Atheists eat babies?: Steve Cuno on labels and branding
This post originally appeared at Catch This. OK, he didn’t say babies, he said kittens. Last weekend I watched streaming video of The Amaz!ng Meeting (TAM) 7 from Las Vegas …
Hiking the Appalachian Trail: New Euphemism Alert!
This post originally appeared at Catch This. So…Mark Sanford. This isn’t a political blog, but we do read the news, and this particular scandal has now contributed a new euphemism …
NoPa? Really?: Who Owns Naming Rights in San Francisco?
This post originally appeared at Catch This. Believe it or not, some of us still read newspapers. And so I am able to tell you that on its front page, …
I Can Create Words – I’m a Linguist: Forbes Special Report on Neologisms
This post originally appeared at Catch This. This was published a few weeks ago, but I didn’t have a chance to blog it till now. Forbes, of all publications, put …
This is a Disaster: SciFi rebrands as Syfy
This post originally appeared at Catch This. From our friend Nancy Friedman comes this disturbing news: Syfy The New York Times reports that cable television’s Sci Fi Channel has been …
ID, please: Facebook Won’t Allow “Batman”
This post originally appeared at Catch This. This story recently made the round on the mailing list of the American Name Society. From the Washington Post: What Caitlin wanted did …
This is a Job for Wolverine: Clawing Back Profits
This post originally appeared at Catch This. The phrase “claw back” has been popping up in the news lately, specifically in reference to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme mega-super-ripoff. I had …
La la la la I Can’t Hear You: Banished Words of 2008
This post originally appeared at Catch This. Recently Lake Superior State University announced its 34th annual list of Banished Words for 2008. (The full title is much more snarky, in …
Your Name Makes You Intelligent
This post originally appeared at Catch This. I’m a big fan of Richard Wiseman’s Quirkology site – it’s all about psychology and perception and why human beings are so weird. …
Names, gender, and the not-so-subtle message
This post originally appeared at Catch This. There is yet another article on baby naming called “What’s in a Name?“, by Sam Kean, at the NY Times this week (get …