Editor's Corner

Good morning, folks!

I was looking for something to “borrow” this week while I continue attending internal training. I found an interesting article from Merriam-Webster about common words from ancient Rome that have changed a bit over time. They gave the example of decimate, which today we define as “wipe out” or “kill, destroy, completely get rid of.” But the actual Roman definition was “to kill one out of ten,” as punishment for the group.

Here are a few of the words, but for the full article, you can go here.

Triumph

What it meant: an ancient Roman ceremonial in honor of a general after his decisive victory over a foreign enemy beginning with his entrance into the city preceded by the senate and magistrates, the spoils, and the captives in chains and followed by his army in marching order and ending with sacrificial offerings and a public feast

In ancient Rome different types of victories called for different types of celebrations; a triumph was awarded to generals who had achieved notable victories. You may, of course, still describe your own small personal victories as a triumph, even if they are not followed by sacrificial offerings and public feasting.

Ovation

What it meant: a ceremony attending the entering of Rome by a general who had won a victory of less importance than that for which a triumph was granted

If one was a Roman general and had won some battles, but not dealt enemies enough of a defeat to be awarded a triumph, then one might be given an ovation. This sense dealing with Roman military history was the initial meaning in English, but somewhere in the past few centuries the primary meaning of the word has shifted to “an expression or demonstration of popular acclaim especially by enthusiastic applause.”

Circus

What it meant: a large oblong or circular structure similar to an amphitheater and enclosed by tiers of seats on three or all four sides and used for athletic contests, exhibitions of horsemanship or in ancient times chariot racing and public (especially gladiatorial) spectacles

Circus comes from the Latin, in which it means “circle” or “circus.” In its earliest English use (14th century) the word referred to the spectacles of Ancient Rome. Subsequent to this circus has taken on addition meanings, including “a public spectacle” and “something suggestive of a circus (as in frenzied activity, sensationalism, theatricality, or razzle-dazzle).”

Curator

What it meant: a person corresponding nearly to the guardian of English law and appointed to manage the affairs of a person past the age of puberty while he is a minor or of any such person when legally incompetent (as a spendthrift or a lunatic)

When curator came into English use in the 15th century, the above definition was specifically applied to contexts of Roman law, the word’s first meaning. Since then curator has taken on numerous other senses, including “a groundsman in the sport of cricket” and “one in charge of the exhibits, research activities, and personnel of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit.”

I hope you have a good week!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

If you’ve watched TV or gone to the movies in the last 40 years, you are probably familiar with the term “pie hole” used in place of “mouth.” Imagine if you will, two teenagers hanging around in the kitchen after school. One of the kids starts criticizing the school’s best history teacher, and the other kid yells, “Shut your pie hole! Ms. Cabrini is the best.” There are many ways to ask someone to quiet down. Here’s how I’d rank them, from kindest to most questionable:

• “Please be quiet” or “Please lower your voice.” These are more polite phrases, like your friendly neighborhood librarian would use.
• “Hush!” or “Shush!” Not rude, but a little “familiar,” perhaps something your grandma or dad might say.
• “Shut up!” This is something you hear a lot. I would call this abrupt and angry. Children say this to each other when they’re getting teased. I hear many parents using it with their kids when the children are throwing tantrums. And you hear kids yelling “shut up” back at parents, but that often ends with someone being sent to bed without dinner (and it’s not mom or dad).

Sometimes it can be playful, but it depends on who is saying it and what their tone is. Since it can be disrespectful and angry if used with the wrong person or in the wrong way, it’s best not to say it. If you need quiet, go with something more polite.

• “Shut your pie hole!” This is basically, “Shut your mouth!” It can be really funny since most people don’t refer to their mouth as a “pie hole.” It can also be seen as crude. The British have a similar saying: “Shut your cake hole.” I think the disdain for these phrases is that you are not even dignifying the other person by using the term “mouth.” You’re just telling them to shut their eating hole.

So where did this term come from? I think this will surprise you. The term “Shut your cake hole” is documented in 1943 in a book of British war-time slang. But the term “Shut your pie hole” is an American term, and it was coined in the 1983 novel Christine, by Stephen King. If I remember correctly, the book is about a car, not pie.

Enjoy your day!

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Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

The other day, my husband said, “Good morning, how’s it going?” My response was, “I’m happy as a clam.” Then I walked into the back yard and thought, “Eww. That’s gross. Why would we say we’re as happy as a slippery, slimy mollusk? I have never seen a clam that looked particularly happy or sad.”

“Editrix,” I said to myself, “It’s high time for you to figure out why you compare yourself to a clam when you’re joyful.”

So here we are.

As I mentioned, “Happy as a clam” means really happy, in case you haven’t heard the phrase before. I decided to read a bit about it on Phrase Finder. When I opened the page, I saw this:

Wait a second! It’s a smiling clam. Okay, that makes slightly more sense. You don’t usually look at them at this angle: side view, flat on the beach.

Then the article mentions that “happy as a clam” is only the first part of the idiom. The full phrase is “I’m “as happy as a clam at high water.” When the tide is in and the water’s high, you can’t see them—neither can the seagulls, osprey, and other critters that love to have clam dinners.

The phrase has been attributed to folks in the Northeast U.S. where the idiom and clams are familiar. It goes back as far as the 1800s.

I think what I appreciate most about this article is the photo. That right there says “happy” to me, with the little clammy smile. Unfortunately, I’ve seen some very unhappy clams here as the seagulls pick them up, fly in the air, and drop them several times, until they crack.

Now I understand why the high tides are made for good times.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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The other day, I was doing what editors do sometimes and wondering about the words dialog and dialogue. Are they both correct? Is one a U.S. spelling and the other British? Is one for tech and the other for talk? It got sillier from there, so I thought I should look into it and find some answers.

I used the website Writing Explained for my research, and as you’ll see, there isn’t just one way to use the different spellings when you’re in the United States.

When should I use the spelling dialog?

Dialog is an acceptable spelling of the word dialogue, when used in U.S. computing. It is used (as we do at JH) to refer to a pop-up window, in which you might answer a brief prompt or question. This is referred to as a dialog box.

The British rarely use the spelling dialog, whether it be when writing about an interchange with people or communicating with the computer. The following chart is from Writing Explained, and it shows the British use of each spelling over time:

This next chart is the U.S. use of both spellings. (See the website if you want to read more about the topic.)

For us writers and editors in the U.S., just keep on trucking and using dialog (and dialog box) in technical documentation.

As for dialogue, in the U.S., there’s a place for that, too. When writing about two or more people conversing, the spelling of dialogue is correct. This was mentioned as the preferred spelling in formal use, in both British and American English (though dialog is creeping into some writing here).

Outside of its use for conversation, dialogue “has become something of a buzzword in politics since the 1960s. In this sense, it approximates the meaning of negotiations between diplomatic contacts of two nations. While this use was initially met with objections, it has become well established in Modern English.”

There’s one other question: can dialogue be used as a verb? I saw several answers to this, and here is mine: NO. “Let’s dialogue about this topic later.” No, no, no. Let’s discuss it, let’s talk about it, let’s throw it out the window…you don’t need to use a longer word to sound fancy, especially if it is not being used correctly.

The bottom line in the U.S.:

• Dialog (noun) – For technical writing about the computer world (dialog box).
• Dialogue (noun) – For communicating with another person; for politics.
• Dialogue (verb) – No. Bad dog. No treats.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Good morning, folks!

One of you asked me about a couple of idioms the other day. One idiom, about hash houses or opium dens, is going to remain unanswered. The other idiom, “Where did the term ‘brownie points’ come from?” is a little more work appropriate, depending on who you ask.

Amazingly enough, there are several answers about where the idiom might come from. I will do my best to relay the different possibilities. This information is from Phrase Finder. The basic definition is “an imaginary award given to someone who does good deeds or tries to please.” (Note: The term is generally used in a humorous way. The “award” is imaginary, after all.)

Examples:

• Judd said that he will earn brownie points with his mom if he takes the trash out every day. Maybe she will let him go to the concert if he does it for the next two weeks.
• The sales team earned brownie points with the clients by passing out gifts at the user conference.

Now, let’s look at some of the possible histories.

Railroads

Though the writer of the article mentions this, he then shoots down the possibility that brownie points started here. From 1886 and on, it was the rumored practice of a New York State Superintendent (G.R. Brown) to issue merits for good behavior. These would’ve been “Brown points,” though, not “brownie points,” and there isn’t anything recorded that confirms the story.

Girl Scouts

The youngest of the girl scouts (7–10 years old) are called the Brownies. I tried out for the Camp Fire Girls (Bluebirds), but I was kicked out for lying. (Eight years old and I was lying, cutting class, and riding the short bus home with the kindergartners. I behaved better after that.) Anyway, the Girl Scout Brownies were named after pixies in Scottish folklore. The brownies were good little imps who did housework while the homeowners slept. In real life, Brownies and Girl Scouts receive badges for learning skills, contributing to the community, and doing good deeds. Somehow these badges might have changed into “Brownie points.”

Publishing

A publishing company gave delivery boys vouchers called greenies and brownies. (Five greenies equal one brownie.) Again, there is no recording of the vouchers being called “brownie points.”

Photography

Kodak had a Brownie Camera Club in 1900, where kids learned how to use the Brownie box camera, but while kids could send in photos for cash prizes, there were no brownie points associated with the experience.

Food Rationing

During WWII, you were given a number of “points” to use for the food you bought. The example the writer gives is for meat, where red or brown points were used. From Phrase Finder, “Grade A Lambs Legs – 6 red or brown points per lb. (37 cents).”

American Military Slang

How do I put this? The army didn’t refer to brownie points, they referred to “brown nosing” and even worse. Essentially, doing everything you could, the lewder the better, to put yourself in someone’s good graces.

Conclusion

Of all of these possibilities, the most plausible is that the phrase comes from the Girl Scout Brownies. You’ve got the term “brownie” right in the name, the name comes from creatures doing nice things, and the Brownies are taught to earn badges doing good deeds.

Right now, I’m too short on energy to try to earn brownie points. I could definitely use a nice, chocolatey baked good, though, and I’m not talking about Girl Scout cookies!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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Hello, my fellow travelers.

Today I have two new words for you (and for me): hypernym and hyponym.

Recognizing the Greek prefixes (hyper – over, hypo – under) and the suffix (-nym – name), I thought maybe I could use the powers of Athena to figure out the definitions; alas, I could not. What’s an over-name and an under-name? I couldn’t guess, so I searched the internet and here’s what AI gave me:

• hypernym: A word with a broad meaning that more specific words fall under. For example, color is a hypernym of red. Hypernyms are also called supertypes, umbrella terms, or blanket terms.
• hyponym: A word that belongs to a specific subcategory of something more general. For example, a poodle is a hyponym of dog—a poodle is a specific breed of dog.

Okay, now I’m confused. I found this drawing, which makes more sense to me than a list of words.

In the graphic, hypernym is the term above and hyponyms are the terms below. This goes back to the Greek, and now I think I can successfully provide some examples to you.

I hope these terms make sense to you and that you can win your next trivia night with them!

Wait! Here’s a fun one from a children’s book. I’m so glad I didn’t go to that school!

I hope your day is splendid!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Today I thought it would be nice to sit back, take it easy, and look at a few items from the Merriam-Webster article: When Pigs Fly and Other Barnyard Idioms. I didn’t write most of this, but I thought it was interesting. My text here is blue, while M-W’s text is in black. There are many more idioms in the previously mentioned article.

I’m starting here, with the one I hadn’t heard, but that made me laugh out loud:

Talk the Hind Leg off a Donkey

Definition – to talk for a long time

As is the case with many of our farming idioms, the animal referenced is interchangeable with any one of a number of others. There is nothing special about a donkey’s leg, that it may be talked off; any number of other animals have legs that may be similarly removed.

Bring Home the Bacon

Definition – to earn the money that is needed to live

While many similar idioms have numerous slight variations, bacon appears to be the overwhelming favorite type of foodstuff to bring home as a linguistic indicator of one’s ability to provide. There is no evidence whatsoever, for instance, for the fixed use of bring home the rump roast.

Put All One’s Eggs in One Basket

Definition – to risk all one has on the success or failure of one thing

The egg lends itself well to idioms, some of which have survived better than others. The success of each phrase’s survival seems to be unpredictable; teach your grandmother to suck eggs is still pretty common, even though very few grandmothers are doing this… Put all one’s eggs in one basket (and assorted variants) has been in use for over three hundred years, and it looks like it will stick.

Have a Cow

Definition – to become very angry, upset, etc.

This idiom is perhaps best known as a catchphrase of Bart Simpson, the lovable rapscallion of the television show The Simpsons (he is frequently heard admonishing others to not have a cow). Have a cow predates The Simpsons, having been in use since the middle of the 20th century. It is thought to have come from the earlier British expression to have kittens (”to become very nervous or upset about something”).

Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

[KC – I feel like this horse is giving me the side-eye. I guess I offended him by calling him Fluffy the Snow Eater.]

Definition – to look in a critical way at something that has been given to one

Why should one not look a gift horse in the mouth? Because it might mean that you are examining the animal’s teeth to see how old it is, and that is considered rude. Earlier versions of this idiom often were some form of “don’t look at a gift (or given) horse’s teeth.”

Get One’s Goat

Definition – to make one angry or annoyed

Sometimes the goat is simply got, and sometimes it is got up; sometimes it is just a goat, and sometimes it is a nanny goat. We’d like to say that no actual goats were angered in the creation of this idiom, but to be honest we really aren’t sure, as the etymology is obscure. [KC – Not to be confused with GOAT (greatest
of all time).]

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Good morning, friends!

One of my favorite people used the phrase “selling like hot cakes” in an email the other day and then asked where that phrase came from. Well, he didn’t need to go any further, because I love pancakes! Is a hot cake the same thing as a pancake? Why do we have a phrase about a breakfast food, which is used to mean “to be in great demand”? Honestly, I’d answer any question for the promise of a pancake!

I started out wondering, “Are hot cakes and pancakes the same thing?” The article in Mental Floss says that the words are pretty darn old. Hot cakes go back to the 1600s and pancakes are from the 1400s. A quick search on my question, though, ended up not being so quick. Merriam-Webster has an entire article about this heavenly starchy food, with the following terms:

• pancake: thin, flat cake that’s made by pouring batter into a pan
• hot cake: a synonym for pancake
• flapjack: (U.S. and Canada) informal synonym of pancakes, with usage of either term typically depending on regional preferences. The word flapjack is traced back to the late 1500s. It’s a combination of the verb flap, in the sense similar to flip or toss, and jack, which comes from the proper name.
• griddlecake: another (less common) synonym for pancakes. The word griddle in the name commonly refers to a specific type of frying pan…used for cooking pancakes (and other things).

Mmmm. I’m ready for breakfast! But I haven’t really answered the question about where this phrase comes from. To sell like hot cakes means to “be sold quickly and in large quantities.” There is no exact event to pinpoint or time at which this became popular, so I’m going to go with an assumption that the etymologists have made:

Hot cakes have always been popular at events like county fairs and church socials, where the crowd greatly outnumbers the culinary staff and the cakes often sell as fast as they can be made, the term was coined and spread through popular usage.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Ahh, April Fool’s Day. It has never been my favorite. My husband, on the other hand, loves it. And he’s pretty good at his tricks, I have to give him that. I just hate feeling like I have to be on the alert all day long for something that might be a lie. Or a trick, like putting hemorrhoid cream in my toothpaste tube.

As I mentioned before, on behalf of my former coworker, I said that I would look into April Fool’s Day. I found a lot of information, though nobody really knows where it started—just that it has been around forever.

The first thought is that it could be as old as ancient Rome and the festival of Hilaria (joyful) by the followers of Cybele, inspired by an Egyptian legend of Isis and Osiris (and some dude named Seth). It involved dressing in disguises, teasing each other, and of course, partying.

Wikipedia and History.com both mention Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from 1392 as a possibility of April Fools’ beginning. They also mentioned France and poisson d’avril (April’s Fish) from a poem in 1508. Others say it goes back to 1582 when France switched to the Gregorian calendar. At this point, some were celebrating the new year in January, and others in March, ending April 1. The people using the “new” calendar referred to the uninformed old calendar people as “fools.” There are reasons why each of these potential beginnings is suspect. As history.com says, “Its exact history is shrouded in mystery.”

Returning to France’s “April’s Fish,” poisson d’avril, it was with this version that the “tease” or “trick” started to occur. The tricks on the fool weren’t too elaborate. Paper fish were put on people’s backs, and they were called “April fish.” In later years, the celebration was accompanied by bread, pastries, and chocolates in the shape of fish.

Skipping ahead to today, there are many countries that practice April Fools traditions, including much of Europe, Turkey, Armenia, Poland, Ukraine, the Nordic countries, and more.

History.com provides us with this information about some of the pranks that have happened over the years:

• In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees [KC – And vines. See photo below.]
• In 1992, National Public Radio ran a spot with former President Richard Nixon saying he was running for president again… only it was an actor, not Nixon, and the segment was all an April Fools’ Day prank that caught the country by surprise.
• In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.
• In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich.
• Google™ notoriously hosts an annual April Fools’ Day prank that has included everything from “telepathic search” to the ability to play Pac-Man on Google Maps™.

I’m glad I’m working from home this April Fool’s Day! I’ll be careful to check anything my husband says with Snopes!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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You may remember, back in February my friend Ron sent a series of questions about Valentine’s Day, including “Why does Valentine’s Day Suck?” He sent a new set of questions for April. I saw him in between his submission of Valentine’s Day questions and now, and he seemed to be in much better spirits. The questions I got this time were:

1. Why can people be fools only on April 1?

2. What is the origin of the word etymology?

3. Is there a synonym for thesaurus?

There was also a rhetorical question about the delights of retirement, but I won’t tease you with that since most of us aren’t there yet. So, let’s get to the questions!

1. Why can people be fools only on April 1?

Ron, you know that’s a lie. People can be fools every day, all day, forever. I found some interesting things about April 1, and there’s enough out there for a full article, so that will come closer to the day. Until then, you must wait and wonder.

2. What is the origin of the word etymology?

From Etymology Online (with a few edits for space)
late 14c., ethimolegia "facts of the origin and development of a word," from Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia "analysis of a word to find its true origin.”

In classical times, with reference to meanings; later, to histories. Classical etymologists, Christian and pagan, based their explanations on allegory and guesswork, lacking historical records as well as the scientific method to analyze them, and the discipline fell into disrepute that lasted a millennium. Flaubert ["Dictionary of Received Ideas"] wrote that the general view was that etymology was "the easiest thing in the world with the help of Latin and a little ingenuity."

As practiced by Socrates in the Cratylus, etymology involves a claim about the underlying semantic content of the name, what it really means or indicates. This content is taken to have been put there by the ancient namegivers: giving an etymology is thus a matter of unwrapping or decoding a name to find the message the namegivers have placed inside….

By late-14c. a sense had developed of "conjugation and categorization of words," apparently from a misunderstanding of etymology as dealing in tenses, and it is listed with prosody, orthography and syntax as an element of grammar:

…for the beginners of any language whatsoever, [etymologie] is so necessarie, that without it, they could not understand or learne it: The which by the Latin Grammarians hath beene, and is called Declension and Coniugation. [John Minsheu, "A Spanish Grammar," 1599.]

OED considers this sense to be "now historical."

3. Is there a synonym for thesaurus?

Why yes, there are several offerings for you. They don’t really seem to be synonyms, but the first three were provided by Merriam-Webster as the top rated, and the remainder are from M-W’s lesser-rated suggestions and Microsoft® Word’s Shift+F7 search.

• dictionary
• glossary
• vocabulary
• lexicon
• gloss
• wordbook
• nomenclator
• phrasebook
• wordlist

As I said, I’ll return to question 1 later.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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