- A Hand Model Remembers Steve Jobs | The Bygone Bureau
“The 1960s were the golden age of American hand modelling. Despite lithe fingers from the Ukraine and flawless Brazilian cuticles, we retained our stranglehold on the industry. Why? Because we had better moisturizer”.Choosing an excerpt from this article was damn difficult because there were too many hilarious gems like the one above.
- 16 Ways I Blew My Marriage | Single Dad Laughing
Quite a good list which makes sense, though my suggestion – if you want to use it for yourself: reverse the negative phrasing of the items so it’s more positive i.e. instead of “Don’t stop holding her hand”, change it to “Keep on holding hands” so that it’s easier to remember/more palatable for the human mind. - Silent treatment: Spin doctors go into damage control mode after disgraced MP Michael Palmer quits politics | Senang Diri
“Indeed, it make take decades of obeisance, war stories handed down from one newsroom generation to the next, more rice bowls of journalists broken over time before one day, Singapore wakes up to a generation of running dogs – to borrow a phrase from Singapore’s first Chief Minister, David Marshall – who will not only eat out of one’s hand but will also beg and do tricks on command”.A plausible premise for an s/f text set in Singapore?
- The private sector does not always deliver better value in public services | The Guardian
“…the limitations of our addiction to private sector leadership models is most obvious when the two sides try and work together and the strained relationship is well-illustrated by the many fiascos over public-private partnership and crises over government outsourcing”. - What is “Society”? And Gay News | bread crumbs and candy cottage
“Please, [Singapore] society has accepted many worse things than homosexuality. Remember the chewing gum ban in Singapore? Remember the building of casinos in Singapore? Society was against them but the government went ahead and now, nobody cares after chewing gum and Singapore hasn’t become a den of vice of mafia shootings and drug smuggling yet. The point is: the government MUST change laws first. Laws are instructive and tell people what to think”.Policy shapes culture, nowhere more so than Singapore.
So I was browsing through the National Heart Centre’s (NHC) website the other day to find out how to contact them, when I discovered that their newsletter is called… Murmurs!
How awesome is that?
That is, using the word “murmur” as a pun to refer to both a heart murmur (which is what the NHC specialises in diagnosing and treating), as well as to convey the connotation of communication (which is what the newsletter is intended for).
And if you know me by now, you’d know that meaningful and significant names like these pique my interest; it shows a deeper level of thought and sophistication, which I always appreciate.
(I’ve also had the doob-ious honour of naming some things myself, using the same principles of meaningfulness and significance.)
Another thing I like about the NHC is that it’s part of the SingHealth Group, which, in my humble opinion, has the most coherent corporate branding strategy I’ve come across thus far – check out the logos and the lettering of the hospitals and speciality centres in their stable of medical institutions.
BONUS:
Random but also within the sphere of nice words: did you know that a flock of starlings is called a murmuration?
Welcome to the third edition of “Not Say I Want To Say”!
I owe all of you a post on this since I was knocked out on Fri after the ‘twin happiness’ of enduring a somewhat painful surgery and discovering that I’d been selected for the Gangwon-Style Immersion Programme.
(BTW please humour me regarding what I “owe”; it’s a psychological thing to motivate me to post at least one article a day, so please harangue me if I don’t update this site daily!)
Today’s “Not Say I Want To Say” word is “elderly”.
Example from a news report:
Two China nationals from a syndicate were arrested by the police on Sunday afternoon for allegedly attempting to cheat these elderly, mostly in their 60s.
From “Two men arrested in fake gold ingot scam targeted at elderly”, my emphasis.
How has “elderly” been misused here?
The speaker has used the word “elderly” as though it were a noun. However, the word is only used as an adjective or as a collective noun.
In other words, “elderly” can only be used to modify another noun e.g. the elderly person (where “person” is a noun) or to refer to a group of people in society e.g. the needs of the elderly.
How do we use “elderly” correctly?
Ask yourself: am I referring to one senior citizen or a group of senior citizens?
E.g.
When you need to refer to one senior citizen, use “elderly” as an adjective – not a noun:
- A 40-year-old driver has been fined S$7,500 and banned from driving for 42 months for causing the death of an elderly pedestrian. (Correct)
- A 40-year-old driver has been fined S$7,500 and banned from driving for 42 months for causing the death of an elderly. (Wrong)
When you need to refer to a group of senior citizens:
- It stipulates punishments for people who abuse the elderly, fail to support them and interfere in their freedom to marry. (Correct)
- It stipulates punishments for people who abuse elderly, fail to support them and interfere in their freedom to marry. (Wrong)
OR
- China has passed a new law stipulating that family members should pay regular visits to their elderly relatives, according to the government’s official website. (Correct)
- China has passed a new law stipulating that family members should pay regular visits to their elderly, according to the government’s official website. (Wrong)
Efficiency of non-standard use:
Actually, quite efficient – consider how “family” is used as a noun (e.g. “his family“), a collective noun (e.g. “the role of the family in society today”) and an adjective (e.g. “the family car“).
Potential for adoption:
SOME possibility for adoption. But seriously, you’ll sound like a boor if other English speakers don’t use “elderly” in the same way.
Have a good Monday and don’t let the Monday blues get you down (save that for me and my linguistic fascism)!