Honey, if you like your world very small, or if South Park offends you, don’t follow this link:

It’s a call by Mark Liberman for “interlinear transcription, along with some related examples and discussion of the relevant phonological, morphological and syntactic issues.”

Willadean loves it when he talks like that!  … so idea-dense, so South-Park-ish. 

Language Log » Why journalists need to know morphology

Willadean scratches her head on this one, because she’s not complacent about the power of words.  The words complaisant and complacent are confusingly similar. It was Willadean’s determination to be not so complaisant that saved her life.  (see Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife)

The m-w.com Word of the Day opens with:

The homophones "complaisant" and "complacent" are often confused -- and no wonder.

See Merriam-Webster Online

This article by Ben Zimmer is going to keep Willadean busy for days.  It might grab the attention of marketing students, hot coffee litigators, multi-syllabic named coffee aficionados, buffoonish movie characters, and lovers of Sooooper Bowl commercials. Yes, it’s rich.  Ben writes about the language of the McCafé commercial.

Ben nails it with this:

The suggestion seems to be that your prosaic life can be improved by the simple addition of an iced mocha coffee, just as a jaunty little line over a mild-mannered "e" can add a dash of linguistic élan.

But that’s not all.  There’s more. Yep, Willadean is going to look up some words.  And Charles will add some movies to the wanna-see list.

McDonald's Puts the Accent on Advertising : Word Routes : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

Swine?  Mexican?  Hybrid?  H1N1?  That list demonstrates the wonder of what to call a Bad Thing.  Blogger Ben Zimmer goes even deeper into the history of the flu as shown in this excerpt detail:

The shorthand flu is the result of "clipping" at both ends of the longer word. Typically English words get clipped at the beginning (e.g., [tele]phone, [air/aero]plane, [auto]bus, [motor]car), or at the end (e.g., deli[catessen], rehab[ilitation], condo[minium]). Some words can get clipped at the beginning or the end, like taxicab becoming either taxi or cab. But every now and then a word like influenza can get clipped at the beginning and the end: we also have refrigerator becoming fridge, head-shrinker becoming shrink, and Elizabeth becoming Liz.

In Search of "Swine Flu" : Word Routes : Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus

Oh my gosh!  The word accommodate will never have the same meaning for me.  In Murder on the Orient Express, Hercule Poirot used the word incommode.  That sounded like an antonym to accommodate, but it turns out to be more interesting than that.

What is the ultimate convenience? The chamber pot (1540), toilet (1667), the commode (1688), of course!  

These come from Latin (with measure) and French (suitable, convenient) and then morph into accommodate (1550) and incommode (1598).

So next time you are, uh, enjoying the accommodations, you can be thankful you are not incommoded.

Can we look for a moment at the term “Activist Judge” as a disparagement used by politicians in comments about the Iowa Supreme Court ruling in the Varnum v. Brien case.

Activist: a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue. Synonym for activist: It is striking that the only listed synonym for activist is militant.

Militant: engaged in warfare or combat. Aggressively active (as in a cause). Fighting. Combative.

Judge: to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises. A public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court. One who gives an authoritative opinion.

Let’s see: These definitions tell me that the term “activist judge” denies the court’s authority. The term fantasizes of an armed reforming judge – think of activists such as Malcolm X, Malcolm Little, Black Panther, Black Muslim. The world needs activists, but really, has anyone ever seen an activist judge in the United States or in your hometown? Rendering an opinion with which some disagree is not activism.

You know what? “Activist judge” is just a perverted twist of the tongue and mind that exposes extreme frustration and fear that the accuser is losing control and influence in his provincial world. I would be wary of the user of the term as they accuse in press releases and political campaigns. In other words, vote them out of office.

The term “activist judge” should die, but if it will be viable, then let it be used for the ilk of Fred Phelps and the late Jerry Falwell.

For an eloquent and direct treatment of “activist judge” see Our Idiot-Proof Democracy

Definitions are from www.m-w.com, www.visualthesaurus.com, Disparagement "Activist Judge"

I was asked today what the Spanish word cholo meant.  Well, of course, I didn't know, but m-w.com says mestizo.  After just a little more research, I think it is not a word that Willadean would want to use, unless she just had to.  And you know what I mean, if you've met Willadean.

Now, here is a 400 year-old word of which I’ve never heard. Google “apathy” results out-number “apathy” 31:1.  Hmmmm.  It’s not as rare as I would have thought.  I need to get out more often.

Anyway, just call me “Willadean.” [search Willadean dictionary Shores]

The Word of the Day for March 12, 2009 is:

acedia • \uh-SEE-dee-uh\ • noun

: apathy, boredom

Example Sentence:

A restaurant reviewer in SF Weekly once described a brunch as "a stupefyingly lavish buffet spread that will do nothing to erase your acedia."

Did you know?

"Acedia" comes from a combination of the negative prefix "a-" and the Greek noun "kēdos," meaning "care, concern, or grief." (The Greek word "akēdeia" became "acedia" in Late Latin, and that spelling was retained in English.) "Acedia" initially referred specifically to the "deadly sin" of sloth. It first appeared in print in English in 1607 describing ceremonies which could induce this sin in ministers and pastors, but that sense is now rare. "Acedia" now tends to be used more generally to simply imply a lack of interest or caring, although it sometimes still carries overtones of laziness.

Merriam-Webster Online

To think about: Tolerence

Quote

Talking about tolerance - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
2 a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own

As differences enter one's life, there is a decision to tolerate or not to tolerate.  One either judges, or accepts.