A standout moment in an otherwise less than standout Star Trek movie, The Final Frontier is Spock's use of the word marshmelon instead of marshmallow, during a camp out in Yosemite National Park. Some Trek fans argue it is an error by Spock, who is slightly out of touch with camping rituals on Earth (not surprising given he is a Vulcan), while others have suggested marshmelon is an example of ... Read full entry

If you feel you can't embellish your writing without needing to make use of exclamation marks, then take my example, simply exclude the exclamation marks, sans also the actual literary embellishment... I like exclamation marks!!! Not to that extent, but I do. I use them sparingly, to liven up dialogue, signify volume and incredulity, and inject punch. But this, according to certain other writers, is a gross literary misjudgment ... Read full entry

Cool, a website especially dedicated to making the distinction between it's and its clear. This could start something though, how something similar for lets versus let's? Ah, when to use an apostrophe, and when not to... And on the subject of apostrophes, this article on their correct usage at Flying Solo.

It seems oddly coincidental that after mentioning Joe Clark's new book, on understanding Canadian English last week, news comes through that the Oxford Dictionary is to close its office in Canada, and publish the Canadian Oxford Dictionary from its base in Oxford, England. The company will publish future editions of the "Canadian Oxford Dictionary" with the assistance of freelancers and the lexicography department in Oxford, England, Stover said. ... Read full entry

Canadian web accessibility guru Joe Clark has just published a book titled "Organizing Our Marvellous Neighbours: How to Feel Good About Canadian English". My spellchecker enjoyed this excerpt also: Yes, Canadians have our own spelling. The basic facts are right there in the title: We write organize with a Z (like Americans), marvellous with two Ls (like the British, but only sometimes), and neighbour with a U (also ... Read full entry

Since I'm upon the pinnacle of learning and wisdom that is the UNSW campus, I'd better watch my grammar... a very scholarly sort scowled at me when I inadvertently dropped an apostrophe while drafting a post earlier. I thought I'd highlight Alex's comments on paragraphs though, as some people seriously need to find their computer's enter key... This can be a problem on the web, as apparently the ‘enter’ key ... Read full entry

On the subject of initialising and abbreviating, the use of such language in no way hinders new comic superhero on the block, LOLBAT.

Many of the abbreviated words and expressions used in text messaging are far from new, with a number of commonly used terms appearing in an abbreviations dictionary that was published in 1942. Similarly, the use of initial letters for whole words (n for "no", gf for "girlfriend", cmb "call me back") is not at all new. People have been initialising common phrases for ages. IOU is known from 1618. ... Read full entry

A British local authority, Tunbridge Wells Council, recently made a short lived attempt to ban the use of the word "brainstorm" in council documents and communications, believing the word was offensive to people with epilepsy. The claim was not only refuted by the National Society for Epilepsy, but also failed to gain the support of the The Local Government Association in Britain, who pointed out that the word ... Read full entry

While the verbal structure of languages may differ between cultures and countries, when it comes to non-verbal communication, with hand gestures or facial expressions, it seems we all speak the same language. If Kim Jong Il plays charades, his hand gestures might look just like George Bush's, a new study suggests. It seems that, regardless of the sentence structure of their native tongue, non-verbal communication is the same across ... Read full entry