VERBATIM

New issue on the way!

2008-04-13T14:46:00.001-07:00

Vol. 32 No. 1 is making its way to the printer tomorrow; check out the table of contents for the new issue:

Are Prepositions Necessary? by Rosemarie Ostler
Hanky-Panky, Hugger-Mugger, and Other Reduplicative Rhyming Compounds, by Amy Shuffelton and Jessy Randall
The Saloon-Bar Pundit: The Bane of the Philologist’s Life, by J.L.A. Hartley
Ha’penny Hurls and Chittering Bites: Talking Glaswegian, by June Sawers
Prepopr Splelnig, by Noam D. Plum
Learning Modern Turkish, by Kevin Revolinski
Never Say ‘Death’, by Daniel Krieger
The Power in the Punch of Welsh Valleys English, by Lucy Williams
Bits and Pieces, by David Galef
Beadlemania, by Jerome Betts

Plus some of our usual columns:
Classical Blather: Speak of the Devil! by Nick Humez
Obiter Dicta: I Sold My Writing for a Song, by Gloria Rosenthal
Horribile Dictu, by Mat Coward

and, of course, the Anglo-American crossword ...

Remember, the day this issue mails the subscription price rises to US$35/year (US$60/two years). (Add $5 per year for subscriptions sent outside North America, paid in US dollars; The UK £ price remains unchanged.) If you want to renew your subscription at our current rates, you have about ten days left to do so ...

Welcoming Mark Peters

2008-02-21T06:33:00.000-08:00

We're happy to announce that Mark Peters has joined VERBATIM as a Contributing Editor. Mark is a frequent contributor to VERBATIM, and a language columnist for the parenting website Babble, as well as writing for American Speech, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Columbia Journalism Review, Esquire, The Funny Times, Good, Grist, Mental Floss, Nerve, and Psychology Today.

His book Yada Yada Doh! 111 Television Words That Made the Leap From the Screen to Society is forthcoming from Marion Street Press in 2008. He also has his own blog, Wordlustitude. And, quite conveniently for the editor, he lives in Chicago! We're glad he's coming on board to help us with reading submissions as well as keeping the blog updated.

If you'd like to send him a "welcome" message, his new email is Mark at verbatimmag.com.

New Work from David Galef

2008-02-15T10:14:00.001-08:00

Long-time readers of VERBATIM will recognize the name David Galef; his pieces in our magazine consistently garner compliments (and the editor is always pleased to find a new one coming across her email transom).

But VERBATIM, as you all know, only publishes non-fiction, so if you've ever wondered how David Galef's light style translates to less-factual writing, you might want to check out his new book of short-shorts, A Man of Ideas and Other Stories.

Here are some teasers to pull you in ...

“As a souvenir from her stay in Botswana, Mary Edwards brought home a slave.”

"At age thirty, Daryl knew that his marriage was the best thing that ever
happened to him. At age forty, he felt the same about his divorce.”

“When I think of Duff, I think of the itchiness of everyday life and the
scratchiness of certain individuals. Duff wants to be loved for himself
alone, but what’s he got to offer? He’s a one-man conversation with a
personality like a sound-loop.”

This new book is available at Noemi Press; click on the image above for more information.

Yet Another Quick Post

2008-01-14T19:33:00.001-08:00

We had some more requests for back articles this week, so two more are available to read online:

Preposition Pollution, by Barbara DuBois, and Up and Down to You, by John Musgrave.

An easy way to see the few articles we have available in html is to check out the Table of Contents -- available articles will show up as links ... of course, that file needs to be updated, too ...

Two new issues are at the printer; I hope to see proofs in the next few days. They'll mail when our mailer has a slot, but with any luck before the end of January!

Interested in a quick peek at the tables of contents for those issues:

Here's Vol. XXXI/3:

Stalin, Marr, and the Struggle for a Soviet Linguistics Neile A. Kirk & Bernard Mees
When is a Word Not a Word? Peter Gilliver
Plurality David Galef
Is There an Information Professional In the House? Rachel Singer Gordon
Man Detained at Supermax Prison For Word Transposition Kenneth W. Cress
What I Told the Student From Brooklyn About Why He Flunked English Louis Phillips
Dogspeak, So to Speak Janice Arenofsky
Senior Glassware Maintenance Engineer Norman Ball
Pimping David A. Cory
Epitaph for Gertrude Stein Louis Phillips
You’ve Got Game IV Gloria Rosenthal
Classical Blather: Pound Hammers (and Toe Trucks) Nick Humez
As the Word Turns: Some Golden Oldies Barry Baldwin
Obiter Dicta: A Sampling of the Genius of Saki Edwin Rosenberg
And a review of Labels for Locals, by Paul Dickson (review by Mark Peters)

And here's Vol. XXX1/4:

Pronouns in Thai Euan Harvey
The Un-History of the Undead Tim Kane
A Car By Any Other Name Keith Hall
The National Report Card Louis Phillips
A Scientific Investigation Into a Linguistic Matter of Some Importance Marvin E. Mengeling
Biotechnologos: Words of the Life Business Michael J. Corey
Book Production Jargon Jaqueline Cangro
Pension Fund Language Joanne Mason
Xmas, Yttrium, & Zwieback: Unusual Initial Pairs in English Paul Anthony Jones
Anyone for Gerunding? C J Moore
Classical Blather: The Wee Folk Nick Humez
and a long-overdue review of
The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English, by Grant Barrett (reviewed by Mark Peters) -- but don't worry! The book's still available.

Quick Post: Noun Overuse Phenomenon

2007-12-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

A subscriber from long ago rediscovered us again today, and asked particularly after one article: Noun Overuse Phenomenon Article, from Vol. 2, No. 4. So there it is -- click on the link to read it. It's a favorite!

Please remember that if you are ordering VERBATIM as a gift subscription and our link is recalcitrant, you can always let the order go through and email us with the gift recipient's address. We are not so overwhelmed by the press of orders that we won't be able to match up your payment and your gift ...

Our New Address

2007-09-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

VERBATIM has moved, and despite our renewing the forwarding request several times, the Chicago Post Office has decided it would be easier to pretend we don't exist. So if your letter is returned, our new address is:

PO Box 597302
Chicago IL 60659

Our old address may be lingering (in fact, the business reply mail cards went in with the wrong one this last time) but we're trying to find all the instances of "4907 N. Washtenaw" and expunge them.

I am so sorry for the inconvenience ...

Crossword #104 Answers

2007-09-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

If you were missing the answers to Crossword #104 in XXXI/1, you're not the only one! Click here for them, which I know you're only using to check your own answers, right?

Believe it or Not

2007-07-05T12:17:00.001-07:00

A new issue! Several, in fact, but here's the Table of Contents for the first of the new issues:

Qat in Yemen Gregory Johnson
Three Limericks Max Gutmann
Cuckoo for Crack Mark Peters
My Genetic Code Louis Phillips
User-Friendly Turkish Martin Gani
Linguistic Larceny: It’s Ausgezeichnet Michael J. Corey
Species David Galef
Speaking Plain Yorkshire Anne Moore
Phlegmatic Scholarship Jonathan Caws-Elwitt
The First Use of a Word: How Can You Find It? Dr. Bob Turvey
ENIAC, HAL, and Deep Thought Jessy Randall
Peaks One and Two John Nixon, Jr.
Pluralia Tantum or E Pluribus Unum Anatoly Liberman
Modern Language Gary Buslik
Classical Blather: On the -go Nick Humez

I think you'll agree that the issue was worth the wait.

Technical Difficulties ... Please stand by

2006-10-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

We have temporarily lost the old site; archaeological work is in progress to retrieve it. Some links may work, some may whine "404 NOT FOUND" at you. In the meantime, email should work ... try editor at verbatimmag.com.

New issue on the way!

New Address!

2006-06-15T11:16:00.001-07:00

VERBATIM has a new address that should be used for all submissions (reminder: WE DO NOT ACCEPT FICTION!) and subscription orders:

VERBATIM
PO Box 597302
CHICAGO, IL 60659-7302

The other address will still work (so don't panic if you JUST mailed us something yesterday); the volume of mail was getting so high that our carrier "suggested" that we get a PO Box. (It was a very STRONG suggestion, emphatically delivered.)

Thank you for your kind attention; now I'll go figure out how to change this address everywhere else ...

New Address!

2006-06-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

It's That Time Again!

2006-06-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

The magazines may be little, but the weekend is big, big, big! It’s time once again for CLMP’s annual Lit Mag Marathon Weekend!

June 10th and 11th
All events are free and open to the public

EDITORS UNLEASHED!
The Magathon
New York Public Library's DeWitt Wallace Periodicals Room, 5th Ave. at 42nd St.
Saturday, June 10th from 4–6:30 PM
The Magathon kicks off the weekend with a celebratory “marathon” reading. Editors will present selections from their latest issues. Featured magazines include Call: Review, Columbia, Fiction, A Gathering of the Tribes, Gulf Coast, Home Planet News, Lips, Me Three, North Atlantic Review, Opium Magazine, A Public Space, Skidrow Penthouse, SLAB: Sound and Literary Artbook, StoryQuarterly, Swink, Terra Incognita, Tiferet, and Verbatim: The Language Quarterly.

BARGAINS! BARGAINS! BARGAINS!
Seventh Annual Literary Magazine Fair
Housing Works Used Book Café, 126 Crosby Street in Soho
Sunday, June 11th from 12–5PM
Lit fiends can take home armfuls of lit mags discounted more than 50% at only $2 a copy! Choose from hundreds of magazines from all over the country and hobnob with many of the editors who’ll be present to meet and greet. Proceeds go to Housing Works, a nonprofit organization serving homeless people living with AIDS, and to CLMP, a nonprofit organization serving independent literary publishers.
MENTION THIS BLOG ENTRY AND GET A VERBATIM PEN!

The fair was founded in 2000 by editors Jenine Gordon Bockman of Literal Latté and Rebecca Wolff of Fence, and has connected thousands of readers and writers by raising the profile of exceptional literary publishers.

This program is made possible with support from the NEA, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs -- and is co-sponsored by the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of The New York Public Library, Fence and Literal Latté.

Blogging for Powell's

2006-04-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging for Powell's this week (which is the exact same construction as "playing for England," but not anywhere near the import). If you have a free minute, check it out.

Powell's Book Blog

The Autumn 2005 Issue

2006-04-01T05:59:00.000-08:00

Will mail on Monday (this is not an April Fool's post).

Contents include:

Conan the Grammarian Richard Lederer
Language Felonies Natalia Cherjovsky
Ulsterisms for Everyday Use Anne Moore
Fourteenth Century Orthography Henry Fischer
Hunting the Wayzgoose Dorothy E. Zemach
Lapsus Linguae Dion Kempthorne
In Chaucer’s Time Jonathan Caws-Elwitt
The Passing Game Michael J. Corey
Bats David Galef
HOW to HUG Edwin Rosenberg
Don’t Kid the Goldfish Kay Haugaard
Checking In/Checking Out Louis Phillips

Now, isn't that a nice mix of your VERBATIM favorites and some great new writers to discover?

Winter's articles have been selected and will go to the copyeditor a week from Monday. Spring's articles are pushing through the dirt right now, and Summer is budding on the trees ...

The Alphabet Issue of Snakeskin

2006-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Edited by frequent VERBATIM contributor Jessy Randall, and featuring a poem first published in VERBATIM ("L", by Annette Basalyga) is now up!

Check it out here. Be sure to read the editor's note for interesting alphabet links!

Hello Tribune Readers!

2005-11-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

Hello! If you have come here from the Chicago Tribune, it looks as if our subscribe link isn't working. (Sigh.) If you would like to order a subscription, please email your mailing address directly to editor@verbatimmag.com. We'll send you your first issue and a bill for US$25 right away!

Thanks for visiting! Enjoy the site!

ETA: here's the link to the Tribune article, if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about ...

The Anniversary Crossword ...

2005-11-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

which appeared in Vol. 30/1, had the wrong grid alongside. Click here for the right one!

I'm so sorry for the aggravation. I suppose it DOES make the puzzle extra-challenging, right?

Not so much linguistic as literary

2005-10-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

VERBATIM reader Mike Dion sent me this cartoon, which I am presenting for your Friday-afternoon (or whenever you're reading this) amusement:

Poems Alphabeticall

2005-10-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

Jessy Randall, a frequent contributor to VERBATIM, is guest-editing the February issue of the online magazine Snakeskin (http://www.snakeskin.org.uk). It's a theme issue on the alphabet, and she needs poems about particular letters of the alphabet, or about the alphabet in general, or poems that use the alphabet in their structure somehow, like each line begins with a letter of the alphabet in backwards order Z-A or some other such contrivance.

Send as many alphabet-themed poems as you like to jessyrandall@yahoo.com.
Deadline is January 1, 2006. Feel free to forward this message.

Interesting article about modernizing Chinese ideograms

2005-10-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

That's all there is to say, really! Enjoy.

Author Chris Barden sent it along with this comment: "If you've ever been curious about Chinese ideograms, this article describes an unusual but extremely interesting attempt to drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century. I think your readers might dig it."

Link here: http://www.chinanowmag.com/artscene.htm

update to writer's guidelines

2005-09-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing from the editors of other small literary magazines that they have been receiving SANDWICHES as submissions. Which arrive with SASEs, no less!

So I just want to remind you that, here at VERBATIM, we don't publish fiction, journalism, or sandwiches. Sorry!

Another mag got a submission stuffed with that cut-foil confetti. They're still finding scraps of it all over their office. Irritating the editor is NEVER a good idea. Remember: not all attention is GOOD attention.

Contents, Tables of

2005-09-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

The very late, much-delayed, highly anticipated (I hope) Spring and Summer issues of VERBATIM are FINALLY at the printer! Here are the contents of these issues, which will be mailed together ...

XXX/1
Journo’s Boffo Lingo: The Slang of Daily Variety David Wilton
Mongo No Like Legging: Family Expressions Deserving Wider Recognition Jessy Randall
Confessions of a Verbivore Richard Lederer
E-Mails to an Etymologist Michael Quinion
Murder! She Ejaculated Edmund Conti
Blurts Aidan Baker
New Yawk Tawk Charles Elster
Who Put the Nick in my Name? Gloria Rosenthal
Subversion by Adverb Orin Hargraves
Such a Stew About Punning A. H. Block
Untitled Larry Tritten
Horribile Dictu Mat Coward
Classical Blather: Death’s Masks Nick Humez
As the Word Turns: Brief Lives, Brief Loves Barry Baldwin
XXX/2
The Simpsons: Embiggening Our Language with Cromulent Words Mark Peters
Brain Injury and Language Catherine P. Businelle
The Corporatization of Verbal Communication Processes Keith Hall
Playing Boggle with My Sister Lauren Rile Smith
Falsest of Friends Fraser Sutherland
Fan Words Marcelo Rinesi
What Do Poets Want? Louis Phillips
A Word or Two in Spanglish C. J. Moore
The Alphabet Is Killing Us John Nixon, Jr.
Ode to a Clodhopper Jerome Betts
One, Two, Three Francis Heaney
Sex and the Single Noun Thora Von Male
High-Scoring Scrabble™ Strings Seeking Definition Dan Pratt
Affiant Saith Further Nought Frank Abate
Horribile Dictu Mat Coward
Classical Blather: Words of Power Nick Humez

Knock-knock

2005-09-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

A new contributor, Jonathan Caws-Elwitt (look for his work soon in the pages of VERBATIM), sent me this wonderful knock-knock joke today.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Objective case.

Objective case who?

No, objective case *whom*.

Check out Jonathan's other humor writing here.

Word Words

2005-09-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

I got a nice email from dictionary-lover and writer Scott Huler the other day (he actually never sends any other kind -- but don't use this as an excuse to flame him to see if you can get him to send not-nice emails!) asking about words that are their own opposites. To be exact, he was asking about phrases that can be their own opposites, such as "nobody's left", but we haven't talked about phrases of this kind in VERBATIM, only words.

So. Here are links to a column by Philip Howard on the subject (where he discusses the Janus word chuffed at length) and also one by Jon O. Newman, who talks about the words for different words: synonyms, antonyms, and one of the words we're talking about, contronyms.

English As She Is Spoke

2005-09-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

There have been recent posts about this book on both BoingBoing and Metafilter, so here is the classic 1981 article from VERBATIM on the subject.

I'm taking requests as to what articles should go up online -- email me or leave a comment!