The Engine Room A blog about language use, misuse and abuse, brought to you by two sub-editors (copy editors) on a weekly magazine. If you have questions about words, grammar, spelling etc, why not ask us? Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 0 4622

Articles from The Engine Room

TLA: LOL 2007-08-09 03:42:00 There appears to be some confusion over the meaning of the three-letter acronym (or TLA) 'LOL', often seen in instant messaging, emails, text messages etc.While most people (including myself) take it to mean 'Laughs Out Loud', a minority take it to mean 'Lots of Love'.Don't believe me? A friend of mine recently received a text from his mother saying: "Uncle Robert passed away at 3:00 this morning LOL xx"I have to admit I laughed out loud... ...

Hablo español! 2007-08-07 04:37:00 Keen to learn a little Spanish before my holiday in several weeks, I recently bought an 'Instant Spanish' book and CD set."Study for thirty-five minutes a day for six weeks and you'll speak Spanish," it promises. Doesn't seem very instant to me - not compared to, say, instant mashed potato."Stir your flakes for thirty-five minutes a day for six weeks and you'll have mashed potato..."I'm also amused by some of the strange sentences that language learning sets teach you as a beginner. Along with the Spanish for 'my name is James', 'good evening', and 'how are you?' I've learnt 'I have a large house and it costs a lot of money. And I have a Mercedes'. This is likely to get me mugged if nothing else.I can also say (in Spanish) 'I worked for the Bank of Spain for three years' - which is neither useful nor true. And it might make people wonder why my Spanish isn't better - although perhaps it could explain the Mercedes...Tengo un Mercedes... ...

Oh burger 2007-08-06 04:16:00 At a rugby match yesterday, I was queuing up for a hotdog when a teenage girl behind me in the queue asked her friend:"What's a one-stroke-four-ell-bee burger?""It's a quarter-pounder," her friend replied. Obviously it was written on the sign as '1/4lb burger' - enough to confuse one of the metric generation...A one-stroke-four-ell-bee burger ...

Overseas goods and fisking 2007-08-03 05:54:00 A couple of things today.Firstly, one of the writers on our magazine submitted copy that included the following sentence:more and more goods coming into the country are coming from overseasThe UK does have a land border, where Northern Ireland meets the Republic of Ireland, but I don't think our writer was referring to that...Secondly, if you are interested in blogging and strange new words, check out this list of blogging terms. Here are a few of my favourites (perhaps because they all sound slightly rude):blawg: a blog about lawflog: a fake blog - ie one that is ghostwrittenplog: a political blogfisking: a point-by-point rebuttal of a blog post or news story (named after Robert Fisk)I'm not sure how many of the words in the list will achieve widespread usage outside the - ahem - blogosphere... ...

Word of the day: tarantism 2007-08-02 09:41:00 Today's word of the day, as brought to my attention by Rehana, is 'tarantism'. The Concise OED defines tarantism as:a psychological illness characterised by an extreme impulse to dance, prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to 17th century and formerly believed to be caused by the bite of a tarantula.That has to be the dictionary definition with everything - history, strange but amusing illnesses, spiders and Italians...The word listed above it in my dictionary is 'tarantella', "a rapid whirling dance originating in southern Italy". Could the two be connected? Wikipedia says yes...Not dancing, just dodging a spider ...

Continent under hammer attack 2007-08-01 10:42:00 Gingerous Humerous Maximus has emailed in the following headline from the BBC Football website:Bellamy targets Europe with HammersHe says: "Now clearly it is a reference to [footballer] Craig Bellamy hoping to get into European competitions with West Ham but still it made me giggle!"Europe: beware hammer-wielding footballer ...

Orangina: not evil, may stain 2007-07-31 07:09:00 The product warning saga continues – recently I was highly amused by a warning on a bottle of orange soft drink Orangina: "If spilt, this product may stain."Really? Unlike orange juice, or other carbonated soft drinks such as Coke, which don't stain at all...I wonder what compelled Orangina Schweppes, the current manufacturer of the drink, to place this particular warning on the packaging. Perhaps it is connected with the fact that it also encourages you to "shake the bottle, wake the taste" – surely increasing the likelihood of spillage.Incidentally, one French TV advert for Orangina had - according to Wikipedia - "a mad chainsaw-wielding killer attacking a family in a car who travelled through a forest." The catchphrase: "But why is he so evil?" "Because!"You've got to love the French... ...

Smother you 2007-07-30 09:03:00 In my local supermarket last week, past the aisles called 'CEREALS' and 'TINNED FOOD', I came across an aisle called 'SMOTHER YOU'. My blood ran cold at this incredibly sinister sign.It was only on second inspection that I realised the sign actually said 'SMOOTHER YOU' - the supermarket had some kind of aftershave promotion going on.Then at the weekend I was in the same supermarket and I misread the same sign in the same way - and scared myself again. It's strange how the brain works... ...

How many is several? 2007-07-27 04:42:00 How many is 'several'? If I said to you I'd posted on this blog several times this week, how many times would you think I meant?Personally I use 'several' to mean a very small number, three to five perhaps - for me it is almost synonymous with 'a few'. But I realise that a lot of other people use 'several' to mean a higher number than this.One person I spoke to yesterday believed 'several' to mean 'a number around seven', perhaps because of the similarity between the words 'several' and seven'. Although the two words have different etymologies, making connections like this between similar-sounding words is quite common and understandable.To my surprise the OED agrees with me on 'several', defining it as "more than two but not many". 'A few', in comparison, is "a small number of; not many". So I wouldn't say that 'several' is bigger than 'a few', at least according to the dictionary definition. But then, I would love to hear what you think...A few, or several? O ...

ITA: Initial Teaching Alphabet 2007-07-26 10:46:00 I wrote a little while back about my opposition to simplifying the spelling of English, but today one of my colleagues mentioned that he remembered a simplified spelling system that was brought in at his school for a year or so. This must have been back in the late 60s.The Initial Teaching Alphabet, or ITA, relied on more than 40 characters (our alphabet plus a number of other characters to represent different vowel combinations and sounds such as the 'ng' of 'ring') to spell words in a more consistent, phonetic way. My colleague recalls entire books being written in ITA.The idea was that children would initially learn to read in ITA, then move over to conventional English spelling. A number of schools brought ITA in, but it was never considered a resounding success. Many people who used ITA seem to blame it for their poor spelling in later life.Incidentally, all ITA text was written in lower case, so I suppose it should really be called ita.My colleague later found a BBC article a ...

Words our colleagues hate 2007-07-25 09:34:00 All writers and sub-editors have their personal writing bugbears. If you read this blog regularly, you will be familiar with many of Apus's and mine - I, for example, have unresolved issues with the word 'new'.Today I asked a few of my colleagues (designers, subs and writers) for the bugbear words and phrases they hate to see appear in the pages of our publication. Here's a selection - and note that I don't necessarily agree with all of them:Together with. No! Just use 'with' or 'and'.Interestingly. No! If it's going in the magazine, of course it should be interesting - you don't need to tell the readers so.Of course. No! If it's obvious, why are you mentioning it? If it's not obvious, don't make readers feel small for not knowing something. Is it a sign of insecurity on the part of the writer?Back in (1996, for example). No! Just put 'in 1996'.Explains. Especially in interviews. For example: "We entered this sector because it is growing fast," he explains. It makes the ...

Journalism: your cup of tea? 2007-07-24 10:13:00 I expected only the best when I placed my order for a cheese omelette and chips. I wasn't disappointed. Normally, I don't get too excited about chips or French fries, but these had a crispy, rough surface and this made a pleasant change from those boring oven chips.The above quote comes from an amazing piece of incisive investigative journalism that Col stumbled upon. 'Pot of Jam at the End of a Rainbow' appears to be part review of Balcombe Tea Rooms, part travelogue involving a gentle motorbike ride to said tea rooms. Written, I am assured, by a professional journalist.If you ever wanted to be a journalist yourself but were worried about long hours, dangerous situations, interesting characters, too much excitement – take heart. The tea room awaits.Pot of Jam at the End of a RainbowHave a sit down ...

Crime: hugger muggers 2007-07-23 09:01:00 Recently you may have read about the phenomenon of hugger muggers - criminals who pretend to befriend people in pubs and clubs in order to steal their belongings.Hugger mugger (posed by model)'Hugger mugger' isn't the most accurate of names seeing as these criminals don't mug anyone (mugging being to 'attack and rob in a public place', OED) and they don't necessarily hug anyone either. Mind you, 'befriender-thief' sounds more like a misguided social initiative than a new strain of criminal.But ignoring all that, what is the crime associated with hugger muggers? Is it hugger mugging? Hugger muggering? Hugging mugging? Huggering muggering?Incidentally, I was almost the victim of a rather incompetent hugger mugger in Camden a few weeks ago. He managed to lift my mobile phone from my jeans pocket whereupon it fell on the floor and I picked it up again. Actually seeing as my phone is rather old and dented now he may well just have decided not to bother... ...

Independent: wackiest words 2007-07-20 09:27:00 If you are interested in words and live in the UK, I recommend you pick up a copy of the Independent today. In the Independent Extra is a great feature on 'The Wackiest Words You've Never Heard Of', as selected by Christopher Foyle, chairman of Foyles bookshop.The feature does indeed include many words I've never heard of (such as batterfang, which means 'to attack with the fists or nails'), as well as a few of my and Apus' personal favourites (I've always had a soft spot for fabiform, 'shaped like a bean').beans are, by their nature, fabiformIf you are unable to buy a copy of the Independent today, you can find the same article online.Thanks to Col for bringing this to my attention. ...

More mixed metaphors 2007-07-20 06:52:00 A couple of nice mixed metaphors that didn't make it into our publication this week:This is the mantra currently running through the veins of the organisationThere is no clear black and white path for the industry to followWords in your veins? And why is a black and white path easier to follow than any other path? Sheds new light on the Wizard of Oz, perhaps...A black and white path (well, greyscale) ...