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So What's New? Plenty!
Ann: Hmm … Everything looks so interesting on the menu.
Kim: I think we should start off with edamame. It's delicious and so nutritious.
Ann: Yes, they certainly are nutritious.
Kim: What are?
Ann: The edamame. I was agreeing with you that they're nutritious.
Kim: You mean, it is nutritious, not they are nutritious.
Ann: Huh? No, I think you're supposed to say they are nutritious.
Kim: Whatever. Edamame is certainly one of today's iconic foods, don't you think?
Ann: Absolutely!
Kim: Oh, there's the server. Excuse me. Could you bring us some plain water, please?
Server: Certainly. I'll be right back.
Ann: So how is Julie enjoying her summer vacation?
Kim: Oh, she's having a wonderful time staying with her grand uncle Tim.
Ann: Nice of him to look after her all summer.
Kim: And you know what? She's joined the girl scouts.
Ann: That's terrific. That'll be a good experience for her.
Kim: Absolutely. And she's getting involved in a girls' softball team.
Ann: Oh? That must be hard for her since she's so new at the sport.
Kim: They're giving her some weightage in each match because of that.
Ann: That's considerate of them.
Kim: I'm glad we got here early enough to enjoy a leisurely lunch.
Ann: So am I. This way we won't have to rush to catch that reading of Under Milkwood.
Kim: I'm so glad the theatrette is just a block away. Okay, let's order.
One way that I know I'm getting older is that I notice more and more how many words or expressions I hear quite often that I probably wouldn't have heard and definitely wouldn't have used the way they're used today when I was younger. In one way, it's nice to witness how my language keeps evolving, to see how it can generate new vocabulary so handily. In another way, it can be somewhat disconcerting or even disorienting to hear familiar words used unfamiliarly in everyday conversation. After all, it is my language, isn't it? Shouldn't I feel comfortable with what's being said?
Keeping up with new words and expressions can be a daunting task for ESOL teachers, but I suppose it can be a fun activity, too. Here are the items that I know I wouldn't have heard or used in this way just ten or fifteen years ago: edamame, whatever, server, plain water, grand uncle, girl guides, absolutely, weightage, and theatrette.
Interesting, eh? "Eda-what?" Edamame! It's the Japanese word for soy beans. They're served in the pod in a bowl along with drinks.
Did you use the adjective iconic years ago the way Kim used it in the conversation? I didn't. I understood what it meant the first time I heard it, and that's one of the wonderful things about language. It can generate words we've never heard before or used in ways we've never heard, and yet we can understand them. Amazing! But what's even more amazing is how the noun icon has been turned around from the days when I used it many years ago. Here are the definitions given by the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online. Note especially the order that the definitions are given:
icon [countable]
1. a small sign or picture on a computer screen that is used to start a particular operation:
To open a new file, click on the icon.
2. someone famous who is admired by many people and is thought to represent an important idea:
a 60s cultural icon
3. also ikon: a picture or figure of a holy person that is used in worship in the Greek or Russian Orthodox Church
— iconic adjective
Isn't that fascinating? For me, no. 3 would have been the first meaning, but now it's been relegated to the last meaning on the list of definitions. Wow! And the adjective would only have referred to a painting or mosaic found in a religious setting like a church. How word usage has changed!
And what about that rejoinder Whatever? Was that usage part of your vocabulary ten or fifteen years ago? It wasn't part of mine. I understand, of course, that it means I really don't care too much about what we've been discussing or debating or what you've just said. It's a kind of curt way to end that discussion.
As for server, I still have a problem with that one. I have no problem saying "Waiter!" or "Waitress!" or calling the waitress "Miss!" but saying "Server"? Nope, I just can't get into that.
The first time I heard somebody ask for plain water, I almost laughed out loud. What on earth is that? I had to ask of course, and found out it means the customer doesn't want bottled water or mineral water. I would have said tap water, but I guess that doesn't sound nice enough, so now it's plain water.
Grand uncle. Now that was a new one on me. It means the same thing as great uncle, in other words, the brother of one of your grandparents. And, of course, there's also grand aunt besides great aunt. I'm sure these two terms have been around for a very long time, but until recently I'd never heard them. I guess the reasoning for saying grand uncle and grand aunt is that if you have a grandparent, you should also have a grand uncle and a grand aunt. We don't say *greatparent, so why should we say great uncle/aunt? Of course I can see the logic in it.
Was I surprised to learn about grand uncle and grand aunt? Absolutely! Oops! There's another word used in a relatively new way. Isn't it amazing how often people use this adverb as a rejoinder nowadays? I try to use it sparingly, because I've noticed that one person can use it an outrageous number of times during just one short conversation, which starts to get on my nerves. It seems like every other word out of the person's mouth is "Absolutely!" That can get absolutely irritating!
Another term that makes me exclaim "Live and learn" is weightage. According to Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition, 2003-2008, weightage is defined as "a weighing factor assigned to compensate for a perceived disadvantage." I suppose it's starting to take the place of the term handicap, which was the term used in my day. I'm told that it's still something heard more often in British English than North American English.
And last, but not least, we come to one of my favorites, theatrette, an offering from our cousins "down under" in Australia. We can easily figure out that it means, a relatively small theater, and I think it's a great term. I first heard it not long ago while talking to a friend of mine from Perth. I'm not sure it'll catch on throughout the English-speaking world, but I, for one, like it. And at least I didn't have to squirm to figure out what my Australian friend was talking about when she used it! I can't find this term in dictionaries yet, but I'm sure it'll make its way into some in the near future.
So there you have it, a sampling of words and expressions that have either changed the way they're used or have been created to fill a need that some speakers perceived was there. And the beat goes on! If this should teach us anything, it should be to react with interest and curiosity when we hear something new or something old that's used in a new way. In the long run, that'll make us better, more "with it" language teachers.


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Stephen Colbert is setting up something that's pretty close to a money laundering operation. Why? So that rich folks and corporations can anonymously channel money into his "super PAC" – a political action committee that in turn can spend unlimited funds advocating for issues and candidates it likes.
Again you ask, why? What's the point of a comedian setting up such sophisticated campaign-finance apparatus? The answer to that seems obvious – he's making fun of it. As we've said before, Mr. Colbert is a performance artist as much as a comic. What he's highlighting here is the absurdity of US campaign finance regulations – or rather, how they may be regulations in name only.
After all, he's defined PAC as standing for plastic and/or cash, and invited supporters to a political BYOB party – Bring Your Own Billions. His show now features a "heroes crawl" at the bottom of the screen that lists names of donors to his political slush fund.
As to the amount of cash he's collected so far, he said on Thursday's show "we're into numbers I wouldn't want to serve in federal prison".
If you're confused, we'll back up a bit here and lay out Colbert's finance landscape. In June, he won approval from the Federal Election Commission to form a super PAC, a kind of committee that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash on political activities. The main limitation of such organizations is that they're not supposed to directly coordinate activities with a candidate.
Of course, you'd have to be a special kind of donor to entrust your money to Stephen Colbert. He's not going to use it for ads that discuss the merits of President Obama's approach to Israel. Indeed, the Colbert Super PAC produced an ad that urged voters in the recent Ames, Iowa, straw poll to vote for "Rick Parry." (Texas Gov. Rick Perry's name is spelled with an "e".)
Now, another limitation of super PACs is that they must disclose their donors, and that was the jumping-off point for Colbert's Thursday show. He had his lawyer, Trevor Potter, come out and give him the paperwork for his brand new shell corporation, named "Anonymous Shell Corporation." This kind of organization, known in campaign finance terms as a 501(c)(4) firm, doesn't have to disclose its donors. In turn, it can give unlimited amounts to super PACs.
"What is the difference between that and money laundering?" asked Colbert.
"It's hard to say," said his lawyer.
Colbert has a specific target in mind here. He's after Karl Rove – earlier on the show, he'd interviewed a canned ham wearing glasses, calling it "Ham Rove." Mr. Rove is a force behind the creation of a GOP super PAC named "American Crossroads," and a shell corporation named "Crossroads GPS" that can accept unlimited cash from individuals and corporations, then funnel it to American Crossroads.
"Crossroads GPS's policy is to not provide the names of its donors to the general public," notes the group on its website.
For its part, American Crossroads is currently the biggest source of outside expenditures in the 2012 campaign cycle, according to the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics. So far it's spent more than $1.1 million aiding GOP causes.
We'll note that the House Majority PAC, a liberal group, is close behind in second place, at around $900,000 for Democrats. Will Colbert Super PAC ever make the top 10 here? We're calling him out – he's just doing chump change so far.

subset: commoncrawl


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181 Finley Road
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United States
Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 11:00 AM
Check-in Age: 18
Parking + -
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A team of people who love horror, and love making horror mods. We mainly focus on Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but we plan on widening our views. Our two pieces of work so far are "Amnesia: The House", and the soon to come "Amnesia: The House Chapter 0". Interested in joining? We will post articles on this page whenever we require assistance! The group was founded by Asaratha, and ever since I started my Amnesia projects, more people have joined me in my quest for horror.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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In the Blog
introducing black.brown.green: a website for anti-racist enviro-ing!
If you read this website at all regularly, you've probably heard me moan about how marginalised groups fighting for their rights rarely seem to recognise their commonality. Whether it's feminists having trouble reconciling with anti-racists, or green anarchists distancing themselves from anti-ableism activists, the whole thing gives me the weepies. Wouldn't things go much faster if we all recognised how ultimately linked all of our causes - like feminism, queer rights, indigenous rights, racial equity, anti-poverty efforts, ability activism - are linked, and then work together? Instead, what seems to happen more often than not is a competition to see who has it worse. I tell you, it's enough to tire a girl out.
One thing in particular that's always stuck in my craw is the green movement's tendency towards racism (or at least racial obliviousness) and classism. While feminism and environmentalism have managed to make the happy marriage of ecofeminism, anti-racism movements and environmental movements haven't always gotten along.
That's why I was thrilled to find out about Black.Brown.Green., "a web portal of resources and information that integrate people of color and our needs and issues with the movement for environmental sustainability." As they say most eloquently:
We hope to spread the understanding that all things are connected and that we are stronger when working together than we are when we are tearing each other apart.
I love this site. Where else would you find the 12 Principles of Permaculture integrated with Malcolm X? Excellent! Incidentally Black.Brown.Green was started by damali ayo, who also created the hilarious (and useful) I Can Fix It! guides for ending racism.
What do I mean when I say that the environmental movement can be racist or classist? The mainstream green movement (which often encapsulates the anti-corporate and anti-consumerism movement) tends to primarily represent the experiences of middle class and white folks.
[For e.g.: (and this is an answer to a question Catherine asked me ages ago, sorry this took so long!) Adbuster's famous Buy Nothing Day (BND) campaign rests on the assumption that North Americans spend lots of money every day, and spend thoughtlessly. While this can be true for middle class folks like me, is it really true for people who don't have a disposable income? In behaving as if all North Americans have problems with excessive spending, BND and Adbusters is implying that working class folks don't exist. BND has been criticised for righteously positioning itself above the middle class, and this positioning is plain silly when its assumptions reveal it to be firmly rooted in middle earth. I appreciate what BND is trying to do, but I'd feel much fonder towards it if it had a better class analysis and recognised just who it's pandering to.]
While this is bad enough in and of itself, it's particularly awful when you consider that it's poor folks and people of colour who often bear the brunt of environmental degradation. In the words of the amazing Youth Environmental Network:
Nobody wants toxic facilities in their neighbourhoods; this is referred to as not-in-my-backyard or NIMBY. However, race- and class-privileged communities are able to enforce NIMBY while some communities are not. These communities are most often communities of colour, First Nations and low income communities.
This is from the Green Justice Guide, which you can download on this webpage (scroll to the bottom. unfortunately it's a hefty doc and you might have to be patient.)
If you'd like to learn more about the connection between environmentalism and racism, and the movement to make things better, I'd highly recommend the article "Green is not the only colour" which my associate Beenash Jafri co-wrote.