Sponsor

wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Word Maven Patricia T. O'Conner

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Word maven Patricia T. O’Conner takes your calls on the ins and outs of English grammar. And she answers some listener email. Call 212-433-9692.

Woe Is I is available for purchase at amazon.com

Comments [17]

josephine from Queens

I am hearing young people say So, at the beginning of every answer to the questions asked in interviews. One was the doctor talking about sunscreens with Lenny Lopate the others were on Charlie Rose and PBS Newshour. Is this a new fad?

Jun. 24 2011 01:46 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Paul Richer from Long Island City

I'm often appalled at the improper use of the pronoun "you." Frequently I hear it used when "I' or "me" is called for. Are you aware of this, and if so, does it bother you as much as it bothers me?

Mar. 19 2008 02:31 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
valentin lyubarsky from carroll gardens

I was surprised to hear Patricia O'Connor calling cacophony a Latin word. It is a Greek one, in its both components.
Val Lyubarsky

Mar. 21 2007 02:27 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Charol Shakeshaft from Laurel Hollow New York

I was troubled by your patter on the use of the word Miss. If you believe in gender neutral language, then you don't differentiate by a person's marital status or age, unless you do it for both sexes.

Mr. Ms
Sir Madam

Mar. 21 2007 02:11 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Ina Reilly from NJ

Kerfuffle is not a neologism.
From Merriam Webster:
Etymology: alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled
chiefly British : DISTURBANCE, FUSS

Mar. 21 2007 01:57 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Cornelius from Mount Sinai

taxi comes from an earlier Eng. form was taxameter (1894), used in horse-drawn cabs.

Mar. 21 2007 01:57 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
David Ellertson

Cowlick - I think it refers to the way in which a calf's hair is often left swirled when the cow licks it clean immediately after birth.

Mar. 21 2007 01:55 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Estelle from Long Beach

Leonard, you're not alone. I also say FeBRUary
and it irks me that people on TV and radio don't.
Also, REALTOR vs REAL A TOR - You hear it in real estate commercials all the time pronounced REAL A TOR

Mar. 21 2007 01:54 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
julia from minnesota

cacophony is Greek kako= ugly

Mar. 21 2007 01:54 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Jeff Miller from Brooklyn NY

also...re: taxi, I think it refers to an old word for travel but was used by the inventor when the modern meter was developed.

Mar. 21 2007 01:54 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Larry Raffaele from Queens

My Oxford Pocket American Dictionary of Current English lists both pronunciations of February [febrooeree and febyooeree]

Mar. 21 2007 01:51 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Jeff Miller from Brooklyn NY

"Taxi" refers to the metering device.

Mar. 21 2007 01:51 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Ann Roberti from Long Island

I have been bothered by hearing people saying height with a th sound at the end too. I have been noticing this creeping into people's speech over the last several years. Years ago, I never heard anyone say it, and now I hear it all the time. I was wondering if the proliferation of Home Improvement shows could be spreading this mispronunciation.

Mar. 21 2007 01:48 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
julia from minnesota

taxi from Greek tachis (tachys) meaning fast swift. I think.
My grandmother visiting greece said people hailed cabs shouting 'Tachsi! '

Mar. 21 2007 01:34 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Libby Kessman from about fumfer

From Wiktionary:
to fumfer
A Yiddish word meaning to "mumble", most often used to mean to be evasive; can also mean to putter aimlessly or to waste time.
1. to stammer; to mutter nervously or confusedly;
Some common spellings: 'phumpher' and 'fumpher', to a lesser extent 'pfumpher' and 'pfumpfer', and very rarely, 'pfumfer'. Never 'phumfer'. The most common is 'phumpher', followed closely by 'fumfer'.

Mar. 21 2007 01:34 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Jackie from NYC

Please ask Ms. O'Conner to comment on this sentence, which Verizon uses as an automated message in its voicemail system:

"You have X messages whose retention time is about to expire."

Many thanks!!

Jackie

Mar. 21 2007 01:29 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0
Michael Timm from Cold Spring (Putnam County)

Please comment on the use of "problematic" to mean "troublesome".

It grates on me.

Mar. 21 2007 12:38 PM
Vote this comment up Vote this comment down Score: 0/0

Leave a Comment

Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.







URL

If you enter anything in this field your comment will be treated as spam
Location
* Denotes a required field