Two Brain Cells » Language

Come on, you’re not even trying now.

Chris — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:54:45 +0000

Turns of phrase

Chris — Sat, 05 May 2007 08:49:01 +0000

Just a thought. Have you ever heard of someone being attacked in narrow daylight?

Two phrases that get on my tits

Chris — Thu, 03 May 2007 22:03:06 +0000

“Mea culpa.”

Variants of “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

The correct spelling of ‘Spartaaaa’

Chris — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:54:43 +0000

Some statistics:

Clearly, the correct spelling of ‘Spartaaaa’ is with four ‘a’s. That’s four ‘a’s.

Although I’m curious about the spike at 23.

SPARTAAA

David — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:57:55 +0000

Careful, 300 “contains strong bloody violence”. Too bloody right.

UCAS plagiarism?

Chris — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:54:49 +0000

I take issue with the idea that writing “a fascination for how the human body works” in your UCAS personal statement is proof of plagiarism. It’s exactly the kind of fake fawning enthusiasm they expect you to spew up, expressed in your garden-variety forced semi-formal writing style. Unimaginative, perhaps, but it doesn’t make it copying.

Worst analogies ever?

Chris — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:13:44 +0000

Apparently these are some of the “worst analogies ever written in a high school essay“. But actually, a lot of these are exactly the kind of writing that makes people fawn over ‘real authors’ for their inventive comic way with words. Take this, for example: “The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.” That’s practically a Douglas Adamsism, that is!