The Lexicographer's Rules

Mark Liberman at LanguageLog has a near-perfect demonstration of how easy it is to doomsay any polling data by choosing a negative perspective—and also how that perspective is further corrupted as the story is written and rewritten by various media. (Source Link)

Very interesting article on the curious custom of Brazilians in the U.S. creating and selling house-cleaning routes to other immigrants. “In classified advertisements in Portuguese-language newspapers such as Ta Na Mao, (slang for ‘you got it!’), and on Internet postings, Brazilians use the English word ‘schedule’ for cleaning routes. Notices declaring, ‘I want schedule’ or ‘I’m selling schedule,’ flutter from walls wherever Brazilians shop or eat. Buyers easily outnumber sellers.” (Source Link)

“In Cuba they have only what is cheap or free—rum, music, sex, pride. And hope. They don’t pin their hopes on Fidel Castro; they expect him to die still clutching his slingshot and staring north. What they hope, even seem to firmly believe, is that the United States under some half-imagined future leader will see the light and embrace them. They will travel, they will drive Chevy trucks, they will eat and eat.” (Source Link)

Besides being a gold-mine of interesting words worth recording, this article is well-written and interesting, if a little too hagiographic. But who wouldn’t write like that about doctors and medics in a war zone?

“The enemy has perfected a new ploy: placing mortar tubes into buckets of water, which are then frozen and planted near the wire in the middle of the night. When the morning sun melts the water, the mortars drop, hit the bottom of the metal buckets, and fire. Because the pails vary in size, the water melts at different rates, producing the staggered firing effect.”

(Source Link)

“When Klaus Kinski and I made Fitzcarraldo, I had trouble maintaining my composure. At one point I told Kinski I would shoot him if he did not cooperate. This comes to mind this evening because I buy a pound of spinach leaves for dinner, but when I cook the spinach, it reduces, and there is only enough for one serving. I have four guests. I should not be surprised, but I am.” (Source Link)