catch up (to), catch up (on), and catch on

Here are a few headlines from current events.

Can Romney Catch up to Gingrich in the Polls?

Yes I can! Yes I can! Catch up on my sleep, that is...

Meatless Mondays Catch On, Even With Carnivores

We learn the verb "(to) catch" fairly early when learning English. But there's more! We have several two-word verbs that use "catch".  There is "catch up". (Furthermore, this two-word verb requires a preposition "on" when the direct object is stated.)  And there is also the two-word verb "catch on".

It's important to know the difference between "catch up to", "catch up on" and "catch on". Two-word verbs, if you recall, hold a unique meaning that is more than the sum of the two words (the verb + the preposition).

The three headlines above link to news articles. Read each article and get a sense of what these words mean, and how each one is different.

Then try these three sentences, also from the internet:
Each verb is used once. 

• catch on
• catch up to
• catch up

1)   I'm busy now... Let's ________ later.
2)   All of his bad deeds _____________ him.
3)   Solar energy is finally _____________.

Let's get your feedback.  Enter your responses in the comment box below.

**

kinda sorta

In the world of Twitter and text messaging, where people shorten words to use as few slots as possible, many words look quite different from what they really are. Thank you becomes Thanks which (for some reason) becomes "Thankx" even though thankx has the same number of letters as the actual word thanks. 

Where people are trying to learn a new language, these modifications don't really help one to write or read correctly or to distinguish between standard English and slang. And this could make a big difference when you're writing an academic paper, apply to a school, or trying to get a good job.

Another example is "kinda". The actual words are "kind of".  Seen on the blog: He looks kinda sleepy.  --> He looks kind of sleepy.  I'm kinda hurt. --> I'm kind of hurt.

Another example of the same sort is "sorta".  The actual words are "sort of".  I was sorta checking you out --> I was sort of checking you out.  That sorta sounds weird. --> That sort of sounds weird.  (Better would be "That sounds sort of weird.")

Then it doubles up: Note the preponderance of Kinda sorta in Twitter!

So just a word of warning to those using Twitter to learn English: Read books, read books, read books. That's where you're going to learn whether you're picking up slang or whether you're learning good solid English.

You may want to send us comments on any other words that you're not sure of whether they're correct or whether they're shortened for slang or Twitter or text messaging.

Baby Boomer(s): The Word

In Japanese, it's " ベビーブーマー" - pronounced "baby boomer".  In Italian, it's "babyboomer". In Hebrew, it's "בייבי בומר" (pronounced baby boomer".  In Spanish it's "baby boomer". In Russian it's "бэби-бумеров".  But all of these are merely transliterations of the English word, "baby boomer". And none of these languages can get a sense of what the word really is saying!

The key here is the word "BOOM". 

What does "boom" mean?  A "boom" is a loud and deep and sudden noise. When something large and heavy falls, the sound it makes when hitting the ground is "boom". 

In economics, there is a term "boom" when the economy is healthy and strong - an economic boom. Then there's a "boom and bust", which refers to when everything is going well, then it suddenly goes "bust" - and crashes.

So that's the background. The "baby boomer" generation refers to those born after WWII, when servicemen returned home, started families and had children. Suddenly there were many babies, and these babies are referred to as 'baby boomers". Their effect on American life and the economy was like a big "boom".

Babies born between 1946 and 1954 are referred to as baby boomers. There was a sudden need for housing, for schools, for automobiles, for jobs, everything to serve these new young families.

We are hearing the term baby boomers now because people born in 1946 are now 65 years old and are entering retirement, and are placing a new type of demand on the economy.

How do you say "baby boomer" in your language? How did these "boomers" affect life in the 1940's and early 1950's? How are they affecting and influencing life now?

Occupy

There are Occupy Wall Street movements in cities all over the United States. What does this movement represent? And what about the word, "occupy"?

At its simplist, it means to take up space.  You see signs on bathrooms in airplanes, "Occupied". That means, basically, that somebody is in the bathroom and you have to wait your turn.

Also we see it used to refer to filling up time, such as "This job is occupying all of my time." This sentence from Craig's List refers to some speakers that are for sale: "These ...speakers ... don't occupy much floor space, and are quite slim and elegant looking."

It is also used in the geo-political sense, referring to a hostile takeover of land: Germany occupied France, etc.  We see it as a noun: German's occupation of France began in May 1940 and ended in December 1944.

In the "Occupy" movement, it has much of this sense, though presumably without the hostility and with a sense of it being a popular movement ("the 99%"), and not an external and hostile takeover from a foreign group, but also an occupation of ideas and social change.

Email Etiquette - an oxymoron?

Email Etiquette - Does it even exist?  Is this an oxymoron?

Etiquette refers to rules of socially acceptable behavior.

Some people begin their emails without addressing the addressee.  These people begin the body of the email without writing an introduction such as,  "Dear Cavey" or "Dear Mr. Crockett", etc.

Many people end their emails without signing off. That is, they end their email abruptly, without adding their name at the end of the email. I always like to include "Thank you" or "Yours" and then my name, but others don't write even this.

Many people would like to bring etiquette back into emails, so that people writing emails follow the same etiquette as regular letter writers.

Others think that the whole idea of writing emails is to save time and thus they support eliminating introductions and salutations.

If you have any thoughts about this, we'd like you to share them with us.

Thank you.

Yoga and Learning English

Has it ever occurred to you that there is a relationship between yoga and learning English?

Most people are very self-conscious when they learn a new language. When they are speaking, they are self-conscious about how they sound, about whether they are making grammatical mistakes, and whether the other(s) can understand them, and more.

Some worry about sounding stupid. 

Worrying about how you sound almost seems to be an intrinsic part of learning another language - because you want the other person to understand you. 

In a yoga class, the teacher says, "Don't look at the person next to you."  In a yoga class, the teacher tells the class to "have your own practice".  The teacher tells the students, "Don't think about how you look, or whether you look beautiful or as good as the person who you've seen in the yoga magazines."

I think there is something here for anybody learning English, or learning any other language.

When you are trying to speak, do you focus on the negative and worry so much about how you sound, or whether you are making mistakes, that you can't get the words out?

Learning a language and making grammatical mistakes go hand in hand.  It takes a while to learn the new system, and the old (your native language) keeps wanting to impose itself on the new.  It takes a long time to learn the new system, and to develop a separation between your first language and your next language.

And if you are learning English (or any other new language), feel good about your undertaking this very worthwhile and rewarding experience.


**

alcholics, workaholics and other "-holics" in our lives

It appeared in the word "alcoholic" - the suffix "-ic", which meant "of or pertaining to" tagged onto the noun "alcohol" to mean somebody who drinks alcoholic in excess, somebody who has an addiction to alcohol.

Then from the word "alcoholic", the last letters "-oholic" or "-aholic" started tagging along with other nouns when the reference was to an addiction to that thing or activity, an excessive need or urge for that thing: We saw it with the noun "work" - "workoholic", referring to a person who works all the time, who has an addiction to work, or to working. 

A really popular term is "chocoholic". Can you figure out what this person loves to eat?  In this case, of course, the suffix ending is placed not on the whole noun "chocolate" but on the first syllable, "choc".  Choc + oholic.

Next we have the term "~oholic" after the verb "(to) shop" and this person is a "shopoholic".   A shopoholic could end up ruining his/her or the family's budget due to the uncontrollable urge to shop and this could create marital woes as a consequence.

Also in this group, we begin with the noun "food" so that somebody who has an obsessive urge to eat now can call himself a "foodaholic". 

There are a few new ones that derive from some addictions in the world of electronics and cyberspace:  Somebody who can't stop being on the computer is a "computeraholic". 

People who can't stop blogging now have a word to describe themselves: blogaholics.

A new word "loveaholic" has appeared in the Urban Dictionary - and so the suffix "~aholic" now can latch onto the noun "love" - and we have a word for a person who loves to love, whose urge to love or be loved is at the level of an addiction.

Can you think of any new words in the English language that fit this pattern? Have you seen any in the news? If you haven't, just wait. There are plenty of addictive behaviors these days.

**