John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

A thought on the sounds of New York

"A person who speaks good English in New York sounds like a foreigner."
- Jackie Mason

[The above image of Grand Central Station comes from the easilympressed Flickr stream.]

Serena Williams, and conversational problems

Serena Williams is still making waves with Saturday's spectacular outburst at a U.S. Open semi-final, in which she unleashed a series of threats and expletives against the judge who called a foot fault. The video below includes an annotation of what witnesses heard; the audio recordings have not been good, but the reports have been consistent.

Immediately after the set, which Williams lost to unseeded player Kim Clijsters, who would go on to win the women's final, Williams was in character: 

"An apology? For what? How many people yell at linespeople?" 

As for the judge to whom Williams apparently said, "I'll kill you," Williams said, "I don't know why [the lineswoman] said she felt threatened. I've never been in a fight in my life." Williams also said she could not even remember what she had said.

The incident, of course, was more than a weekend sports story; videos of the tirade have blown over the web, prompting a viral phenomenon. In the world of tennis, where, you know, stars are not supposed to threaten to kill line judges, this is not good form.

So, Williams is out and about this week, to salvage her reputation - or, to use a marketing word, her brand. This part of a CNN interview amused me:

"It was a really tough point in the match and it was really close and got a really tough call that wasn't the correct call, and, you know, things got a little heated and I had a conversation with the line judge that didn't go so well." [My emphasis]

I think all parties would agree it didn't so well, either.

Nor was it, really, much of a conversation.

'You lie!' ... Already available on a mug

Urban Dictionary was quick off the mark with a response to last night's tempest involving Republican Joe Wilson's "You lie!" yell as Barack Obama denied in a Congress address that his plan would cover illegal immigrants. You can watch that part of the incident here (although it's hard to hear Wilson clearly.)

The incident is all over the news this morning, and I was surprised that Urban Dictionary picked up on the controversy quickly enough to pick the phrase for the word of the day feature, which appeared in my email box early this morning:

The classiest way to respond to anyone you disagree with.

Obama: There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This too is false - the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.

Joe Wilson: You lie!

And, in keeping with Urban Dictionary's monetizing strategy, it's available on a mug.

A thought on the intoxicating effects of language

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
- Rudyard Kipling

A thought on language and gender

"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh."
- Conan O'Brien

'Outside the box': the video to shut up the clueless

There are not too many phrases in the English language that annoy me more than "outside the box." I remember a job interview some years ago in which one of the people on the other side of the table told me what I could do that would show "thinking outside the box." My response - that I would not let a cliche like that go to air (this was for a televison program) - probably did not impress, although I got the job. The phrase is now so ubiquitously used, I see it included routinely in job descriptions. Doesn't its pervasive use, by definition, become ... the box?

Besides, why not use other language? Say that you're looking for someone who is creative, imaginative, intelligent, a problem-solver, a right-brain thinker ... if any of these are, in fact, what you mean to say.

I have to tread a bit carefully with this kind of criticism. Lots of people I know and respect use the phrase; I just wish they would choose more precise language.

In any event, I laughed out loud today when I saw this animation by Joseph Pelling. Hope you have a chuckle too. 

outside the box from joseph Pelling on Vimeo.

It's like, you know

I was pointed earlier this week to this video, a performance on a Def Poetry special by writer Taylor Mali, on the epidemic of inarticulate thought and expression. You can read the full text here, but I think you might better enjoy the man running through his lines in front of a laughing audience. (The title of this post is a nod to Peter Mehlman's bright but short-lived post-Seinfeld series.)

A thought on hearing things said out loud

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning."
- Maya Angelou

A trouser press: The world's first historical thesaurus

I want a copy of this: The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, which has been in the works for, believe it or not, about 45 years at Oxford University Press. The work tracks synonyms, from the earliest references to the most recent. This BBC Magazine piece highlights a lengthy list of words for trousers, from breeks to rammies.

Choice, necessity

Thoughtful column, as always, by William Safire on the words we use. This time: choice, necessity and how they're used to pitch for war.