Today marks the one blemish in April’s usually blooming record: Tax Return Day. Eh, well, April is also the beginning of tornado season, but I digress. A post office’s nightmare and a CPA’s dream, tax season gives a whole new light to mathematics and itemization. People find themselves scrambling through old shoeboxes for missing receipts […]
Continue ReadingZoo Seeking Namers
April 13, 2010
The Louisville Zoo is seeking a name for the latest addition to its family: a baby boy giraffe. The zoo is taking submissions from now until April 25th, so get noodling on some cute entries for this little guy.
Continue ReadingTV Show About Jobs
March 24, 2010
Apple is an amazing brand. And in its fanatics’ mind, nothing is more on-brand than Steve Jobs. He is mysterious, smart, passionate, innovative and wears a mean black turtleneck. And, unlike other great brands’ CEOs, he is so interesting that a TV show mirroring his life is in the works. Yep, a TV show. You […]
Continue ReadingWhat the buzz, Google?
February 12, 2010
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. I woke up this morning to find out something was different with my Gmail. Overnight it seems as if Google and Facebook have fornicated their technological impulses and created the newest love child of the social networking world: Google Buzz. Though Twitter might demand a paternity test from Google, this “buzzing” community is the […]
Continue ReadingA Bad Case of App Envy
February 01, 2010
I have bone to pick about apps. With the launch of the iPhone and now the iPad, apps have become big business and many large brands have created apps to enhance engagement with its products. The world has gone app crazy – or so it appears. Here’s my problem. In North America, approximately 9 million […]
Continue ReadingWar & Words
December 01, 2009
The National Museum of Language in College Park, MD is curating an exhibit on the role of the War of 1812 in the development of American English. (Thanks to the Visual Thesaurus for the tip) The role of the museum is to promote a better understanding of language and its role in history, contemporary affairs, […]
Continue ReadingCandy Brands: Brach’s
October 28, 2009
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. What would Halloween be without candy corn? It has been enjoyed for over 100 years. According to Brach’s, the top branded maker of candy corn, each year Americans buy enough Brach’s candy corn that if the kernels were laid end to end, they would circle around the Earth 4.5 times. Brach’s candy pumpkin, known by […]
Continue ReadingThe Etymology of Forgotton Folks
October 27, 2009
As namers, we use words like “neologisms,” “hybrids,” and “current usage words” with every project we work on. A neologism (from the French “new + body of knowledge”) is a made-up word or something that has been coined for a specific purpose (ex: Aceba). A hybrid is two words fused together (ex: FunHub), while a […]
Continue ReadingSwim at your Own Risk
July 30, 2009
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Shark Week Returns Summer vacation is drawing to a close, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. Hopefully you have been able to take a nice, relaxing trip to the beach … and survive. The time has come again for the annual terrifying, yet thrilling, Shark Week on […]
Continue ReadingFind out if you have a way with words…
July 17, 2009
Here are the answers to the “Have a Way with Words” post riddles. 1. The word ‘wholesome.’ 2. The dictionary. 3. The letter ‘e.’ 4. Racecar. (Give yourself an extra point if you knew the dictionary definition of this type of word. Palindrome: noun: a word, line, verse, number, sentence, etc., reading the same backward […]
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