What's The Deal With Dis-orientated?

This is a re-run of an entry I made in my main journal.  I thought it would fit well here:

Feeling Dis-orientated

I recently re-read (actually listened to the audio book of...) Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James and was reminded of a word that bugs the heck out of me -- disorientated.  I don't know why, but it just doesn't sound right.  The first time I saw it in print I thought it was a misprint.  But I looked it up and it is actually a word.  It means, of course, to "cause to be lost or disoriented", and the literal meaning is to "turn away from the East or (figuratively) from the right or the truth", thus the "orient" portion of the word, as in "oriental".  (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.)

I have no problem with the word disoriented, but disorientated makes my mouth feel funny!  And if reading the word was bad, listening to it being read on the audio book was even worse.  Made my head spin every time I heard it.  And I think P.D. James uses it at least a half dozen times in that book.

Oh well.  I'll get over it.  Isn't it funny how some words just bug you or make your tongue feel funny when you try to say them?  I do love P.D. James, though, and Death in Holy Orders is probably my favorite Adam Dalgliesh story.  Love those "who-done-its."

 

P.S. I just checked my OED of English Etymology, 1966 and found this interesting note about the word "orient": "...place so as to face the east ...; determine the bearings of; ...ascertain one's bearings ...So, by extension with -ATE, orientate; prob. after orientaTION; situation so as to face east (of a church, east and west), bearing or lie of a thing, determination of bearings...." 

 

But the word "disorientate" doesn't appear in this book.

 

P.P.S.  Tag, Guido, you're it.

Tags: Disoriented, disorientated, P.D. James, Death In Holy Orders

Giving A Title Its Due

Well, I'm determined I'm going to get an entry in here before the day is officially over!

I've been playing around with several ideas for entries, but then Amanda left a comment in the previous entry that I feel I just MUST address.  Let's see what we can find out, shall we?

Amanda asked how to "properly give a book title its due recognition",  and she wondered "how to properly do speech in writing."  She wondered if she could put the actual quote on another line to emphasize it.  Let's deal with the second question first. 

I don't see why you can't put a quote on a separate line to emphasize it, but I wouldn't (like the example you used in your comment) put She said, on one line, and then the quote on another line.  I'd just go ahead and put the words She said and the quote on the same line, or I'd just let the quote stand alone without using the words She said.  I couldn't find anything that addressed this particular question, but I did find this nifty video about using quotation marks: Nifty Video About Using Quotation Marks.  The only thing I'll add is that when you're writing in your journal or in any personal writing I don't see why you can't style your writing any way you want.  If you're looking to get published, you'll have an editor (or team of editors) rearranging anything that needs to be rearranged, anyway.

Now, as for the first question dealing with properly giving a book title its due recognition:  Unless things have changed since my proofreading days, the preferred method is to underline the title of a book or magazine.   ONE CAN ALSO WRITE THE TITLE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.  I have also seen cases where a book or magazine title is typed in italics, but I was not taught to do so.  (I must offer a bit of a disclaimer here.  I was a proofreader for a newspaper, and sometimes journalism has its own rules and regulations when it comes to these things.)  I believe that it is more acceptable to underline titles.  However, two exceptions to this are the Bible and the Koran.  I don't think it's acceptable to underline these names, or to write them in all caps, nor would I italicize them.  Often when I'm writing online I will use all caps for the title of a book, simply because underlining may make it look like a hyperlink, but otherwise I prefer underlining.  Never underline and italicize a title at the same time.  It just isn't done.

I found one source that mentioned that The New Yorker uses quotation marks around everything whether it's a novel, a TV show, or a short story.  I think the main thing is to be consistent within your writing.  Decide which you are going to do, and then stick with it.

If I find anything more definitive about this, I'll post it at a later time, and if there is anyone out there who knows what the current rules are, please leave a comment or email me.

 

Tags: underlining titles of books, writing dialogue

What's in a name

Although I was the last to post on this blog, I thought it would be a shame to let this journal slip into oblivion, so I'm picking up the baton. What's in a name in my neck of the woods. An exercise in etymology.

Here in the Scottish islands, names are not predominantly of English origin. It is a mish-mash of Norse, Gaelic and English. The name of the Isle of Lewis, where I currently reside, is a corruption of the Gaelic Leòdhas. This in turn is a corruption of the Norse male name Leod. Completing the circle, I think the closest name in English would be Ludovic. Bearing in mind that in Gaelic, the word for "son" is "Mac", it won't come as a huge surprise that the name MacLeod occurs in abundance round here.

Names of hills are usually of Norse derivation. The suffix "val" means "hill", so you get loads of mountains whose names end in -val. Three of the hills I have climbed, or tried to climb in some instances, were called Teileasbhal (699 m), Roineabhal (218 m),  and Stulabhal (550 m). Oh, in Gaelic the "bh" is pronounced as a soft "v".

Beaches and bays also carry Norse names. The name of my hometown, Stornoway, has a Gaelic name of Steòrnabhagh. The suffix -bagh (or bhagh where lenited) means bay. In the case of Stornoway, it means anchorage.

The Vikings had farms, and the name of many a village in Lewis bears witness to that, with a suffix of -shader or -bost. The tiny hamlet of Grimshader lies 5 miles south of Stornoway, along a beautiful inlet. The village of Leurbost a few miles south of that again.

Norway occupied these parts until 1296, when it lost the battle of Largs. The Vikings have long gone, as has their culture. Only in their names do they live on.

Inconsistencies

English is a strange language, whether it's British or American English. I once possessed a list of all the quirks in English, like:

Why is it one mouse, two mice
Why is it one louse, two lice
Why is it one house, but not two hice?

The point was raised by Yasmin and a few other (British) bloggers about the differences between American and British spellings. In the USA, you tend to reduce the 'ou' in (e.g.) colour to 'o' as in color. Another disparity is turning the 's' in organisation to 'z' (organization). To be honest, this is something that I tend to ignore. I note it, but don't take issue with it.

I DO Stand Corrected!

In her comment to the "bath-ing" entry (and a subsequent email) Yasmin said that, being British, she does use the word "bath" as a verb.  Curious I pulled out my Oxford American and look what I found:

The word "bath" can be a noun or a verb in Great Britain.  Here's what Oxford says: "v. Brit.  1.tr. wash (esp. a person) in a bath.  2. intr. take a bath.

So in Britain "bath" can be a verb, both transitive and intransitive.  However, according to my Oxford, in Britain the word "bathe" is used when referring to a swim, and this goes along with what Yasmin told me, as well.

I will, in all fairness, email my sister, Maxine, and tell her that she wasn't totally incorrect to use "bath" as a verb; she was just using it on the wrong continent!  She will get a kick out of that, believe me.  (Of course, it would still bug me to hear someone say "I need to bath the kids."  It just sounds wrong to my ears.)

Thank you Yasmin for your input!  Aren't we all learning so much?

Note: take a bath is also slang for suffering a large financial loss.

P.S.  I just noticed last night that this journal made the Friday Blogplugs list in Magic Smoke.  (Guido's doing, perhaps?)

Tags: Bathe, Bath, Oxford American, Take A Bath,

Just A Few That Get Misconstrued

(just a few that get misconstrued)

hear=here

leave=leaf
 limet =limit
 tagers =taggers
 there =their
 thoes=those
 instructions =instructions
 mailto= mail to
 delelted=deleted
 half-have
 weather-whether

     I am not sure whether this falls under typos-pet peeves or what.
 
Yes,Virginia-I make typos-I can't type-I hunt and peck,but I go back all the time  and check for mistakes.
I'll be typing away and I get an alert and I am still typing and  look up and half of what I wrote is not even there.
I try to remember what I had  written so I can do it all over again.
Thank goodness we can go back and edit.
 
I just wish to goodness we could go back and correct our comments.
Just as my comment is saving  ,I will notice a  typo.
Now, do I add another comment and explain my typo-sometimes I do.
I just don't like the fact  that someone may think I can't spell or speak correctly.
Which,as I've said ,I don't always write or speak correctly.I like using slang to get my point across at times.
But when a word is used incorrectly it will bug me to no end.
When I read the newspaper I do it with pen in hand .When I come to a misspelled word I must correct it before I continue reading.
My husband says to correct it in my mind and read on.
No can do my friend.

The long and short of it

Two years ago, Western Isles Council (in Scotland, for those unfamiliar with my location) ordained that anyone who allowed their dog to foul pavements and other public places would be liable for a £40 ($80) on-the-spot fine.

The debate on local radio centered on whether a beach constitutes a public place. Cue the local accent. Vowels tend to get shortened in this part of the world. This means that locals pronounce "beach" as a synonym for a female dog, so you can imagine the raised eyebrows when the announcer mentioned that it was not clear whether dogs would be allowed on beaches.