Bah Humblebrag - 19 December 2011

<p>SHOW SUMMARY<br /><br />What's YOUR choice for the Word of the Year for 2011? What word or phrase best sums up the ideas, events, and themes that speakers of English have been talking about? Grant shares some of his picks. And speaking of picks, why do football commentators seem to love the term pick-six? Also, great quotations from writers, the meaning of such Britishisms as cheeky and naff, the intentionally misspelled and mispronounced word defulgaty and a discussion of whether the term ladies is offensive. And does the insect called an earwig really crawl into people's ears at night?<br /><br />FULL DETAILS<br /><br />Writers always seem to come up with brilliant quotes about writing, and why shouldn't they? Douglas Adams has noted, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." And Gloria Steinem once quipped: "I do not like to write. I like to have written."<br /> <br />What's the difference between hand grenades and pomegranates? Not much when you think about their shape and the fact that they're both packed tightly with small things, which is why both share a linguistic root with the word granular.<br /><br />http://www.altalang.com/beyond-words/2009/07/13/pomegranates-and-hand-grenades/<br /><br />Grant offers examples from his latest Words of the Year list, including Crankshaft (the code name for the Osama Bin Laden), and basketbrawl, referring to the fight that broke out between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Chinese National Team. <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ClAM3zXx-I<br /> <br />Football, like most sports, brings its own set of idioms and jargon that ride the line between cleverness and cliche. The adjective multiple describes a player, an offense or defense, or even a whole team that has multiple threats or talents. And a pick six, one of the more exciting plays in football, is when a player makes an interception and scores a touchdown. For a more erudite take on the language of sports, David Foster Wallace's "Roger Federer as Religious Experience" never f