In your face, Reginald

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The most recent PartiallyClips:

(Click on the image for a larger version.)

I was disappointed not to find any evidence that over-enthusiastic spell checking has led to actual "moral gelatinism". But badgergasm does have some genuine (if puzzling) web hits.



16 Comments

  1. Daniel Midgley said,

    February 7, 2010 @ 10:51 pm

    Owl-o-matic.

  2. Clarissa at Talk to the Clouds said,

    February 7, 2010 @ 11:05 pm

    That brought tears to my eyes, it was so funny. I'm teaching my ESL students about prefixes and suffixes, but alas, I don't think I can use this. Too bad!

    @Daniel Hey, it IS Superb Owl Sunday, after all! (And here's a Superb Owl for you, a link I was sharing on Twitter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es52WQKLumI )

  3. bfwebster said,

    February 7, 2010 @ 11:15 pm

    OK, I'm not sure I want to google "badgergasm" for fear of not being able to un-see whatever might come up.

  4. Jonathan Badger said,

    February 7, 2010 @ 11:19 pm

    I disagree

  5. Nassira Nicola said,

    February 7, 2010 @ 11:51 pm

    Alas, most of the top hits are now this page. (That said, "Epileptic Badgergasm" – the other major hit – has got to already be a band name somewhere, right?)

  6. Kimberly Belcher said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 1:22 am

    It had to have happened once, right?

    And it did:

    http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070507.wblackink19851025/BNStory/ConradBlack/home

    "It is a gross indignity to gelatinize the premature termination of life by depriving it of its moral and, for most people, spiritual character…."

    Great stuff.

  7. Rubrick said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 4:38 am

    I think in Kimberly's example, the actual error was that "by" should have been "thereby", preceded by a comma.

  8. Colin said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 4:56 am

    Comment following Black's column: "Obviously Conrad is a misunderstood man."

  9. marie-lucie said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 8:45 am

    I was surprised that Conrad Black should be writing a column in a business magazine from his prison cell, but the piece was written in 1985.

    I don't think I had ever read him before: he writes in a rather ponderous style, with a large, Victorianesque vocabulary ("condign"?). But one thing struck me particularly: the "premeditated murderer". How else to describe a person guilty of premeditated murder, except by adding a nominalizing, agentive suffix to the entire phrase?

  10. Stan Carey said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 10:19 am

    Sufferin' suffix stash!

  11. Cameron said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 1:01 pm

    I wonder if the cartoonist was inspired to some extent by the widespread exposure of the word "badgertastic" in the sleep-talking blog.

  12. mollymooly said,

    February 8, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

    "Wafflesque" and "frockward" remind me that "pancakewards" is in the OED.

  13. Joan said,

    February 9, 2010 @ 4:21 am

    Badgergasm?

    Why, http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/badgers/ of course.

    Shroomtastic!

  14. uberVU - social comments said,

    February 9, 2010 @ 1:54 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by PhilosophyFeeds: Language Log: In your face, Reginald http://goo.gl/fb/IqQf

  15. Will said,

    February 12, 2010 @ 7:05 pm

    I disunderstand. Oh well, I was never the sharpest tool on the block anyway.

  16. Black Yoshi said,

    February 13, 2010 @ 3:35 am

    And/or is there a more appropriate place for me to put these comments…

    :/

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