The Word Blog

Freedom to Read Week 2013

by Heather on February 27, 2013

It can be easy to think that we don’t have to worry about censorship in Canada, that we can relax and let down our guard. It just isn’t true, though.

Censorship is an ongoing concern anywhere people create works that others don’t like. Which is pretty much everywhere. Even Canada.

There are Freedom to Read events taking place across the country this week. Hopefully you can find one or two to attend. You can check out the calendar of events here.

If you live in Toronto, why not come out the the Toronto Reference Library this Friday at 7:00 p.m. for Beyond Book Burning: Disappearing Books in the Digital Age? This panel discussion will be hosted by PEN Canada and promises to be an illuminating look at the changing face of censorship.

If you can’t make it out to any of the events, you can still participate on your own. You could write to your MP expressing concern about the muzzling of government scientists. Or you could curl up with a classic Canadian book like The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood or The Wars by Timothy Findley, both of which have faced challenges demanding their removal from school libraries and classrooms in recent years. If you want more inspiration, the Freedom to Read website has lots of suggestions for ways to get involved.

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Yell

by Heather on January 15, 2013

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

Yell, v. to make a hideous screaming noise.

Word in the Wild: When Prapti tried using pliers to yank the gum from Jim’s hair, he yelled.

Okay, so I’m making a bit of an exception this time in our list of old and dusty words because I like J. Jenkins’s definition of yell so much. Although this word is old, hailing from as least as far back as the Old English yellen, it is also very current and un-dusty, having stood the test of time. I guess we still “make hideous, screaming noises” too often for this word to fall out of use!

You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.

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2012 International Festival of Authors

by Heather on October 16, 2012

It’s that time of year again! From October 18 to 28, Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre will be wall-to-wall authors, books, and words. And, as usual, there are way more events than you can count on all your fingers and toes!

The festival opens with the traditional PEN Canada Benefit. This year’s event promises to be an evening full of performance, words, and music with Rohinton Mistry in conversation with Eleanor Wachtel. Tickets are $50 and all proceeds go to PEN Canada, an organization committed to defending the freedom of expression of writers, in Canada and around the world, who have been forced into silence.

The benefit is just the start of things, too. Hundreds of authors will be participating in readings, round tables, and signings, so check out the IFOA schedule (pdf) to find events featuring Emma Donoghue, Dennis Lee, M. G. Vassanji, Annabel Lyon, Cory Doctorow, Miriam Toews, Hiromi Kawakami, Ayesha Chatterjee, José Luís Peixoto, Irvine Welsh, and dozens and dozens of other great authors.

I’d love to hear in the comments about any events you’re planning to check out or authors you can’t wait to see. And I promise to report back on the PEN Canada Benefit. Let the readings begin!

Edit: Well, I fell off the edge of the world and completely failed to report back as I had promised, so here, very belatedly, is my report. As expected the PEN Canada Benefit was excellent—I think it was even better than last year’s. Rohinton Mistry performed a funny and touching recounting of his childhood and his move to Canada as a young man. The setting and his welcoming manner made it seems almost as if he were inviting us into his home, and yet he had clearly decided (and fair enough) exactly how much of himself he wanted to share—I think we were in his parlor, not his kitchen, and it was still an amazing treat. He regaled us with stories of his schooling, home life, his rock ‘n’ roll aspirations, and his travels. And with chameleon ease transformed into the crooners of his childhood, everyone from Bing Crosby to the Beatles. I wish I could say that this performance were posted on the CBC’s website, but I’m afraid it isn’t. Instead I found a notice there saying that, though it aired on Radio One, it won’t be streamed. But who knows? Maybe if enough of us ask very politely, they’ll change their minds. I’d like very much for you to experience it, too.

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Imagining a World without Words

by Heather on September 15, 2012

I love Radiolab’s podcasts, and I especially love this one. I’ve listened to it several times, and each time it fills me with a sense of just how crucial language is. I suspect that at least part of my fascination with language stems from the fact that my brother, who is a low-functioning autistic and really cool person, doesn’t speak or write. David’s quite eloquent with body language, though, and his circle of family and friends has learned to read it pretty well. I sometimes think about all the things that must be going through his mind that we’ll never know and wonder if his brain lets him think in ways we can’t.

David can understand all the things we say to him, though, and even taught himself to read without our realizing it. So he’s by no means without language, unlike some of the people you’ll hear about in this highly recommended hour-long Radiolab podcast called “Words.” Enjoy!

We meet a woman who taught a 27-year-old man the first words of his life, hear a firsthand account of what it feels like to have the language center of your brain wiped out by a stroke, and retrace the birth of a brand new language 30 years ago. (description from the Radiolab website)

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Principal vs. Principle

by Heather on September 9, 2012

Lexical Vexations

This lexical vexation is for Kevin – thanks for all the great Lexical Vexation suggestions, Kevin!

principal 1. n . a person responsible for the administration of a school. 2. adj. most important or influential.

principle 1. n. a rule or standard to which a person should be held.

Words in the Wild: Principal Lockheed considered it his duty to ensure the safety of his students. So, after the principal ballerina incorporated an illicit pyrotechnical display into the show, his principles dictated that he expel her from the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Rare as Hen’s Teeth

by Heather on August 13, 2012

Twists & Turns of Phrase

When something is as rare (or scarce) as hen’s teeth, it is very rare to find it, perhaps even impossible.

This phrase first came into use in mid–19th century America, where anyone with a chicken coop could see that birds have beaks, not teeth. Interestingly, though, some researchers at the universities of Manchester and Wisconsin have discovered that hen’s teeth are not nearly so rare as once thought.

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The Page Turner by Joseph Herscher

by Heather on July 8, 2012

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Wait vs. Weight

by Heather on June 16, 2012

Lexical Vexations

This lexical vexation is for Colette, who understands the weighty responsibility of using wait and weight correctly.

wait 1. v . to remain somewhere in anticipation of an event, to employ (varying degrees of) patience in anticipation of an event. 2. n. the duration of time that must elapse before an event takes place.

weight 1. n. a force created by an object’s gravitational attraction to Earth, measured in a variety of standard units such as grams, ounces, pounds. 2. n. an object designed to weigh a specific amount.

Words in the Wild: Ewa was waiting for the bus and could see by the lineup that she had a long wait ahead of her. It was going to feel even longer since she’d nearly doubled her weight by loading her backpack with the free weights she’d bought at the fitness store.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Writative

by Heather on June 6, 2012

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

Writ’ative, a. inclined to write as an author.

Word in the Wild: Vicki used pencils to put up her hair so that she could write at any time whatsoever. She wrote while riding the bus, wrote in her dreams, wrote her own vows, and wrote with the alphabet noodles in her soup. She once tried to go a whole day without writing but inadvertently wrote a journal entry about how hard it was. Vicki is, hands down, the most writative person I’ve ever met.

The OED‘s definition of writative stresses that a writative person doesn’t simply write a lot, but is actually addicted to writing, impelled to put words to paper. I think this is an addiction well worth pursuing.

You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.