Showing posts with label dictionary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dictionary. Show all posts

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Origin of the term "false narrative"

"Shelby Hewitt was accused of creating "multiple names and dates of birth for herself" and allegedly created a false narrative of a being an "extremely traumatized teen" with special needs, according to prosecutor Ashley Polin."

Just curious. When did the word LIE become a "false narrative?" I know Trump popularized "fake news" which is also LIE, but perpetrated by media. I checked some grammar/dictionary sites and saw the question was being asked 8 years ago. So, it was at least well known in the Obama era. It's not in my 1948 2nd Unabridged or 2012 Collegiate 11th Merriam-Webster. Still don't have an answer. But it looks like sometime during Obama's first term it took off so someone could sound erudite. When I see the Left is overtaking simple language with new words for lie (like affirming care for child mutilation or reproductive health for killing a baby in the womb) I avoid the term. 

Is it a lie with more clever story lines? Or a lie with more deceit?

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Jibe and Gibe—what’s the difference?

These seem to be pronounced the same: jybe. Gibe was the MW world of the day for March 25.  Makes me think I’ve been occasionally misspelling, but not sure I ever heard the meaning of gibe.

“Confused about jibe and gibe? The distinction actually isn't as clear-cut as some commentators would like it to be. Jibe is used both for the verb meaning "to be in accord" or "agree" (as in "the results do not jibe with those from other studies") and for the nautical verb and noun referring to the act of shifting a sail from one side to the other ("jibe the mainsail," "a risky jibe in heavy seas"). Gibe is used as a verb and noun for derisive teasing or taunting. But jibe is also a recognized variant of gibe, so it too has teasing or taunting uses. Gibe has been used occasionally as a variant of jibe, but the use is not common enough to warrant dictionary entry, and is widely considered an error.”

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Our language is always changing

640 new words were added in April to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I've been saying one of them incorrectly:  I say, "to-go cup" when I’m at Panera’s with my friend Adrienne, and apparently the approved, in the dictionary term is "go-cup."

My senior class high school English teacher, Mrs. Price, insisted we buy Merriam-Webster Collegiate dictionaries, and I'm still using that model (I have the 11th, which you can buy for about $30 or download for free, and I got mine for $1 at a used book store), and I have the 2nd International unabridged Merriam Webster (about 25 lbs) for interesting browsing which my grandmother gave my parents for x-mas in the 1950s.  One of my cousins probably has their mother’s copy.  Grandma was big on giving presents like magazines, books, and art supplies.  My mother continued that tradition with her grandchildren.  You can never know too many words.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/shop-dictionaries/dictionaries/collegiate-dictionary-eleventh-edition

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/new-words-in-the-dictionary?

https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/friday-family-photo-its-dictionary.html

Friday, November 21, 2008


Friday Family Photo

It's a dictionary! Merriam-Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, unabridged (1948) Here's the story of Merriam-Webster. My recollection is that this was a gift from my maternal grandmother Mary to our family for Christmas 1949, with a set of encyclopedias the next Christmas, although it's possible they were together, perhaps a 2-fer special. It remained in my parents' home for over 50 years, and was often used because my father was a cross-word fan, and they both would turn to the dictionary to answer questions just like we might use google today. Dad died in 2002, and I was probably the only one who requested this--at least I don't remember anyone else asking for it. It is sitting in my dining room on my mother's sewing cabinet, which she probably gave me sometime in the 1970s. Behind the sewing cabinet are the sliding glass doors for my early 1960s Paul McCobb china hutch which I don't use anymore, but didn't know where to put them. Ordinarily you don't see them, but they show up gray in the photo.

The last time I used this dictionary was this morning about 5:30 a.m. Here is the sentence that stumped me: "Psychopannychia emerges as relevatory of the young Calvin's thought." I had never seen "relevatory" before. Neither had Mr. Webster. And if it isn't in Webster's 2nd, I don't need to know!