Mad Dash: How to Use the Dash in Writing – NYTimes.com
April 1, 2013 § Leave a comment
Image via NYTimes.com
Love Draft, love Ben Yagoda, love this post. Plus—I love the em dash.
Like hitting the right combination of buttons in a computer game, typing two hyphens on the keyboard — and thereby making a dash — can give your prose a burst of energy, as if by magic.
The Treachery of Translators – NYTimes.com
February 4, 2013 § Leave a comment
The Treachery of Translators – NYTimes.com.
Posting this in celebration of my first-ever English-Spanish translation project, which I’m SUPER excited about. True translation is (almost always) impossible. But it doesn’t stop us from trying.
“I had this realization that every individual language does at least one thing better than every other language.”
December 22, 2012 § Leave a comment
Image via Wikimedia Commons. By the way, it’s Ithkuil for “As our vehicle leaves the ground and plunges over the edge of the cliff toward the valley floor, I ponder whether it is possible that one might allege I am guilty of an act of moral failure, having failed to maintain a proper course along the roadway.”
If I weren’t a writer, I would definitely be a linguist. And as someone who used to make up my own languages as a kid (and then journal in them—no joke), I love reading about stuff like this. Great (but long) read by Joshua Foer, who tells the story of Ithkuil, one of the world’s most “efficient” languages—and its enigmatic creator.
Oh, Reverse Dictionary, how I love you.
October 17, 2012 § Leave a comment
I can’t remember how we first met, but I know how quickly we fell in love. Before you, I was stuck, knowing the definition of a word but not its precise name, like “happening every two years” or “duck-billed mammal.” Thesaurus couldn’t give me what I needed. Then you came along and filled in the blanks. We’re always finishing each others’ sentences (okay, you’re finishing mine). Of course, sometimes you give me utter nonsense—but that’s okay. I love you all the same.
Now, nestled safely on by bookmarks toolbar, we’ll never be apart again.
How did I ever live without you?
MARY GABLE 