Militant — a new silencing word
I read an article recently condemning militant environmentalists and I must confess that, jaded though I am, I still let my...
Language
Pretentious Latin Plurals in English
Do you ever get vaguely irritated when you hear people using words like fora when they mean forums? I do,...
Property Tax Revenue Letter : The Human Version
Why can't Irish civil servants write plain English? Why is that? Why do they feel the need to use...
Collective Nouns
I went to a thing last night and it was very, very good. That's right -- a thing. As opposed...
Plain Language
People can be terribly averse to saying exactly what's on their minds, and it's very hard to know why. What's...
Becoming an Ethnic Minority
Yoll na ammegrach ta herpull yek chenchul fengerach. Sa ef herpullents dar horentser ta blerter frailastsists flen pulanturl trovailhts sa...
Our gathra, who cradgies in the manyak-norch
I swear to you, I did not make this up. _________________ Our gathra, who cradgies in the manyak-norch, We turry...
Crimes Against Language — Garda Report on Phoenix Park Trouble
I thought it would be useful to plough through the turgid, inflated language of the Garda report on the Swedish...
Hidden Meanings – a Subtle Propaganda
You can tell at one glance what a journalist thinks of a country by the words he chooses to describe...
Revenue Letter to Pensioners Presents Opportunity For Better Communication Between Government and People
The Revenue Commissioners last week wrote to 150,000 people, warning 115,000 of them that they might owe more tax than...
