More weird words and dimwits
Word freaks might be happy to know that there is a new word-a-day mailing list from the author of the new More Weird and Wonderful Words: Erin's Weird Word of the Day list.
Also, Erin is the editor of my favourite journal Verbatim. Apparently the author of The Dimwit's Dictionary is looking for words for a new edition. I may be forced to nominate "Going forward..." and "Action item" though I suspect they may have been on the top of the author's own list. :) The call for submissions is:
Calling All Dimwits! Author collecting lame language for new edition of The Dimwit's Dictionary.
Do you wince when you read clichés, moribund metaphors, needless redundancies and other examples of poor writing? Then dictionary author Robert Hartwell Fiske wants to hear from you!
Fiske, author of The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them, is collecting more dimwitticisms for the next edition of The Dimwit's Dictionary. He needs all the infantile phrases, inescapable pairs, overworked words, popular prescriptions, torpid terms, and withered words he can find (see http://www.marionstreetpress.com for definitions of dimwitticisms).
Look and listen for dimwitticisms in newspapers, direct mail pieces, books, TV broadcasts, radio shows . . . just about anywhere English is written or spoken. Write down the dimwitticism, together with information about where you found it (publication name, date), and mail it to: Dimwit's Contest, Marion Street Press, Inc., P.O. Box 2249, Oak Park, Il 60303. Or submit it through the publisher's website, http://www.marionstreetpress.com/Dimwitscontest.html. The contest ends Jan. 1, 2004.
The individual submitting the largest number of prime quality dimwitticisms (as judged by Robert Hartwell Fiske) will receive a $250 BookSense gift certificate (redeemable at over 1,000 independent bookstores). First runner-up will receive a $100 gift certificate, and second runner-up will receive a $50 gift certificate. Each individual submitting a dimwitticism will receive an official I Love Dimwits bumper sticker.
25 Sep 2003 at 14:36, Helsinki
