Friday, December 14, 2012

Entomology

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For the Merry Christmas conclusion, the WORDmeister says: Final exams are done today, and it's all over but the grading! As the first half of this 18th WORD season comes to a close, some enduring advice for students—and their teachers.

Tuity Fruity

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
 
Groucho Marx (1890-1977), philosopher-entomologist
 
• Editorial Comment: My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives. Have a great holiday, WORDsters.I’ll be back Jan. 7.

 

Yesterday’s WORD: Did you miss yesterday’s WORDs about writing and teachers from writing professor John Bremner? Click here. 
PeezPIX by Ted Pease

The PeezPix photo show at Caffé Ibis on Federal Avenue in Logan, Utah, through Jan. 7. Check it out!








(Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

GIGO?

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The WORDmeister says: For Day 4 of Final Exam Week as the first half of this 18th WORD season comes to a close, some enduring advice for students—and their teachers—completing projects and exams.

The Long Descent

I have witnessed the steady growth of literary ignorance during a career of more than a third of a century. Many of my students arrive in my writing and editing classes as college juniors with an almost total ignorance of English grammar and usage and only a smattering of any foreign language. And these are prospective journalists whom one would expect to be less illiterate. But the blame is hardly theirs. It belongs mostly to their teachers.
 
John Bremner (1920-1997), journalism professor, in the introduction of his Words on Words: A Dictionary for Writers and Others Who Care About Words, 1980 URL
 
• Editorial Comment: Mea culpa

Yesterday’s WORD: Did you miss yesterday’s WORDs about the joy of language from legendary journalism and writing professor John Bremner? Click here.
  
PeezPIX by Ted Pease

The PeezPix photo show at Caffé Ibis on Federal Avenue in Logan, Utah, through Jan. 7. Check it out!











(Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Final Exam Edition #3: About Words

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The WORDmeister says: For Day 3 of Final Exam Week as the first half of this WORD season comes to a close, some enduring advice for students completing projects and exams.

Know Words

To love anything, you must first know it. To love words, you must first know what they are. . . .  They have their own historical and etymological associations, their own romantic and environmental dalliances, their own sonic and visual delights.

John Bremner (1920-1997), journalism professor, in the introduction of his Words on Words: A Dictionary for Writers and Others Who Care About Words, URL
(Thanks to alert WORDster Mark Larson)
 

• Editorial Comment: Listen up, grasshoppers.

Yesterday’s WORD: Did you miss yesterday’s WORDs about the alphabet from Marley & Me author John Grogan? Click here.
  
PeezPIX by Ted Pease

The PeezPix photo show at Caffé Ibis through Jan. 7. Check it out!










(Be)Friend Dr. Ted, Professor of Interesting Stuff