fandom_grammar . Entries tagged with language:old-fashioned

Anticipation, sang Carly Simon: It's keeping me waiting.

Today's Say What? features a pair of sayings that go well with Simon's famous song. We'll explore them with the help of Gansey III's crew from Maggie Stiefvater's Young Adult series, the Raven Cycle.

( We can't wait! )

Mood: contemplative

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randi2204

We were asked, What is the origin and correct usage of “moot?” Moot has a variety of meanings, so correct usage can be a bit tricky. Let’s dig right in with some help from the characters of Star Trek.

( Who gives a hoot about moot? )

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ariestess

For this week's Say What? adventure, we're going to look at a couple of seemingly biblically-inspired sayings, with the help of our friends over at ( with the help of our friends over at Once Upon a Time )

Mood: creative

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randi2204

It’s that time again – Say What? is back! Today we’ll be taking a look at a couple of sayings that give some insight into both hope and reality. Let’s get right into better to light a candle than to curse the darkness and man’s reach exceeds his grasp, and we’ll be enlisting the characters from the Magnificent Seven movie to help.

( Reach for the candle but don’t grasp the flame. )

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randi2204

In today’s edition of Say What?, we’ll be taking a look at a couple of sayings that remind you that what you say, or maybe what you don’t say, can have great impact on what people think of you. Let’s jump right into better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt and tell the truth and shame the devil, with some help from the characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

( Telling the truth doesn’t make you a fool, does it? )

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chiroho.livejournal.com

Welcome to your first post-hiatus post from Fandom Grammar. As I hope you saw a couple of days ago, the community is back to a weekly posting schedule, and we're expanding our communications beyond LiveJournal to other social media. If you have questions, please submit them as comments to this post, as we'd love to start answering them again.

This week I'll be looking at the origin of the word rigmarole, and what it means today.

( John and Harold, from Person of Interest, will go through the rigmarole of finding an answer. )

Mood: busy

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chiroho.livejournal.com

This week's Say What? looks at two sayings that are related to annelids, and both of them counsel caution in different ways. My examples for explaining these sayings will be from Person of Interest.

( What happens if the worm that the early bird catches decides to turn? )

Mood: tired

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whymzycal.livejournal.com

It's Friday, and that means it's time for another exciting "Say What?"! In today's installment, we're going to learn about two sayings whose current meanings probably originated in the U.S.—with examples from ( Person of Interest. )

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achacunsagloire.livejournal.com

Happy Friday, Fandom Grammar watchers! It sure has been an exciting past few weeks, what with the release of the new Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 trailer. Although it provided some juicy details for us fans to salivate over in the coming months, it did little to sate our hunger for Hunger Games goodness.

Speaking of which, this week’s food-oriented idioms inspire hunger of a different sort: “half a loaf is better than no bread” and “the bread always falls butter side down.” Let’s satisfy our hunger for knowledge below the cut:

( First up is "half a loaf is better than no bread": )

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lady-ganesh.livejournal.com

Today's expressions are, if you'll pardon the expression, quite grave. We'll let the cast of Sherlock demonstrate.

( After all, there is no shortage of corpses in Sherlock )

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chomiji

Even though rain is necessary for life, the fact that raindrops look like teardrops, along with the darkened skies that rain brings with it during the day, make rain an allusion to sorrow or bad luck in many cultures. Let's take a closer look at a couple of familiar sayings about the rain that are really comments about misfortune.

( With the help of the cast of the manga and anime series Black Lagoon … )

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chiroho.livejournal.com

In this week's Say What? we'll be looking at two expressions that are related to either, depending on how you look at it, things that money can buy, or whether people's integrity is real. I'll be using the characters from Person of Interest in my examples.

( What is your price? )

Mood: working

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achacunsagloire.livejournal.com

Happy Friday, Fandom Grammar watchers! It sure has been one crazy week--which makes the topic of today's Say What? most appropriate: the idioms "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and "helter skelter." Thanks primarily to pop culture and events of the late 20th century, both of these idioms have come to be associated with madness and terror. As such, we'll be traveling to the sleepy resort town of Silent Hill for help in understanding their meaning and context.

( The horror begins just under the cut: )

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chiroho.livejournal.com

Welcome to another edition of Say What? where we look at the origin of different sayings and proverbs. This time our sayings relate to familiarity and closeness, and I'll be using characters from Person of Interest in my examples.

( Are you familiar with your neighbours? )

Mood: okay

Tags:

randi2204

It’s a day for the kids on today’s Say What? Both of the sayings we’ll be taking a look at deal with children in some way. Let’s discuss “little pitchers have big ears” and “spare the rod and spoil the child.”

( We’ll be assisted by some of our friends from Fullmetal Alchemist. )

Tags:

randi2204

Welcome to another edition of Say What? Beware of the Devil—today we’ll be taking a look at two sayings that have Old Nick in common, namely “Every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost,” and “He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.” We’ll be assisted by our friends from the Magnificent Seven.

( The Devil went down to Georgia… )

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melayneseahawk.livejournal.com

At Dinosaur Comics, T-Rex drops some knowledge about how awesome English used to be. Click the preview for the full comic:

Mood: sleepy
Music: street noise

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chomiji

Reader garonne asked us "What are the rules for archaic declension and conjugation? (thou, art, etc.)" Although we can't present all the details of Early Modern English in the scope of a Fandom Grammar article, we'll take look at some of the most characteristic features of this romantic-sounding ancestor of the language that we use here today.

( With the help of the cast of the classic fairy tale 'Snow White' ... )

Tags:

chomiji

It's a new year, so this is a good time to discuss these two wise sayings about how our time on earth can be perceived. We'll take a closer look with the help of Neil Gaiman's Sandman and his siblings and employees.

( Don't worry, this will only take a couple of minutes of your time .. )

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mab-browne.livejournal.com

Today's Say What? looks at cleanliness is next to godliness and early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, with help from characters from Starsky & Hutch and The Sentinel.
( Read on... )

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Fandom Grammar

Entries tagged with language:old-fashioned

Say What? All things come to he who waits / Hope springs eternal

Answer: Moot

Say What?: All this and heaven, too. / The devil looks after his own.

Say What? Better to light a candle... & Man's reach exceeds his grasp

Say What? Better to remain silent and be thought a fool.../ Tell the truth and shame the devil.

Answer: What is the origin of "rigmarole"?

Say What? Even a worm will turn / The early bird catches the worm

Say What? The bee's knees / The whole nine yards

SAY WHAT?: "Half a loaf is better than no bread" versus “The bread always falls butter side down."

Say What? Dead Men Tell No Tales/Never Speak Ill of the Dead

Say What? Into every life a little rain must fall / It never rains but it pours

Say What? Every man has his price / A golden key can open any door

Say What?: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" versus "helter skelter"

Say What? Familiarity Breeds Contempt / Good Fences Make Good Neighbours

Say What? Little pitchers have big ears & Spare the rod and spoil the child

Say What? Every man for himself & He who sups with the Devil...

Friday Funnies -- Claussicce Englisshe

Answer: What Are the Rules for Archaic Declension and Conjugation?

Say What? Time flies when you're having fun / Variety is the spice of life

Say What? Cleanliness is next to godliness/Early to bed and early to rise....

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