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August 20, 2012animals
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July 16, 2012
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June 25, 2012
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February 27, 2012
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January 30, 2012Gerrymandering is the re-drawing of district lines in elaborate twisted ways to unfairly influence the weight of votes by district. It’s a cruel political move to dilute the power of demographic areas. In 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry changed the shapes of districts to skew voting towards his political party. A newspaper commented that the new contorted shape looked like a salamander, and the term was coined. Gerrymandering is an eponym and a portmanteau at the same time. Yeah. That is pretty awesome.
Gerry + salamander = Gerrymander
I’ve been thinking about eponyms and portmanteaus a lot recently, because I need a dissertation topic, and those two kinds of word formations make me happy. However, I can’t think of a specific question I could ask and answer in 4 months, and I haven’t found any great research as a jump-off point, so for now I’m just pleased to find a word that combines these two concepts.
Appreciate a word today!
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January 23, 2012
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December 26, 20111. Watch Cartoons – The Moldy Peaches
2. Endangered Love – Veggie Tales
3. (Stand By Your) Manatee – Nerf Herder
4. Dance of the Manatee – Fair to Midland
5. Cowtown – They Might Be Giants
6. Hop on a Sea Cow and Manatee Up – The Sidekicks
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November 22, 2011
There are so many words in the world, I can’t blame anyone for not knowing the original meaning of any specific word, even when its a simple compound made of two familiar words. We’re so busy using language as a communication tool that we rarely stop hammering to look at the thing itself. A funny old thing, the dashboard. [and then suddenly…]
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May 28, 2011