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When 2 Negatives Don’t Make a Positive
Those of us who learned about double negatives in grammar class understood them as grammatical no-nos. You were not to say, “I don’t have no bananas,” because, by denying the absence of bananas, you...
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Getting a Fix on ‘Fixers’
One of the many astonishing developments, for language mavens, in the unfolding drama of the Mueller investigation has been the casual use of the term fixer. Mainstream media outlets have taken to...
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Itsy-Bitsy Teenie-Weenie Yellow-Polka-Dot Emoji
French dancer Micheline Bernardini modeling the first bikini I have only recently started using emojis, and I often choose the wrong ones — the other day, for instance, I meant to send an "astonished"...
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The Privilege of Language
When Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky announced that he opposed public funding for humanities curricula, citing the study of French language and literature in particular as a discipline he’d like to...
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What Is the Origin of ‘the Worm Has Turned’?
A friend asked me the other day about the origin of the phrase the worm has turned. I was too embarrassed to admit that not only did I not know the origin, I wasn’t even sure what the proverb meant....
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Gals, Guys, and Speech
Last week, I read two provocative articles about women and speech. One concerned how women talk, the other how women are talked about. The first article, by Rachel Thompson, on Mashable, noted the...
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A Hurrah for the Long Sentence
I am once again teaching Gertrude Stein in Paris. Struck anew by the modernity of her sentences (of Ezra Pound: “She said he was a village explainer, excellent if you were a village, but if you were...
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New French Lingo: du Coup
Each time I stay in France for an extended period, I become aware of a new expression that’s infiltrated the language. Just as the occasional sojourner in America might be surprised to discover woke or...
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Where Do We Begin? Language Learning and Grammar
This fall, I am not only teaching in Paris but temporarily directing a program of study abroad. Among the many other changes this shift has produced in my daily life, I find myself no longer on the...
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The ‘Sherpas’ of the Beltway
Retired Senator Jon Kyl is now a Sherpa. As The New York Times writes, “In Washington, a Sherpa is an informal but widely known term for a nominee’s guide to the political tundra in the Senate.” Widely...
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