Po-Po

I don’t like the term “deputies.”
I like “police.”
I don’t like “investigators.”
I like “detectives.”
So the detectives determined that Justin was smoking his bong in the wilderness after police said they heard a group around a campfire playing Wu-Tang covers with a sitar.
The investigators and the deputies just stood around sounding stupid.
Which is generally what pigs [...]

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Pled vs. Pleaded

This is one I used to struggle with regularly in my day-to-day work, until I got used to it.
Someone pled guilty or pleaded guilty?
The rule for us in journalism is pleaded. The lawyers like pled.
I imagine this goes back to the good ole English court terminology somewhere in history.
In any case … I like pled.  [...]

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Deep Roots

I remember thinking some years back about one of my cousins back home and how she has such a deep Southern accent that she almost sounds British.
And when you think about it, it almost makes sense. At one time, not too long ago when you really think about it, everyone spoke that way here.
And with [...]

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In Your Eye

Sports terms.
They're so enlightening. So overused. So curiously appropriate.
In basketball, we refer to shooting and hitting a three-point shot while someone guards you closely, "Popping a three in your eye."
You can also "blind them."
Or "light them up."
You can also "flush" the ball when you dunk it. Or "yoke" it.
Put a good move on someone and [...]

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It Just Doesn’t Sound (Write?)

When we talk about writing letters, us Brits have a certain…overly long way about asking people to send us mail:
“Send a letter to me.”
“Write me a letter.”
Whereas some other nations are somewhat more economic with words:
“Write me.”
Call me old fashioned but I like the long-winded approach:
“Go forth and reproduce” is sometimes a better way of [...]

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Le Cheese Royale – Economy in Words

The people of North America (possibly South America and Canada as well, I’m not sure) have it figured out. They use what I’d call imperial measurements: good old pounds and ounces.
Here in Britain, it’s a different matter. There’s some confusion as to what we use.
Here’s a packet of out of date bacon I [...]

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Stuff At The Breaker’s Yard

bonnet n.
1. British, Australian, N.Z., South African. The hinged metal part of a motor vehicle body that provides access to the engine.
2. Any of various hats, especially worn by women.
3. Scotland. A soft cloth cap [old French - bonet]
Popping the bonnet doesn’t quite sound the same as popping the hood. I always thought [...]

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One “L” or two?

So, is it down to laziness?
Probably not. More a ‘lost through the game of Chinese Whisper’ kind of thing, or even plain common sense.
When we Brits travel or level anything, later we write that we’ve travelled somewhere or levelled something, adding that extra ‘l’ before the ‘-ing’.
This is because we are taught in school that [...]

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Officialize It

In today’s modern world, there is a tendency to feel as if the most sensible and basic words don’t measure up.
Everything must be … “officialized.”
Utilize.
Prioritize.
Desensitize.
If you read the classics, how many of these officalized words do you ever come across?
This is used (not utilized) by those who work in cubicles who are afraid that if [...]

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Outta Juice

All the stuff to do with rising fuel costs after Hurricane Katrina got me thinking as to how I like it when I hear people talk about ‘gas.’
Here, we’re quite lazy as well.
We don’t call gasoline gas though, we call it petrol and even that’s a shortened word. I like the sound of the [...]

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