry

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Robert Basil

My friend Jonathan Mayhew has been on a tear of late, publishing a series of manifestos on poetry in his wonderful blog, Stupid Motivational Tricks. Some snippets (but read the whole thing): Manifesto (1) Nobody knows what poetry is for. … Continue reading →

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