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Hello fellow Vocabularians,

Of interest,

an older BBC radio program, My Word,

available free through Internet Archive.

Erudiciously witty.

Spoiler Alert !

We’re all guilty of it. You’re not taping anything when you record, there’s no dial to turn when you're making a call, and your glove box has likely never had a pair of gloves in it if you live south of the Mason-Dixon line. —but you still say this stuff. Welcome to the graveyard of outdated technology, where the phrases just won’t die.

Tech & Media Throwbacks That Refuse to Quit

• Tape a show  What are you taping it to, exactly? Your cloud? Origin: VHS. Now: Streaming, DVR, or yelling at your smart TV.

• Footage    From film reels measured in feet. Still used for digital video—because “megabyte-age” sounds ridiculous.

• Dial a number  Haven’t seen a rotary phone since the Nixon administration, but sure, let’s “dial.”

I've long been intrigued by the notion of equal attraction; that is, the theory that if you are attracted to someone, he or she is attracted to you. I know it can't be true 100% of the time, but the fact that so many countless millions of couples end up together, we can't dismiss the idea in its entirety. Many times, I've been surprised to find that women I've had a crush on, actually felt the same way about me. It makes sense in a way. Nature is a very equalizing force. Water finds its own level. If someone likes another, that attraction is felt and if reciprocated, is intensified, and so on and so on. If the opposing party wants nothing to do with you, that aura is sensed, and quickly brings you down a level or two. Bottom line: If you feel a certain way about anot…

I have an admitted aversion to rules of spelling. They make sense in some languages, but not necessarily in English. Part of the problem is the veritable hodge podge of sources from which English is derrived; especially French, but also German, Latin, Greek, and smatterings of Arabic, Spanish and even Turkish. (but I mostly blame the French). As a result, rules spelling are a bit nonsensical.

I very clearly remember being in Mrs. Hippe's first grade class in Morningside School, when she taught us the "i before e except after c" nonsense. I said, "What about the word "weird"? "That's an exception," she patiently explained. "What about "neighbor"? "Yes, as I said "except in words like 'neighbor' and 'weigh.'" Yikes. More exceptions! I couldn't take it!

I looked into it over the years (yes, I was that nerdy as a child), and found a litany of words that were apparently,…

We hear it said frequently, don't we? "He's my soul mate," one coos. "I haven't yet found my soul mate," bemoans another.

So what does it mean? Presumably, the soul mate quest suggests that somewhere out there in the world waiting just for you, is the one and only person who can set your world on fire (figuratively speaking, of course. We will presume she's not an arsonist). This is, of course, utter nonsense!

We are supposed to be believe that out of 8 billion people on planet Earth, the one person who is your perfect match for all eternity just happens to be sitting acroos the aisle from you in your Psych 101 class? Do you know what the odds are of that? Assuming a class size of 23 students, the odds of that happening are one in 363 million. And this allegedly happens on a pretty regular bas…

Look, I am as much in favor of healthful (not healthy) eating as anyone.... but I cringe when I hear people say "Don't Eat Fast Food!" Being fast doesn't mean that it's not nutrititional. In fact, in many cases, it's quite the opposite. You can get a salad at many fast food establishments, just as you can get a side of fries at a sit-down restaurant. Fettucine Alfredo is among the most fattening dishes in existence, yet no one goes around yelling "Don't eat slow food! Don't eat slow food!" Let's face it.... you can get the best of food fast, and the worst of food slowest. Let's not generalize and categorize for the sake of convenience! Fresh is good, old and packaged is not. Preservatives are bad, and so is MSG. Too much oil and salt are bad. Vitamins and proteins are good. Don't lump all foods to…

Of late, the Gmail semi-editor has advised correction

by inserting semi-colons where I would use a comma.

Perhaps instructions on the use of a semi-colon are in order

lest I perform gratuitous Semi-Colonoscopies...and nobody wants that.