Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: A Short Word Before We Begin

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  • Islander,

    Fletcher - probably both...refer to 'googly ' (cricket) - I've never heard it pronounced other than with the 'ooo' sound. Would seem to apply to Google/googling/googlies-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Muphry's Law.

    heh.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Julie Fairey,

    Good luck Emma with your new blog-venture.

    (And I managed to get the "none taken" response from Mr Slack within about two minutes of striking up a conversation with him at the first Drinking Liberally, when he was the guest speaker. I think he's still talking to me...)

    Puketapapa Mt Roskill, AK… • Since Dec 2007 • 234 posts Report Reply

  • Oliver Poppelwell,

    I find the problem with callipygian is that, if correctly pronounced, it sounds rather more porcine that is appropriate to a compliment.

    Wellington • Since Aug 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Oliver Poppelwell,

    (Hayden Green)
    See now I agree, but my beloved's argument is that Google is a concrete noun. So it'd be more like Xerox to Xerox-ing.

    You're right. When you say you're 'googling' something, you're using it as a transitive verb.

    Wellington • Since Aug 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Welcome to your blog on PA, Emma. I look forward to reading your perspective on things. And use your children. Go on. Think of it as early payback for their teenage years.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    ooh new shiny emmaness on PA
    very exciting

    and hadyn i love your spelling and grammar errors, always keep them around

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Parks,

    __See now I agree, but my beloved's argument is that Google is a concrete noun.
    So it'd be more like Xerox to Xerox-ing.__

    You're right. When you say you're 'googling' something, you're using it as a transitive verb.

    Same goes for Xeroxing:

    Xer·ox
    A trademark used for a photocopying process or machine employing xerography. This trademark often occurs in print in lowercase as a verb and noun: "Letters you send should be xeroxed after you sign them" (Progressive Architecture).

    I’m also white, incredibly white. So white I like Antiques Roadshow.

    Pretty fly for a white girl. Great hangover viewing, that show.

    Wellington • Since May 2007 • 1165 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    -case sorted-

    and Antiques Roadshow is pretty good whatever teh ethnic background-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    You see that's the problem with being an expat, a couple of hours out of sync with the old country, and working all day to boot. You miss out on hearing the exciting news when it's fresh, and only get to it late in the day when all the best jokes have already gone to bed. Oh well...

    All the best for the blogging, Emma.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Sargent,

    <quote>Surely it cannot be as bad as Shatner's spoken rendition of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Surely.<quote>

    Amazing how it dates. His Album "Has Been" works much better .

    Since Nov 2006 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • Phil Sargent,

    memo to self : preview !

    Since Nov 2006 • 28 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    You see that's the problem with being an expat, a couple of hours out of sync with the old country, and working all day to boot.

    Well, my body clock's set to about GMT+9, so that could yet work out well.

    And yeah, to me, google-ing is a three-syllable word. Googling is a two-syllable word, which is how it sounds in my head. Like, as islander said, googly.

    If only there were some kind of linguist around who might set things straight, someone amused rather than offended by up-thread comments about her husband...

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    Emma: did you ever hear the story written by the primary school pupil who knew that "frugal" had to do saving?

    There was once a prince who was out riding when he heard a princess crying out "Frugal me! Frugal me!" So he frugalled her, and they lived happily ever after.

    We can all do with a good frugalling now and then.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    We can all do with a good frugalling now and then.

    Totally. Ken Robinson tells the following story.

    When my son was 4 in England he was in the nativity play. He got the part of Joseph, which we were thrilled about. He didn't have to speak, but you know the bit where the three kings come in. They come in bearing gifts, and they bring gold, frankincense and myrhh.

    This really happened -- we were sitting there and we think they just went out of sequence, we talked to the little boy afterward and we said, "You OK with that" and he said "Yeah, why, was that wrong?" -- they just switched, I think that was it.

    Anyway, the three boys came in, little 4-year-olds with tea towels on their heads, and they put these boxes down, and the first boy said, "I bring you gold."

    The second boy said, "I bring you myrhh."

    And the third boy said, "Frank sent this."

    Incidentally, the story was part of a rather wonderful presentation on education at the TED conference and if you can stomach the BMW ads before and after there are many worse ways of spending 20 minutes of your life than watching the whole thing.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    every Whedon fangirl likes to use the phrase 'the sound of leather on Willow' as often as possible.

    Rofflenui, and thank you Emma. Another wonderful image lodged firmly in the inappropriate connections part o the brain. I obviously haven't had to trade that region for numbers, morals or whatever - yet.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Ooo! 'rofflenui' (thanks Sacha!) and 'frugalling' (thanks Stephen Judd!)
    -so collectible in a wordhoard sense, and so collected-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Jen Hay,

    If only there were some kind of linguist around who might set things straight, someone amused rather than offended by up-thread comments about her husband...

    You called?

    Well since you ask..., I think it probably depends how much of a googler you are.

    If you do it, say, once a month, then 'Google' is a proper noun and resyllabification will lead to confusion. The Xerox example doesn't really work for me cause it can't be resyllabified anyway. But if you held a Dougal Stevenson theme party, which involved painting portraits of him on every wall, I think you'd be 'Dougalling' up your house, not 'Dougling' it.

    However, if you do it, say, once every 10 minutes, then 'Google' is no longer a proper noun, it's a way of life. And ways of life should have nice pleasing syllable structure hence 'googling'

    So my call is everyone is right, and you should take your preference as an indication of your own personal geekiness levels.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    "google-ing"

    conforms to no rule known to Man or Woman. Did we not all learn at 6 or 7 years old that if a verb ends in an "e" the "e" is dropped when adding "ing"?

    I suppose that would imply a two-syllable "googling", which is not, I think, how most of us say it, but perhaps "google" is a special case which retains the pronunciation rules implicit in the word on which it is based.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Thankyou Jen for your valuable input. I'm no expert but surely if Google is a noun, then the verb is googling?

    I suppose that would imply a two-syllable "googling", which is not, I think, how most of us say it

    oh, but I do....

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    oh, but I do....

    Maybe I do, too. I'm not sure now. :)

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    So my call is everyone is right

    Spoken like a true linguist!

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    But if you held a Dougal Stevenson theme party, which involved painting portraits of him on every wall, I think you'd be 'Dougalling' up your house, not 'Dougling' it.

    Hey, there's an idea. Certainly one I'm not going to be able to remove from my brain for a while.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    So, if we're going to resyllabify it...

    Can we take a vote on goo-gling or goog-ling ?

    goog-ling makes more sense to me, but gling is just so fun to say that I want to use it!

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • Jen Hay,

    Thankyou Jen for your valuable input. I'm no expert but surely if Google is a noun, then the verb is googling?

    yup, you're absolutely right - as long as one considers Google part of the core vocabulary of English (which you obviously do! -note also your lower-case 'g' in googling which also suggests you don't really think of it as containing a proper name).

    But I still think that it's just as legitimate to consider it a bit marginal, especially if you're not a frequent googler. Then Google is like Dougal (if we're talking pronunciation). Or if we're talking spelling, it's like Jackie - I would spell the verb 'Jackie-ing', even though this doesn't conform to any rules for core vocabulary. For more peripheral vocabulary, like names, people seem to find it most important to preserve the identity of the base word in the spelling/pronunciation.

    Can we take a vote on goo-gling or goog-ling ?

    Aha - that one I will take a stand on! Absolutely goo-gling. As dictated by The Maximal Onset Principle, of course...

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 43 posts Report Reply

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