Category Archives: Words and Reason

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Words And Reason – Phrase Fads and Media Speak: Linguistic Landmines

by Cynthia Clampitt

Cynthia Clampitt
Cynthia Clampitt

When the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies” came out, we started getting phone calls from people who wanted to borrow money. Seriously. Never mind that we lived thousands of miles from California or that our name wasn’t spelled quite the same—or even that it was a purely fictional TV show (this was before “reality shows” began blurring the lines). People were beginning to believe what they saw on TV.

Of course, any warning about believing what you see on TV can be extended in several directions: things that are “based on a true story,” for example. But I think a key area in which people need to be careful about believing what they hear on TV is language. Some commentators like to use big words but don’t always use them correctly. A few TV writers think the words sound impressive and use them, and it spreads, creating a phrase fad. Soon, people outside the media start using things incorrectly because they’ve heard it a couple of times and don’t even think to question whether the user knows what he or she is saying.

For example, it suddenly seems as though everyone who wants to point out that an issue has been raised is saying that it “begs the question.” It’s popping up on TV (news and entertainment), in print, and in conversation. Continue reading Words And Reason – Phrase Fads and Media Speak: Linguistic Landmines →

Words and Reason

Here’s to the Nerds

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Dear Steve,

Thank you for leading the revolution that brought us into this golden digital age.

Thank you for creating products that have made my world smaller and more accessible.

Thank you for showing me that it’s not the level of education you achieve, it’s how you use it that matters.

Thank you for creating devices that have enabled me to maintain friendships and relationships around the world without concern for distance or cost or time.

Thank you for giving me new technology that has amazed me and inspired me and allowed me to be creative in new and innovative ways.

Thank you for empowering me with your awe-inspiring devices. They have allowed me to progress farther in my career that I ever could have thought possible.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to play The Oregon Trail on an Apple IIE. And my mother sends her thanks for all of the Printshop cards she received, mostly on Tuesdays, because that’s when computer class was scheduled.

Thank you for being a genius, and a smart ass, and a rebel and for obsessing over the details that would shape the world as we see it. For having never met you, I am profoundly sad at your loss.

Here’s to the Crazy Ones

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs

With deep gratitude,

Amanda Smyth Connor

Words and Reason

Words And Reason: Language Matters

by Cynthia Clampitt

Cynthia Clampitt
Cynthia Clampitt

Language matters—probably more than you imagine. Language is the thing that makes us different from animals. It is also what makes it possible to think. Scientists are now demonstrating this, but the Greeks understood this thousands of years ago: the Greek word logos means both “word” and “reason.” We get our word logic from this root. With no words, there is no thought.

But words are more than that. They are our history and our heritage. They create our societies. Without knowing our language, we lose who we are.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here are the thoughts of a wide range of writers and thinkers on why you want to learn language well and use it well. Continue reading Words And Reason: Language Matters →