Off the Wagon

Well, it had to happen sooner or later.  In this case it was sooner.  Like a recovering alcoholic in a dive bar <or a recovering LDS’er in a coffee bar, like that hilarious scene in Book of Mormon>, I guess it was inevitable that one day I’d fall off the wagon and return to linguistics.  Frankly I blame my linguist daughter.  After all, what are progeny for except to point the finger for one’s misplaced keys, or for having left the car unlocked in the driveway?  (Ahem!)

But hey, all that’s water under the bridge.  And your understanding of the the Queen’s English will be so much the better for it.  See here for today’s offering, from James Harbeck in something called “The Week.”  It’s titled “In the future, will the English language be full of accented characters?”  It’s a fun romp through the likes of latté and piña colada and Beyoncé and Mötley Crüe.  Not to mention soupçon, éclat, façade, naïve, and – my personal favorite – jalapeño.

And just in case you were wondering, the final answer is….

Sorry. You’ll have to click and read for yourself if you want to find out.

Hey, don’t blame me.  Blame my daughter.  After all, that’s what I’d do.

Well, either my daughter or Johannes Gutenburg I guess.

Gotta be one or the other.

 

 

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…we adopt letters for a handful of reasons: usefulness, aesthetics, and because, well, we simply can. We abandon letters when it becomes too difficult to write or print them out.

 

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“I’m partial to using accent marks any chance I can get, because they are cute.”  — Emmy J. Favilla  in A World Without “Whom”

 

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The final word? Don’t risk being passé!

 

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PS.  Love ya to the moon and back, Kate!