Diary of a Word Nerd

What is Prescriptivism?

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 7 Comments

Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme for people who like to learn new words. Visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion for links to eclectic additions to your vocabulary.

My word today was inspired by last week’s post on Weird Al Yankovic’s video “Word Crimes.” In my post, I related that Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty said of Yankovic’s video, (which insults people who use poor grammar) “Prescriptivism sells.”

I had to find out more about prescriptivism.

Webster’s got me this far:

prescriptive \pri-‘skrip-tiv\ adj from Latin praescribere to write at the beginning, dictate, order; acquired by, founded on, or determined by a long-standing custom

Grammar.about.com explains that prescriptivism is the ardent belief that one variety of language is superior to all others and should be promoted as such. It’s concerned with proper and correct usage.

In contrast, descriptivism is a nonjudgmental approach to language concerned with how it is actually spoken and written.

A graphic on the About Grammar site says:

I believe sensible prescriptivism ought to be part of any education.

~Noam Chomsky

I can relate to this quote. Sometimes I worry that our casual approach to language, all the texting and slang, will erode its power over time. Ask my kids. I like rules. But, I don’t want to be obnoxious or pretentious about grammar.

Yes, I think students should still diagram sentences (I loved it!) No, I don’t think that one should insult people who use inappropriate possessive apostrophes. (We word nerds should just correct the error mentally and make sure our writing doesn’t have that or some other mistake.)

The emphasis on sensible from Chomsky’s quote comes from the original graphic, and it deserves the attention.

Word Nerd Workout

Would you describe yourself as a fan of prescriptivism or descriptivism? Why?

Thanks for adding to the discussion!

Julia

Awesome Young Adult Books/How to encourage reading/Improving grammar

Why We Shouldn’t Use Grammar to Condemn

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 8 Comments

This week, Grammar Girl taught me an important lesson . It had nothing to do with grammar and everything to do with humility.

I’m behind in my podcasts, just like I’m behind on the laundry. That explains why I only recently listened to a podcast from July 2014 in which Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, reviewed Weird Al Yankovic’s video “Word Crimes”, a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”.

Here’s the video:

In “Word Crimes”, Weird Al harps on classic grammar mistakes like saying “I’m good” instead of “I’m well” and the difference between “it’s” and “its”. You would think that a “Grammar Girl” would love a video that pokes fun at grammar ignorance.

But guess what? She didn’t like it. For good reasons. Weird Al calls people who don’t use good grammar “droolers” and “mouth breathers.” At one point, he says “Your prose is dopey,” and “Get outta the gene pool.”

It’s obnoxious, just like that arrogant kid in middle school who crosses the line between funny and mean. But the video went viral. As Fogarty points out, prescriptivism sells. We live in a judgmental culture that promotes ridiculing the mistakes of others. We like feeling superior.

Ouch. That’s when she gets me. With shame, I admit that I, a self-proclaimed “Grammar Nazi”, have indulged this feeling of superiority. Weird Al’s video, and Grammar Girl’s review, have shown me how ugly it is.

By a strange coincidence, right now I’m finishing The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, set in WWII Germany. Zusak powerfully demonstrates how the Nazi Party used words to intimidate and control. Millions died because of Hitler’s rhetoric. As I read the closing chapters of The Book Thief, I brush away tears and wonder, “How could words cause so much death?”

Because we humans like feeling powerful.

And now, I reevaluate the title “Grammar Nazi”. Do I really want to take on the name of a group of people who brutally terrorized their fellow human beings? Do I want to use my knowledge and interest in words to make others feel small?

No.

I want to be like Liesel, not Hitler. In The Book Thief, Liesel uses words to sustain her during the horrors of war. She and her Jewish friend Max rip up Hitler’s memoir Mein Kampf and literally cover his propaganda with a story of hope. In the end, all she has are words to give comfort to her Jewish friend. And they work.

Some of you might be thinking, “It’s just a video; don’t take it so seriously.” But, for better or worse, I often take things seriously. I carefully consider the words I absorb and the words I dispense. I want to help people communicate their ideas in the best way possible.

Thank you Grammar Girl for confirming my belief that I need to spend less time judging and more time empowering. Humility feels so much better than superiority. No more Grammar Nazi for me.

What do you think of Weird Al’s video? How do you feel about the power of words to build up or tear down?

Thanks,

Julia

Improving vocabulary

What Does Mythopoeia Mean?

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 17 Comments

Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme where readers share new words they’ve encountered during the week. Visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion and find links to more fantastic new vocabulary.

First, thanks to everyone who expressed concern about my daughter and her concussion. She is doing great. Her biggest problem last week was “cognitive rest.” No reading, computer, or T.V. most of the week. She didn’t know what to do with herself and finally resorted to Legos.

Can you imagine being told to rest but NOT read? Torture!

On to learning a new word…

My entry this week comes from the profile of one of my new followers on Twitter. John Sowers includes writing, knife making, and “mythopoeia” in his interests. I hope I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what “mythopoeia” means

mythopoeia \mith-ə-‘pē-yə\ noun from the Greek mythos, mythology,+ poiein, to make; a creating of myths; giving rise to myths

Note that the word has four syllables, not five. “Poe” sounds like “pea”.

Well, of course an author would enjoy creating myths! Thanks for teaching me a new word, John Sowers.

Word Nerd Workout

Can you use mythopoeia in a sentence? Here’s my example:

September 2 marked the anniversary of the death of a man with a great gift for mythopoeia, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Your turn!

Julia

Spread the word on Twitter: Wondrous Word for Wednesday: mythopoeia = the creation of myth via @juliatomiak

Book reviews/Recommended kid lit

Why You Should Read File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 3 Comments

If you have a soccer player, then you know that Labor Day Weekend means tournaments. My family and I will travel across the state this weekend so two of our boys can play in the Virginia Cup. Unfortunately, even though it’s the same tournament, the boys are playing in cities an hour apart. Bah! Thank goodness for helpful grandparents.

[BTW, if you want to learn about the origins of Labor Day, check out Dianne Salerni’s post: The Surprising History Behind Labor Day.]

For me, a road trip requires a good audio book. I prefer to listen to kid lit around little ears, and earlier this summer we tried File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket. Michael Kindness and Amy Kingman, the podcasters over at Books on the Nightstand, recommended it.

The Premise

Suspicious Incidents presents itself as a top secret report from a covert organization. In it, Lemony Snicket, a member of the “organization,” shares thirteen short stories of suspicious cases he solved in the town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea. Each story ends before the mystery is solved, but readers can find the solution for each case at the end of the book.

What I Liked

Snicket uses words with multiple meanings to create humor and irony, or just to have fun. For example, one character says:

“Even something top-of-the-line bottoms out once in a while.”

The mini-mysteries include plenty of vocabulary building words. My kids don’t pause to look words up, so I loved the added explanations. For example, during a disagreement, Snicket’s supervisor accuses Snicket of being snide when he should be sensible. Snicket explains:

Snide is a word which here means the kind of tone you use in an argument. Sensible is the tone you should use instead.

The phrase “a word which here means…” appears at least twice in every story. The asides enlighten without ruining the narrative flow.

Finally, I enjoyed how the book encourages attention to detail and critical thinking. After each story, I paused the audio book so my kids and I could discuss our ideas for solutions to the cases.

What I didn’t like

A different person reads each story, meaning Lemony Snicket has thirteen different voices. Some performers did a better job than others, and I found it odd to have the same character performed by different people. I would have preferred different voices for the various quirky characters.

Since we listened via audio book, we couldn’t “flip” to the back to check the solution for each mystery. Instead, we had to wait until the very end and listen to all the solutions at once. It took a few weeks for us to finish the audio book, and by the time we heard the end, I had forgotten some of the beginnings.

Overall, I enjoyed this clever middle grade book, but I recommend it for reading in the old-fashioned, hard copy format, so that one can easily navigate back and forth between mysteries and solutions.

Can you recommend a good kidlit audio book for the last road trip of the summer? How about a good mystery?

Thanks for stopping by!

Julia

Improving vocabulary

Vocab for the Powerful: Redoubtable

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 11 Comments

Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme for people interested in learning new vocabulary. Visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion to find more words.

Things have been crazy at my house. In the past week, my husband has scheduled knee surgery and was so ill he actually missed a day of work. Then Sunday, my daughter fell 25 feet out of a tree.

Yes. 25 feet.

By amazing grace alone, she survived the fall with a mild concussion. No broken bones, no major brain damage. I am a lucky mother.

Anyway, all that to say I can’t remember where I came across my word for today, but I still want to share it. I’ll make up a sentence, inspired by The Book Thief.

Rudy turned the corner and came face to face with his redoubtable instructor from the Hitler Youth League.

redoubtable \ri-‘daů-tǝ-bǝl\ adj from Anglo-French re- + duter to doubt; causing or deserving great fear or respect; very powerful, impressive

In Rudy’s case, the appropriate definition is “causing great fear.” His instructor liked to beat him for insubordination.

Word Nerd Workout

The redoubtable tree that my daughter fell out of. — The “redoubtable” tree that my daughter fell out of.

Think of a character from books or your own life who you could describe as redoubtable. Share the character and an adjective for redoubtable.

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Julia

How to encourage reading

Why You Should Keep a List of Books You’ve Read

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Julia Tomiak / 17 Comments

When my kids turned in their summer reading logs at the library, the girl helping us asked, “Do you want to keep your reading logs?”

I shrugged. Frankly, I find reading logs cumbersome. I make my kids fill them out every summer because I know it helps the library get funding.

But then the librarian said, “I have a list of every book I’ve read since the beginning of high school. It’s a long list.”

Maybe it was the competitive side of me that perked up. Or that controlling girl who likes to keep up with details. But suddenly, a book list sounded appealing.

We kept the reading logs.

Three reasons why you should keep a list of the books you read

Pride Let’s be honest, if you love books and pride yourself on your ability to consume them, it’s nice to have a comprehensive list of every volume you’ve read. You’d have a record of all the classics and “must reads” you’ve devoured. For this mama who spends a lot of time doing things that have no material proof (parenting, laundry, dishes), a concrete list of accomplishments sounds lovely.
Accountability Having a list allows you to analyse your reading habits. Maybe you read more science fiction than you realized. Perhaps you’ve read fewer classics than you thought. A record can help you fill in some voids (yes, that includes some non-fiction or biographies) or not – but at least you’d have a clear picture of your reading choices.
Recommendations If you’re a book nerd and other people know it, chances are they will ask you for reading suggestions. If you keep a list and add a few notes for each entry or use a rating system, you’ll be better equipped to help people find good stuff to read.

Have I convinced you yet? Hope so! But now…

How should a reader set up a list of books read?

For the technology savvy, I recommend a Goodreads account. Using the site, or the Goodreads mobile app, you can set up a “Books Read” shelf and enter your books by:

using your mobile device to scan the ISBN number on the back of printed books
downloading your Amazon purchases
using the Goodreads search function
adding books manually

Goodreads prompts users to rate and review every book entered. This helps users to remember details about books. Unfortunately, with Goodreads, as well as most social media sites, you don’t own your content. So if Goodreads ever shut down, your list would disappear.

Another option is a file on your computer. You would always have it, especially if you save it in a cloud like Dropbox or a program like Evernote. My friend Rachel has kept a running list of our book club reads for years. Thank you, Rachel! However, sometimes digital devices and files aren’t handy.

That leaves good old pen and paper. You could buy a pretty notebook at Barnes and Noble and record your books. You’d always have a hard copy with space for notes and ratings. However, if your friend asks you for a mystery recommendation at lunch, and your notebook is sitting at home on your nightstand, you’re outta luck.

I haven’t mentioned a color coding system… Oh, the possibilities!

How do you keep track of books you’ve read? What is the benefit of doing so?

Thanks for sharing your ideas!

Julia

Tweetable: 3 reasons why you should keep a list of #books you’ve read via word nerd @juliatomiak #amreading