This Week: Book Sale! Plus, More on the Language of Politics on the Podcast + Romainian/Romanian

Romainian/Romanian
The ancient Romans referred to what we call “the Roman Empire” as Romania (roh-MAHN-ee-ya). The country north of Bulgaria borrowed this ancient name for itself. Older spellings—now obsolete—include “Roumania” and “Rumania.” But although in English we pronounce “Romania” roh-MAIN-ee-ya, it is never correct to spell the country’s name as “Romainia,” and the people and language are referred to not as “Romainian” but as “Romanian.”

Ancient Romans were citizens of the Roman empire, and today they are inhabitants of the city of Rome (which in Italian is Roma). Don’t confuse Romans with Romanians.

 
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On the podcast this week, we continue our discussion of words related to government and politics, including “empire” and “colonies.”

Book sale! Through the end of the year, buy the Common Errors in English Usage book now for $15 with free shipping in the US.

This Week: Book Sale! Plus, More on the Language of Politics on the Podcast + oppress/repress

oppress/repress
Dictators commonly oppress their citizens and repress dissent, but these words don’t mean exactly the same thing. “Repress” just means “keep under control.” Sometimes repression is a good thing: “During the job interview, repress the temptation to tell Mr. Brown that he has toilet paper stuck to his shoe.” Oppression is always bad, and implies serious persecution.



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On the podcast this week, we continue our discussion of words related to government and politics, including “dictator,” “state capitalism,”“monarchy,” “oligarchy,” “plutocracy,”
and “empire.”

Book sale! Through the end of the year, buy the Common Errors in English Usage book now for $15 with free shipping in the US.

This Week: More on the Language of Politics on the Podcast + Democrat Party/Democratic Party

Democrat Party/Democratic Party
Certain Republican members of Congress have played the childish game in recent years of referring to the opposition as the “Democrat Party,” hoping to imply that Democrats are not truly democratic. They succeed only in making themselves sound ignorant, and so will you if you imitate them. The name is “Democratic Party.” After all, we don’t say “Republic Party.”



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On the podcast this week, we continue our discussion of words related to government and politics, including “suffrage,” “franchise,”“democracy,” and “republic.”

This Week: More on the Language of Politics on the Podcast + grow

grow
We used to grow our hair long or grow tomatoes in the yard, but now we are being urged to “grow the economy” or “grow your investments.” Business and government speakers have extended this usage widely, but it irritates traditionalists. Use “build,” “increase,” “expand,” “develop,” or “cause to grow” instead in formal writing.
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On the podcast this week, we continue our discussion of words related to government, including “feudalism,” “fiefdoms,”“monarchy,” and “democracy.”

This Week: The Language of Politics on the Podcast + government

government
Be careful to pronounce the first N in “government.”




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On the podcast this week, we talk about government and politics—more than just words.

This Week: Finishing Up on the Language of Health Care on the Podcast + sick/sic

sick/sic
The command given to a dog, “sic ’em,” derives from the word “seek.” The 1992 punk rock album titled Sick ’Em has helped popularize the common misspelling of this phrase. Unless you want to tell how you incited your pit bull to vomit on someone’s shoes, don’t write “sick ’em” or “sick the dog.”

The standard spelling of the “-ing” form of the word is “siccing.”

In a different context, the Latin word sic (“thus”) inserted into a quotation is an editorial comment calling attention to a misspelling or other error in the original which you do not want to be blamed for but are accurately reproducing: “She acted like a real pre-Madonna [sic].” When commenting on someone else’s faulty writing, you really want to avoid misspelling this word as sick.

Although it’s occasionally useful in preventing misunderstanding, sic is usually just a way of being snotty about someone else’s mistake, largely replaced now by “lol.” Sometimes it’s appropriate to correct the mistakes in writing you’re quoting; and when errors abound, you needn’t mark each one with a sic—your readers will notice.


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On the podcast this week, we conclude our discussion of health care terms, including networks, pre-existing conditions, HIPA, Obamacare vs. the ACA, and primary care physicians.

This Week: More Language of Health Care on the Podcast + able to

able to
People are able to do things, but things are not able to be done: you should not say, “the budget shortfall was able to be solved by selling brownies.


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On the podcast this week, we continue our discussion of health care terms, including long-term care insurance, health savings accounts, and death panels.