Patricia Mather Parker

I’ve been keeping a list of words that don’t exist but, in my opinion, should.

First on the list: SHEVELED

Here we have the familiar DISHEVELED (untidy, disordered)

And here is what I would call SHEVELED (tidy and ordered)

Opinions? Other words to suggest?

Click the Comment button under the title and send me your thoughts!

I’ve been thinking about words that are not words lately, so I’ve decided to write about some of them.

First on my list is the non-word COMBOBULATED. (part of the word DISCOMBOBULATED, a verified English word meaning confused, upset, frustrated, disconcerted, etc.

Like this guy:

But can we be combobulated? Apparently not. No such word in Merriam-Webster or the Oxford English Dictionary.

So, I vote for making combobulated a word.

As in:

“How are you today, Pat?”

“I’m great! Feeling totally combobulated for once.”

I mean the following is a real thing already:

(Where you put your shoes and belts back on after the airport security-check trauma.)

Let me know if you agree about combobulated, and we’ll start a movement. Just post a comment below or, even better, send me an email from the Home page of pmparker.webdreambuilders.com. If you send an email you’ll be on my mailing list and all set to receive freebies, newsletters, and more.

Hope this makes you feel all warm and combobulated.

Graphics sources:

https://ritamaher.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/

http://theothersideoforganized.com/blog/2012/1/9/recombobulation-area.html

Both in and into are prepositions, words that link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence. But in and into are not interchangeable.

To begin:

In indicates position or location:
She walked in the garden. (She was already inside the garden, walking.)

The preposition into describes movement or direction:
She walked into the garden. (She was somewhere else and then she entered the garden.)

The thing is, in gets used instead of into when it shouldn’t.
You might hear something like:
She ran in the classroom, late as usual.
When they probably mean:
She ran into the classroom, late as usual.

In indicates location, so in the first example, she would already have been in the classroom, running.
Into indicates movement, so in the second example, she would have entered the classroom running.

Here are a few other sentence pairs for comparison:

Dad poured coffee in his cup. (So Dad was standing or sitting inside the cup, pouring coffee.)
vs.
Dad poured coffee into his cup.

Alan walked in the ocean. (He was already in the ocean, walking.)
vs.
Alan walked into the ocean. (See below.)

He screamed in my ear. (This would require him to be inside your ear, screaming.)
vs
He screamed into my ear. (See below)

And my favorite:
“We were dancin’, dancin’ in the street…”

vs
We were dancin’, dancin’ into the street.

Now that everything above is completely clear, there are some other uses of in and into I feel obligated to mention:

Into: Since sometime in the ‘60s or thereabouts, into started to mean “interested in,” “likes a lot,” etc.: “He’s really into you.” I imagine this is a preposition.

In: This little word is a preposition, but it also serves as an adverb, an adjective, and a noun.
Adverb: If in has an object, it’s a preposition. If not, in is an adverb.
He sat in the chair. (Chair is the object so preposition)
He came in and sat down. (No object for the in, so that one’s an adverb.)

As an adjective:
Using bitcoin was the in thing to do.

As a noun:
They had no in, so they didn’t get invited to the gala.

And lastly in to:
The sentence below contains something called a verbal phrase, basically two or more words that act as a single verb.
We stepped in to look at the room.
(In is partnered with stepped, so stepped in is a verbal phrase. To look is an infinitive. Can’t be separating those!)

Thank you to the following sites for images and assistance:
https://www.videoblocks.com/video/male-walking-into-ocean-in-suit-1bt4vmm

http://incedogroup.com/blog/communicating-effectively-focus-intentions-talk-gets-ugly/
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preposition
Dancing in the Street Lyrics from Martha and the Vandellas, 1964, Gordy Recordsß

Our alphabet has gone through many changes over the centuries. At least 12 letters that used to be welcome there have been ousted. Among those kicked out is the symbol “&,” the ampersand, which means “and.”

The ampersand is a ligature: two or more letters joined together as in the character æ. The ampersand began as a ligature of the Latin letters e and t which spell the Latin word et or “and.”

The symbol has been around since ancient times, but didn’t appear in print until the 15th century. The chart below illustrates the evolution of the ampersand over time. These are just a few examples of the many forms this ligature has been known to inhabit.

Unlike all of the other letters, the ampersand doesn’t represent a sound.

Where did the word ampersand originate?

As the popularity of the & symbol increased, the ampersand gained a place as the 27th letter of the alphabet.

In 18th-century English schools, students were taught to use the phrase per se when reciting the alphabet. Per se meant “by itself,” and was spoken before the letters “A,” “I,” and, for a while, “O,” each of which could stand by itself as a word. So in recitation, students would say “per se A, B, C….per se I, J, K….and so forth.

When the ampersand was added to the alphabet, instead of “X, Y, and Z,” students would recite “X, Y, Z, and per se and,” meaning that the letter & stood by itself at the end of the alphabet.

The phrase “and per se and” eventually turned into (got slurred together as) the word ampersand.

So next time you use the & in a text/tweet/email … may you find joy in knowing where that little symbol came from and how it got its name.

Enjoy!

Some of the sources for this post:
https://medium.com/black-lion-banner/the-history-of-the-ampersand-c81839171940
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand
https://99design.com/blog/tips/history-of-ampersands-typographyh/

The phrase “begs the question” gets used incorrectly more and more lately. I hear it on TV and read it in magazines and on websites.

Begs the question does NOT mean “raises the question.” For example:

Incorrect: My car broke down. That begs the question, should I have had it serviced last week?

Incorrect: Your mother is mad at me again. That begs the question, what did I do this time?

So what DOES Begs the Question Mean?

Begs the question is a phrase that comes from formal logic. It means that someone has made a conclusion based on a premise that lacks support. Wha?

OK, a few examples of statements that DO beg the question:

1. Speaking up for oneself is critical because it’s important to be heard.

“It’s important to be heard” doesn’t explain why “Speaking up for oneself is critical.” The two phrases merely make the same point in different words. This sentence doesn’t answer the question “Why is it important to speak up for oneself?” OR the question “Why is it important to be heard?” In other words, this sentence Begs The Question. It leaves the reader begging for an answer.

2. Chocolate is my favorite food because I like it best.

3. Vegetables are good for you because they make you healthy.

Do you see what I’m getting at in #2 and #3?

Note: My first-born son insists I’m wrong about all of the above:  “Language evolves, so begs the question no longer means what it used to mean.” The following link is for him: http://grammarist.com/rhetoric/begging-the-question-fallacy/

(Apology: I tried to post the cartoon but it just wouldn’t come in here in any legible form)

And finally my favorite example from from someone whose handle is doubloons: (grammarist.com/rhetoric/begging-the-question-fallacy/)

“It’s important to use the phrase ‘begging the question’ correctly, because people should speak properly. But this begs the question, what is so important about speaking properly in the first place?”

I dunno. I just kinda like to talk and write good.

He said, she said, Dad asked, Mom blurted out.

All of these are examples of dialogue tags.

Definition: A dialogue tag is two or more words that attribute speech to a particular speaker.

Examples:

“Do you know what a dialogue tag is?” asked Sloane.

“No clue,” said Dan.

In these sentences asked Sloane and said Dan are dialogue tags.

When writing dialogue tags, the basic “rules” are

1. use either “said” or “asked,” unless you can’t avoid using a different verb.

2. don’t use a dialogue tag at all if you can avoid it.

But what about those strong verbs our teachers and writing coaches have nagged us about forever?

Good question. Nothing is inherently wrong with those verbs, but in dialogue they can often pull the reader right out of the story.

Examples:

“I can’t find my new necklace,” Judy exclaimed.

“Look under the bed,” Fred responded.

“I already did that!” Judy snarled.

“Then stop whining,” Fred snapped.

Technically, there’s nothing wrong with those sentences. But professionally, there are much slicker ways to get the same message across. The use of the verbs exclaimed, responded, snarled, and snapped attract attention to themselves, rather than doing much to move the story along.

Try these:

“I can’t find my new necklace,” Judy said. She knelt down to search through the dust bunnies under her bed.

“Look under the bed,” said Fred, fiddling with his tie in front of the mirror.

Judy threw up her hands in frustration. “I already did that!”

“Then stop whining.” Fred had had enough!

The second example paints a clearer picture of what’s going on in this story, how Fred and Judy are feeling, and where they are. Note that Fred’s final comment doesn’t even need a dialogue tag.

Here’s another pair of dialogue samples, borrowed from scribophile.com:

“I don’t care,” Bill shouted.

“I’m not talking about this anymore,” argued Sharon.

vs.

Bill slammed his palm on the table. “I don’t care!”

Sharon didn’t flinch this time, her body was too rigid for that. She lifted her chin. “I’m not talking about this anymore.”

https://www.scribophile.com/academy/he-said-she-said-dialog-tags-and-using-them-effectively

Having said all of the above, I now share with you a chart of 200 verbs you can use instead of said. Find the chart at http://www.spwickstrom.com/said1/.