English is Crazy

Every language has its quirks. For example, it always sounds like you are upset if you are speaking German. In French, everything sounds fancy. Some people speak Spanish so quickly that it sounds like a motorboat. But English takes first prize.

            Our language is derived of many different languages. English is comprised of Latin, Germanic, and even French to create an Anglo-Saxon collection of languages. We borrow from many languages to get the mess that comes out of our mouths every day.

            This summarizes it pretty well. Strange how you can chop a tree down and then chop it up.

            Of course many things happened along the evolution of our language, including the Great Vowel Shift, but that is a story for another day. Here is the history part of our where English comes from:

Colon-oscopy...Not as Gross as it Sounds

Ok, so now we are getting into a little bit of the hardcore grammar nazi type stuff. Punctuation can be a tricky thing at times, but colons and semicolons seem to intimidate some non-grammarians. The most use these punctuation pals get now is as the eyes in your emojis. But they so much more than that. Well, they are a little more than that. Like all forms of punctuation they serve a purpose, and here it is:

Colons

Colons are used after independent clauses to introduce a list, an appositive, an amplification/emphasis, or an illustrative quote. Colons break up sentences to let the reader know that what follows (after the colon) is important and closely related to the sentence that precedes it.

If we are talking about lists, colons work in this regard, “A master chef need three tools: a sharp knife, a hot pan, and the right ingredients.”

Colons can also be used to join two independent clauses. Strunk and White offer this example: “But even so, there was a directness and dispatch about animal burial: there was no stopover in the undertaker’s foul parlor, no wreath or spray.”

Finally, colons can be used to introduce a quote that adds to the meaning of your words, as I did when I introduced the quote by Strunk and White (see what I did there? Two birds with on stone).

$150 for Your Thoughts?

            I recently purchased a brand new car. I have had several cars in my life so far, but all of them were used or passed down to me in some way. Last year I purchased a brand new SUV for my wife since we were pregnant with our first child. I wanted something a bit more reliable than what we had. This year it was my turn. I shopped around and researched as much as I could. Realistically though it boiled down to what kind of payments I would be making. In the end, I purchased a 2014 Ford Fiesta Titanium Edition. This has all of the bells and whistles (something I am not used to) and it was very affordable.

                                      

            In January of this year I received a letter in the mail asking if I wanted to participate in a survey from Ford regarding the Fiesta. Normally I scowl at such letters for wasting precious seconds of my life, but this survey was different. In big bold letters the survey said, “takes a few minutes and you will receive $150 for your time.” My interest was piqued. In short, the letter stated that Fiesta owners were being asked to participate in both an online survey, and a panel interview. I figured I would take a few minutes and see what would happen. After completing the survey I received a phone call. Then I received an invitation. Then I answered some questions in person from some very nice automotive engineers. Then I received a check.