CHARLIE'S BOOKS☺☺☺NOTE○WELL○PUBLISHERS small press runs & publisher of Charlie's Books:of poetry,novels and short stories.

POETRY = Between The Sheets•// Poetry Moments•// Under My Skin•// -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOVEL -- = The Originators ○○○Author = Charles Schwartz ... _______

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 Shopping List of Portmanteaus
These words are formed by combining two other words, in the English language. Most portmanteau words take the prefix of one word and use the suffix of the other foming: 
       prefix and suffix-like wording. 
__________

affluenza from affluence and influenza
analrapist from analyst and therapist - in Arrested Development, Tobias Funke puts this on his business card
anecdata from anecdote and data - anecdotal evidence
artivist from art and activist - those who attempt to push political agendas by means of art
banoffee from banana and toffee - a dessert made from banana and toffee
bleen from blue and green (coined by Nelson Goodman to illustrate Goodman's paradox)
bodacious from bold and audacious - remarkable; prodigious
boxercise from boxing and exercise
broast perhaps from broil and roast - a word commonly encountered at restaurants in Saudi Arabia
brunch from breakfast and lunch
buffeteria from buffet and cafeteria
camcorder from camera and recorder
caplet from capsule and tablet
clamato from clam and tomato - a bottled juice blend of clam and tomato
cremains from cremation and remains
crunk from crazy and drunk
cyborg from cybernetic and organism - variably, a bionic human or a hybrid biological/synthetic being
discothèque from disc and bibliothèque
docudrama from documentary and drama
electrocution from electricity and execution
faction from fact and fiction
fantabulous from fantastic and fabulous
foon from fork and spoon (see also spork, below)
guesstimate from guess and estimate
gymnatorium from gymnasium and auditorium - a room, usually in a school, used for both purposes
ignoranus from ignoramus and anus (or asshole) - a person who is both stupid and outspoken
infomercial from information and commercial
irregardless from irrespective and regardless - generally considered inappropriate in formal use and as being self-contradictory
jazzercise from jazz and exercise
jorts from jeans and shorts
keytar from keyboard and guitar
knork from knife and fork - a fork with an outer tine sharpened slightly to enhance the cutting ability of the tine
lexiconnoisseur from lexicon and connoisseur. Coined by Jerry Holkins of Penny-Arcade.
–lish or –ish used as a suffix to form many frankenwords meaning foreign varieties of English such as Spanglish
lupper from lunch and supper
manorexic from man and anorexic - describing a man who is thin to the point of looking anorexic
manscaping from man and landscaping - a term to describe male body hair removal
manssiere from man and brassiere - a bra designed for and worn by a man (coined on a Seinfeld episode)
mantastic from man and fantastic
McJob from McDonalds and job
McMansion from McDonalds and mansion - refers to large ostentatious houses built very quickly, frequently very near one another and on small tracts of land; commonly associated with Internet millionaires in pursuit of oneupmanship
malbo from male and bimbo (coined on a Seinfeld episode)
mingy from mean and stingy
misunderestimate from misunderstand and underestimate, famously coined by George W. Bush
motel from motor and hotel
muppet from marionette and puppet
pedoriffic from pedophile and terrific - usually used to describe an attractive girl who is below the legal age of sexual consent
petrochemical from petroleum and chemical. Because the crucial root -oleum has been removed, this word is a portmanteau.
Pictionary from picture and dictionary - the brand name of a popular board game distributed by Hasbro Inc.
pluot from plum and apricot
pomato from potato and tomato
procrasturbate from procrastinate and masturbate - usually means "to delay simply because it feels good".
From the broader definitions of masturbatory as simply "pleasurable", or sometimes "excessively self-involved".
RamaHanuKwanzMas from Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas - a pejorative term for the politically correct tendency to turn Christmas into an all-encompassing multicultural holiday
ridiculous - something which is retarded and ridiculous, from comic toothpastefordinner.com
ridonkulous from ridiculous and donkey (or ass) - something that is so ridiculous that whatever caused it to be can be considered asinine (or an ass)
rockabilly from rock and roll and hillbilly - refers to both the aesthetic and musical style of an artist that borrows from both genres
Rolodex from rolling and index - the trademarked name of a popular office organizer
sitcom from situational and comedy - a popular genre of television programming involving characters placed in comedic situations
shemale from she and male (rhymes with "female")
simulcast from simultaneous and broadcast
vanskort from skirt and short (as in short pants)
smog from smoke and fog
spork from spoon and fork
palmelo from tangerine and pomelo
Texican from Texan and Mexican
toxious from toxic and noxious
Abulance from van and ambulance
vorocious from voracious and ferocious
vingle from video and single
vurp from vomit and burp
wonderosity from wonder and curiosity - following one's sense of curiosity in a direction that leads to wonder or awe
woon from wooden and spoon - flat wooden things for eating ice cream
Amway from American and way
cineplex from cinema and complex
docudrama from documentary and drama
infomercial from information and commercial
multiplex from multiple and cineplex (note that this word has a different meaning in telecommunications)
 
telethon from television (or, arguably, telephone) and marathon
televangelist from television and evangelist

ETC., ETC.,


AMOUNT/NUMBER
FEWER/LESS

Amount words relate to quantities of things that are measured in bulk; number words relate to things that can be counted. 

You can eat fewer cookies, but you drink less milk. If you eat too many cookies, people would probably think you’ve had too much dessert. If the thing being measured is being considered in countable units, then use number words. Even a substance which is considered in bulk can also be measured by number of units. For instance, you shouldn’t drink too much wine, but you should also avoid drinking too many glasses of wine. Note that here you are counting glasses. They can be numbered.

The most common mistake of this kind is to refer to an “amount” of people instead of a “number” of people.

Just to confuse things, “more” can be used either way: you can eat more cookies and drink more milk.

Exceptions to the less/fewer pattern are references to units of time and money, which are usually treated as amounts: less than an hour, less than five dollars. Only when you are referring to specific coins or bills would you use fewer: “I have fewer than five state quarters to go to make my collection complete.”

 

 


OXYMORONS

act naturally/

advanced basic/

airline food/ almost exactly/

alone together/

amateur expert/
baby grand (piano)/

black light/

brief survey/
civil war/

clearly confused/ clearly misunderstood/

completely unfinished/

Congressional action/

Congressional ethics/

constant change/

criminal justice/

crisis management/

curved line/
definite maybe/

deafening silence/

death benefits/

divorce court/

down escalator/

dry beer/

dry ice/

dry wine
elementary calculus/

evaporated milk/

extra time/

exact estimate/

express mail
fast idle/

first annual/

found missing/

free with purchase/

freezer burn/

fresh frozen/

friendly argument/

friendly fire/
genuine imitation/

good grief/

gourmet pizza/

governmental efficiency/

graduate student/

great depression/

guest host/
half dead/

half empty/

half full/

happily married/

hard water/

honest crook/

honest politician/

hopelessly optimistic/

hospital food/
idiot savant/

industrial park/

irate patient
jumbo shrimp/

junk food/
lean pork/

legal brief/

legally drunk/

light-Heavyweight/

liquid crystal/

live recording/
mandatory option/

marijuana initiative/

married life/

medium large/

mild abrasive/

military intelligence/

minor disaster/

mutually exclusive/
no-good do-gooder!/

non-alcoholic beer/

non-denominational church/

non-stop flight/ old news/

organized mess/

original copy/

 

other oxymorons

Dodge Ram/

Cherokee Pioneer/
partially completed/

passive aggression/

peace force/

peacekeeper missile/

perfect idiot/

plastic glasses/

police protection/

polite cabbie/

presidential promises/

pretty ugly/

proprietary standard/
random logic/ (fuzzy logic)/

rap music/

real fantasy/

realistic schedule/

rolling stop/
same difference/

second best/

silent scream/

singular relationship/

small crowd/

solid glass/

speed limit/

sports sedan/

standard deviation/

student teacher/

sure bet/

sweet sorrow/

synthetic natural gas/
tax return/

terribly pleased/

terribly nice/

turbo diesel/
unacceptable solution/
virtual reality/
work party/

working vacation/

 



Common Mistakes and Confusing Words in English:
advice vs advise |

accept vs except |

affect vs effect |

a lot/alot/allot
all ready vs already | altogether vs all together 

apart been vs gone |

bored vs boring |

bought vs brought |

borrow vs lend |

by vs until|
check vs control | complement vs compliment |
data vs datum |

don't have to vs mustn't
either vs too |

every day vs everyday | excited vs exciting
fewer vs less |

for vs since (time) |

he's vs his
"How do you do?" vs "How are you?"
I vs me |

interested vs interesting
lay vs lie |

less vs fewer |

look after vs look for |

look at vs watch
me vs my |

nor vs or
a part |

personal vs personnel | practice vs practise
raise/rise |

said vs told |

see vs watch |

so vs such |

stationary vs stationery | to/too/two
there/their/they're | trainer vs trainee | travel/trip/voyage/journey
used to vs used to do | what vs which
Tests and Quizzes


 


CRITIQUE/CRITICIZE 

A critique is a detailed evaluation of something. The formal way to request one is “give me your critique,” though people often say informally “critique this"—meaning “evaluate it thoroughly.” But "critique” as a verb is not synonymous with “criticize” and should not be routinely substituted for it. “Josh critiqued my backhand” means Josh evaluated your tennis technique but not necessarily that he found it lacking. “Josh criticized my backhand” means that he had a low opinion of it.

You can write criticism on a subject, but you don’t criticize on something, you just criticize it.


WRITTING| WRITING


One of the comments English teachers dread to see on their evaluations is “The professor really helped me improve my writting.” When “-ing” is added to a word which ends in a short vowel followed only by a single consonant, that consonant is normally doubled, but “write” has a silent E on the end to ensure the long I sound in the word. Doubling the T in this case would make the word rhyme with “flitting.”


OGGLE |OGLE


If you’re being leered at lustfully you’re being ogled (first vowel sounds like “OH”)—not “oggled,” even if you’re being ogled through goggles. 


JEW/JEWISH


“Jew” as an adjective (“Jew lawyer”) is an ethnic insult; the word is “Jewish.”

But people who object to “Jew” as a noun are being oversensitive.

Most Jews are proud to be called Jews. The expression “to Jew someone down"—an expression meaning “to bargain for a lower price”—reflects a grossly insulting stereotype and should be avoided in all contexts. 


I/ME/MYSELF


In the old days when people studied traditional grammar, we could simply say, “The first person singular pronoun is “I” when it’s a subject and “me” when it’s an object,” but now few people know what that means.

Let’s see if we can apply some common sense here. The misuse of “I” and “myself” for “me” is caused by nervousness about “me.” Educated people know that “Jim and me is goin’ down to slop the hogs,” is not elegant speech, not “correct.” It should be “Jim and I” because if I were slopping the hogs alone I would never say “Me is going. . . .”

If you refer to yourself first, the same rule applies: It’s not “Me and Jim are going” but “I and Jim are going.”

So far so good. But the notion that there is something wrong with “me” leads people to overcorrect and avoid itwhere it is perfectly appropriate.

 

People will say “The document had to be signed by both Susan and I” when the correct statement would be, “The document had to be signed by both Susan and me.” Trying even harder to avoid the lowly “me,” many people will substitute “myself,” as in “The suspect uttered epithets at Officer O’Leary and myself.”

“Myself” is no better than “I” as an object. “Myself” is not a sort of all-purpose intensive form of “me” or “I.” Use “myself” only when you have used “I” earlier in the same sentence: “I am not particularly fond of goat cheese myself.” “I kept half the loot for myself.” All this confusion can easily be avoided if you just remove the second party from the sentences where you feel tempted to use “myself” as an object or feel nervous about “me.” You wouldn’t say, “The IRS sent the refund check to I,” so you shouldn’t say “The IRS sent the refund check to my wife and I” either. And you shouldn’t say “to my wife and myself.” The only correct way to say this is, “The IRS sent the refund check to my wife and me.” Still sounds too casual? Get over it.

On a related point, those who continue to announce “It is I” have traditional grammatical correctness on their side, but they are vastly outnumbered by those who proudly boast “it’s me!” There’s not much that can be done about this now. Similarly, if a caller asks for Susan and Susan answers “This is she,” her somewhat antiquated correctness is likely to startle the questioner into confusion.


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