Ben Zimmer, contributor to Language Log and to Far from the Madding Gerund (and occasional sub at the NYT "On Language" desk), writes two remembrances of William Safire and points to a column where the late, great gray eminence references the work of Language Log in defining the phenomenon known as "snowclones," a term actually coined by Glen Whitman rather than a staffer at Language Log.Look everywhere else for remembrances of Safire (I'll ignore much of his political opinion except as it relates to civil liberties and media conglomeration), and also look around for discussions of what a snowclone is. As far as I know, Safire never plugged that other phenomenon noted and popularized at Language Log, the eggcorn.
As far as I know, Safire never gave mention to Paul Brians' Common Errors in English Usage, which would have seemed a natural for him, but once upon a time he did give mention to Brad Hansen's Dictionary of Computing and Digital Media, published by our own selves. To him the book was "catnip for netties."
No comments:
Post a Comment