A Name for a Villian

Finally, a name worthy of a massive storm of destruction. Igor is a proper name for a bad guy. James Bond villains are named Igor. Katrina and Camille and Betty are names of girls you want to ask out for coffee, if only you could work up the nerve. Hurricane's should be limited to names of evil: Morlock, Azazel, Ripper. No more Bob or Jeff or Sue.

Price of Prefection

Problems with Jabulani ball caused because it is "too perfect."

This is why I always strive for some small flaw. That's not a typo, that's a small deliberate flaw to prevent problematic perfection.

It's Money

This is Ke$ha, she's the next hot thing:



I can only conclude that her popularity is due to the spelling of her name with a $. Money is good, see. Therefor I will now be know as ¢raig.

Nice

Al Franken, Senatoring the hell out of it.

Senatoring -act of being or acting as a senator. Your Craigorian Chant made-up word of the day.

The Right Words for a Wake

Normally, when a conservative of great note or high profile dies, I find myself very strained to come up with anything nice to say at all. Hell, Jerry Falwell has been dead for over two years and I still can't come up with a single nice thing to say.

But I have nice things to say about William Safire.

He was a Nixon guy and the house conservative of the NY Times for decades.

That is not what I liked about him.

What I liked about him was his love of language, words and writing. Alongside the political columns, he had one on words and language. The man could just turn a phrase. Spiro Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism" come straight from him. He was, first and foremost, good with words. He gave all of us who strive to be clever with words something to aim at.

So here are Safire's “rules for writers”:

Remember to never split an infinitive. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. Avoid clichés like the plague. And don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

Speak English!

But don't spell it.

Question

In the phrase "The phone is ringing off the hook" does it mean that the phone is ringing so much that its fallen off the hook or that the phone is ringing even though it has already been picked up?

Your Moment of Zen

And you think I have trouble spelling.

Via

Missing Metaphor

Here is a question for you all.

What is an appropriate metaphor for someone with no self-control?

Today I was trying to complete this sentence-

I have all the self-control of a ______.

I couldn't come up with anything. Its hours later, I forget the context of the original conversation, but I still haven't come up with anything good.

Suggestions?

I protest.

w00t! is not a word, much less anything that should be honored by anyone as word of the year. I demand real made-up words! Alternative spellings are not new words. X-stream is not a new word.

Let Us Praise:

Elmore Leonard, who turns 82 today. Leonard is master of the Extra-Cool crime novel. The kinds of novels that make great movies. Christopher Orr has a round-up. I leave you with this choice piece from Out of Sight:

"Buddy, is that his given name?"

"Its the name I gave him, yeah."