Cute archaic phrase of the day.

Thu, 26 Feb 2009
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put up (verb phrase)
to accommodate; lodge.
e.g. Where are you putting up now?

Someone asked me this today, and it was all I could do to stop myself from smiling. Why? Because I was reminded of a discussion some of us had during a workshopping session a month or so back, about ‘archaic’ phrases that people from our parents’ generation use, and how extremely out the place the phrases are. But because they’re so incongruent especially in our age, they’re kinda cute, in a retro sort of way. Other examples of cute archaic phrases: taking your breakfast/lunch/dinner in lieu of eating.

Any other examples you can think of?

The Powder List.

Thu, 26 Feb 2009
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Yi-Sheng says:

To herald the new and bid farewell to the old, I’ve drawn up a list of artsy people based in and/or from Singapore, singling them out for being interesting, independent and (thus far) a little unrecognised.

It’s a personal response to the front-page article of Straits Times Life! at the end of last year (“FEEL THE POWER”, Thursday, 4 December 2008).

I like it because it presents an alternative, which is what I think we need more of.

Texting and language acquisition/use.

Tue, 24 Feb 2009
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  1. Your little texting runt may not be illiterate. (via Lucas Ho)
  2. 2b or not 2b: David Crystal on why texting is good for language. (A link I found some time ago)

I’ve always believed we shouldn’t be so quick to decry text messaging and immediately linking the use of abbreviations in texting to language depreciation.

My argument would run somewhere along the lines that the shortened forms of the words are a form of simplification – duh – and code-switching – I won’t use this form of language in formal letters, and people who do that aren’t stupid, they just haven’t been as quick to realise what is appropriate and what isn’t. Or maybe they have different perceptions of appropriateness.

Above all, we must remember that language has evolved over time, and will continue to evolve, regardless of whether you like it or not. The best advice I can give: move along with the times, people.