February 26, 2013 - For Pete's Sake Day

Here is a book by Linda Verville...

This made-up holiday celebrates the creative word-makers and phrase-makers of the world. We usually don't know who started us saying particular phrases (although William Shakespeare is credited with coining many), but we can still tip our hat to the nameless unsung heroes who have added to our language.

...and another by Ellen Stoll Walsh.

The phrase “for Pete's sake,” which some people say when they are frustrated, was apparently created to be a substitute for similar phrases that many consider to “take the Lord's name in vain.” Why Pete is anyone's guess—although a nice one-syllable name with a popping first sound was surely more likely to catch on with frustrated people than something like, “Oh, for Jennifer's sake!”

The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that the phrase was first recorded in 1903. Other similar uses of Pete include “for the love of Pete” (first recorded in 1906) and “in the name of Pete” (1942).

Perhaps you can celebrate this holiday by trying to get your own name or nickname into a catchy phrase. (Good luck if your name is Jennifer, though!)

By the way...

As I typed the last sentence, I got to wondering how the word nickname came to be. Does it have anything to do with the name Nick? Turns out, no, it doesn't. The word nickname comes from the Old English “an ekename,” which means “an additional name.” Sloppy pronunciation and copying resulted in “a nekename,” which has over the years evolved to our current word nickname.

Celebrate wordsmiths and phrase-makers.

"Etymology" is the study of the origins of words.

• Read Frindle, the story of a boy who tries to create a new word. 

• Quiz yourself on word origins in order to learn more about them. You can play this quiz game over and over again, always with new words, to learn even more! 

• If you want to look up the origin of a word or word part, you could try Online Etymology Dictionary. Remember, it is not explaining definitions of words, but where and when the words came from. 

Also on this date:

Author Victor Hugo's birthday 

Blue-jeans inventor Levi Strauss's birthday

Western showman Buffalo Bill Cody's birthday

Anniversary of a patent for a glass-blowing machine

November 3, 2012 - Cliché Day

A cliché is a phrase that is overused so much that it loses its meaning or effect.

“He wore his heart on his sleeve.”

“The name was on the tip of her tongue.”

“Her cheeks were like roses.”

“The answer gave him pause.”

Most clichés start out as metaphors or similes—poetic comparisons of one thing to another—and when they were first written, they helped people see things in a different way. They created “aha!” moments or painted vivid pictures.

For example, the first person who described a person struggling to remember something as having the answer on the tip of his or her tongue was brilliant! I've had that experience; haven't you? You try to say an answer, and then you realize that you haven't quite retrieved it from your brain—so you reach for the answer again—there it is! you think—but again it slips away! It's just like having something RIGHT THERE, on the tip of your tongue, but you can't quite say it.

But the phrase “on the tip of his/her tongue” was used by so many people, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again....

...except for the fact that "like
the plauge" IS a cliché!

...that now, if someone says it, everyone knows that it means that someone is struggling to remember a name or word or answer...but it doesn't seem fresh or interesting. It's trite, tired, overused. It has become a cliché.

How to avoid using clichés:

When you write, really look at the phrases and metaphors and similes that you have used. Did you write “as quick as a wink” or “as quick as a cricket”? Did you say, “faster than a speeding bullet” or “The car moved like greased lightning”?Those things have all been said and written before (over and over and over and—you get the idea), so substitute something else there. After all, there are plenty of quick things in the universe! How about “as quick as a laser beam” or “faster than a hunting cheetah”?

In case you're confused...

A simile is a comparison of one thing to another using the words “as” or “like.” Examples of similes include “as quick as a wink” and “cheeks like roses.”

A metaphor is also a comparison—but it skips the words “as” and “like.” If you said, “Roses bloomed in her cheeks,” it would mean that her cheeks were pink and rosy—NOT that flowers were actually growing inside, on, or out of her cheeks! If you wrote, “The kids rocketed home to tell their news,” it means that they went home super quickly (possibly on bicycles?)—NOT that they climbed onto a rocket and blasted off to travel the three blocks to their house!

Also on this date:

National Double-Talk Week 

Sandwich Day 

Culture Day in Japan 

Chemist Jakichi Takamine's birthday