The Thinklings

"Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah's colorful language, the 'scarecrows in a cornfield' (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry."

- David F. Wells

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Word Up

Posted by Jared @ 7:54 pm CST
Filed under: Just Goofin' Off, Literature

A public service announcement.

"Mmm" is when you are tantalized by or hungry for something.
"Hmm" is when you are thinking about or contemplating something.
"Umm" is when you are hesitant or unsure.

Mixing them up can be, ummm, amusing.

Also:

"Yea" is when you're celebrating ("Yea, team!") or assenting to a vote ("I vote yea.").
"Yeah" is when you are answering in the affirmative.

Thirdly:

A "desert" is a dry environment.
A "dessert" is something sweet you eat after dinner.

Fourthly:

"Whoa" is when you're taken aback or stopping a horse.
"Woe" is a portend of something ominous.
"Whoah" and "Woa" are nothing. Seriously, don't use them.

Finally:

It is "Whoomp! There it is!", not "Womp" or "Oomp" and certainly never "Unhh."

That is all.

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Comments on "Word Up":

1. Jared's Mom - 11/19/2009 9:08 pm CST

And is yay even a word? All the younger guys (and gals) use it instead of yea. Just wondering...

2. G. Frederick - 11/20/2009 2:40 am CST

So what did it mean when the little children sang, "Barak Hussein Obama, Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm?"

3. Bill - 11/20/2009 6:53 am CST

I've been guilty of "Woah". I've had to break myself of that one.

Do people still say "Whoomp! There it is!"? That's very 1994.

Another.

"Lose" is when you have misplaced something.

"Loose" is when your pants fall down around your ankles (in more ways than one, I suppose).

They are different.

4. Jared - 11/20/2009 6:58 am CST

Confusing lose/loose is a pet peeve of mine too.

The "whoomp" thing was just me being silly.

5. Karl - 11/20/2009 8:14 am CST

I always thought:

Yay is the word of celebration. (Yay, team)

Yea is the word of affirmation (as in "vote yea or nay").

But that yay and yea were somewhat interchangeable - maybe alternative spellings for the same word.

6. Daniel Ross - 11/20/2009 8:38 am CST

An alternate of 'Whoomp, There It Is!' is "Whoot, There It Is!" by the group 95 South (circa 1993). It was released first.

( ... another piece of useless knowledge in my brain).

7. shallowfrozenwater - 11/20/2009 8:43 am CST

thank you very much. no really, thank you.

can you do "irregardless" and "orientated" next?

8. rob t. - 11/20/2009 3:24 pm CST

Also your/you're, its/it's and pretty much anything else with an apostrophe.

9. Milly - 11/20/2009 3:49 pm CST

Fine! I'll just give up. sniff*-*sniff

10. stroke - 11/20/2009 4:39 pm CST

boo: for all intensive purposes

yay (or yea i guess!): for all intents and purposes

11. Jared - 11/20/2009 6:53 pm CST

Here's two:

Is it "beckon call" or "beck and call"?
Is it "tow the line" or "toe the line"? (Are we pulling a line or putting our foot on it?)

Here's a common one in the Christian blogosphere that makes me laugh as it irritates: Calvinism vs. Armenianism.

Because Calvinists don't like Armenians, I suppose. :-)

12. Bill - 11/20/2009 10:30 pm CST

I've been a terrible abuser of "all intensive purposes" for years, until I finally sat down and realized that that makes no sense. How embarrassing.

I've never realized that it was not "beck and call", never having pondered what a "beck" is. Beckon call is a new one to me (I'm assuming that's the right one?)

13. Pigwotflies - 11/21/2009 2:32 am CST

It is 'beck and call'. Though I'm not sure why. I assume beck is a short form of beckon.

14. Quaid - 11/21/2009 7:28 am CST

I've also seen "beckoned call" which actually could make sense, although I don't think it is appropriate in most contexts.

15. Leeberguy - 11/21/2009 10:19 am CST

There refers to a place or position.
Their indicates possession.
They're is a contraction of "they are".

I am so tired of reading phrases like, "I went to there place." Also, "There so annoying."

(Edited to add a missing quotation mark - Drat)

16. Andrew - 11/21/2009 10:48 am CST

I'm an English Major, but misspellings and misuses don't really annoy me all that much. After reading 17th century English prose, I'm willing to cut Facebook friends a little slack.

17. Wickle - 11/21/2009 3:58 pm CST

I apologize if these have already been mentioned ... I haven't read all of the comments:

"would of" instead of "would have" (or "would've," I suppose) irritates me more than fingernails on a chalkboard ever could

its/it's misuse drives me insane

"could care less"

Among the worst, though, is the use of "literally" when not speaking literally. Most recently, a blogger made mention of the "media literally crucifying Sarah Palin."

I missed that story.

18. Milly - 11/21/2009 5:35 pm CST

*-* I'm ascared to type now.

19. Bill - 11/21/2009 7:29 pm CST

Oh, so it is "beck and call"?

Then I've been literally using it right my whole life, for all intensive purposes. So their ya go.

20. Brian in Fresno - 11/21/2009 9:40 pm CST

"Orientated" drives my wife nuts! I looked it up in the dictionary where I found that both oriented and orientated are both correct. I believe, though may be mistaken, that orientated is an England English usage rather than American English use. That or the language is changing to allow for it.

21. Wickle - 11/22/2009 4:04 am CST

"Then I've been literally using it right my whole life, for all intensive purposes. So their ya go. "

:Wickle's head explodes:

22. Shrode - 11/22/2009 7:17 am CST

OK, you all probably already know this, and you're joking, so it's just me being too serious but..

It's supposed to be "all intents and purposes". I'm only saying that because it hasn't been said yet.

And for the record, I hate "yea" in print. It doesn't look like it's pronounced "yaay". It looks like it should be pronounced "yeah". So I make a motion that "yea" be banned and replaced by "Yaay".

Good post, Jared.

23. Milly - 11/22/2009 4:07 pm CST

Yaay!

Being from Oklahoma I can only say these are the least of the problems. I don't have an Okie drawl.But I say and hear stuff.

. . . and I hate the word crap for everything

24. Michael - 11/23/2009 10:51 am CST

One addition to the list:

Shaking one's head is a side-to-side motion expressing a negative response. It is, therefore, impossible to shake your head "Yes." To indicate the affirmative, one must "nod" one's head.

25. Michael - 11/23/2009 10:51 am CST

Bill: I think it's supposed to be "for all intents and purposes" which does make sense.

26. Bill - 11/23/2009 12:07 pm CST

Michael - thanks, I know :-)

Although I still find myself, if not saying, at least thinking "intensive purposes" at times.

Because my purposes are INTENSE, baybay!

:gsmile:

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