Number 119
After both Dave DaBee and Frank E recommended the movie, What the Bleep Do We Know?, I finally rented it. I liked it and also recommend it. It's a combination of documentary and fiction, in which scientists and others tell us that we can influence and change our external environment by our thoughts. This is old new age stuff, now corroborated by current physics theory and neurophysiology.
The movie also made use of Masaru Emoto's photos of water crystals that he says have been formed or changed by exposure to different words. Hateful words produce irregular, disturbed looking crystals and kind words produce beautifully symmetrical crystals. You could try this at home, or try it on your plants (remember The Secret Life of Plants?). If you don't believe in that kind of thing, you can at least try it on people. Words are important.
We usually refer to animals on the hoof by old English words, and animals we eat by old French words. You raise a cow or kill a calf, you eat beef or veal. Pigs become pork, sheep become mutton. We're so used to this that it is slightly shocking call our food by the English word: "I bought some wrapped-up dead cow parts," as someone humorously remarked to me about grocery shopping. Try telling your kids that you're cooking chicken embryos and pig parts for breakfast. When they get too grossed out to eat, refer them to The Secret Life of Plants, which explains that plants are conscious beings too. If you need to go on a diet, ponder your food. It put Alice (in Wonderland) right off her meal when she was introduced to it: "Pudding ~ Alice. Alice ~ Pudding. "
I found a good new (to me) web site on etymology while researching this point, "Take Our Word for It."
If you've got the time and can't find an answer elsewhere, and want to take a chance to get in print, try this source of grammar expertise: e-mail [email protected] with questions about grammar, copyright law, and questions on the writing biz. Your query may appear in Writer's Digest monthly Questions & Quandaries column.
And before you ask, here's a quicky grammar tip: The pronoun "that" refers to things, "who" refers to people. For example, "We're looking for a secretary that knows how to use a computer." Should be "who", assuming the secretary must be human. Lots of people use "that" to refer to people; don't do it. What if you're referring to a group composed of people? Depends. "Ace Widgets is a company that makes top-of-the-line widgets." "Who do you turn to for first-class widgets? Ace Widgets." What about animals? Depends on how you feel about them. Your pet is probably a "who". The above-referenced beef, pork, etc. are animals "that" used to be cows, pigs, etc.
You've probably heard about the BTK killer who was arrested in Wichita. Dennis Rader murdered at least ten people and identified himself as the BTK killer for "bind, torture, and kill." He was a church-goer, and his pastor was reaching to say something positive about this man. He said he believed Rader was the kind of man who would "step up to the plate" and admit his crimes. Only after they caught him, of course. This baseball expression implies taking active responsibility, giving it your all, etc. I can't think of any sports metaphor that would be suitable here, first because sports mean fun, second because the important qualities of character that can be exhibited and developed in athletics just don't apply to heinous psychotics. But the pastor's job is to see something good in everyone, and maybe he always has a sports cliché at the ready for every occasion.
I looked up "convert" in www.dict.org to check out the Latin roots, but only found the root of "vert":
L. convertere, -versum; con- + vertere to turn: cf. F. convertir.
The prefix "con" means:
(1) A prefix, fr. L. cum, signifying with, together, etc. See Com-. Also, (2) Abbrev. from L. contra against.
So does the "con" mean with or against? Must you convert against something as well as to something?
Here's a quote from the Oxford University Press daily word e-mail:
"Our modern unphonetic spelling, bad as it is in most respects, has the merit of saving written English from a good many of the ambiguities of the spoken tongue." Henry Bradley, The Making of English 212 (1904; repr. 1951).
Bryan Garner, author of the OUP daily word and Garner's Modern American Usage, is a lawyer with a slightly dry but exacting mind. His e-mail column always has useful examples and interesting quotations on language.
Remember "Taxation without representation is tyranny"? Sure you do, but I'll remind you: The founders of the United States decided that they didn't want to pay taxes if they didn't have representation in the British government. So what is "Representation without taxation"? Illegal immigrants don't pay taxes, but they're getting plenty of representation in the form of advocacy, paid for by taxpayers. Keep this in mind on Friday.
Just to show you (and me) there's nothing new under the sun, I thought I was clever when I thought of "representation without taxation," but an Internet search shows lots of other people have already thought of it as well.
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