Editor's Corner

Good morning, folks!

It’s been a long time and I’ve missed you all. I wish I could say I’ve been living in the lap of luxury and touring around the world, but instead I’ve been on leave, and am now enjoying thousands of emails and negative PTO. And no, I don’t have a cute baby or anything to show for it. 😊

So, first up on my Editor’s Corner agenda is a new slang term I learned. I saw this term girl grip and my first thought was that it might be a sexist way of referring to how some females hold and throw a baseball or softball.

I was happily surprised that, according to dictionary.com:

Girl grip is a slang phrase that refers to holding multiple items in one hand by grasping them between fingers.

Typically, the phrase girl grip refers to a person using a clawed hand to hold multiple items at once. For example, a person may hold a paper cup using primarily their thumb and pointer finger while holding a smartphone, keys, receipt, and wallet with their remaining fingers on the same hand.

Here is a photo of the girl grip in action.

It reminds me of a more astounding type of grip you see at Oktoberfest in Munich:

I’m not sure if there’s a special name for holding 10 steins of beer in two hands, besides impressive!

Cheers!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

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

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

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Symitar Documentation Services

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Good morning, people. One of my favorite resources, Dictionary.com recently created a word bracket to find out what folks’ favorite silly word is. In honor of March Madness, they collected 32 fabulous words, they put the words through five rounds of eliminations and received 212,000 votes, and then they declared a winner. What fun!

Let’s start with all 32 glorious words:

Here’s how it all started:

The final four words were whippersnapper, discombobulate, shenanigans, and kerplunk. I have a favorite word in this competition, do you?

After tallying the votes, the final two words were discombobulate and shenanigans. My word is still in the running, how is yours doing?

And after the final vote, the winner was announced. And the winner is…discombobulate!

I win, I win, I win!

Here’s how it all played out:

Words can be such fun. And funny words like these really can put a smile on your face. I hope you keep smiling all day long.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

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About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Good morning, inquisitors. A while back, I was asked to define and explain the difference between the words irony and sarcasm, so I’m going to give it a whirl. Wish me luck.

First, I’ll tackle the word that is more often misused and misunderstood: irony. Irony occurs when the opposite of what you expect happens. Here are some examples of everyday ironic situations:

• Right after you wash your car, it starts to rain.
• The firehouse burns down.
• You reluctantly go on a blind date, and while you’re waiting, you start talking to someone and find you really like them. And then you find out you just met your blind date. (Isn’t that sweet?)

To clarify a little bit more, here are a couple of good movie-related examples of irony in action:

• In the movie Nemo, there is a clip during which Nemo’s dad, Marlin, is arguing with Mr. Ray about who is better able to supervise Nemo so he doesn’t get into trouble. The irony is that while they are arguing, Nemo swims off and gets into trouble.
• In the movie The Sixth Sense a child therapist is helping a little boy who claims he can see dead people. SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read the next sentence if you haven’t seen the movie but plan to. The plot twists when the therapist (and the movie audience) find out that he (the therapist) is dead.

Irony can be verbal as well as situational. According to Merriam-Webster, irony is “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.” For example, on a cold, dreary wintery day, it would be ironic to say, “What a beautiful, sunny day!” It’s ironic because it’s the opposite of the truth. But it’s not sarcastic because it’s not biting or mocking (more about that in a minute).

It’s important to remember that irony is not the same as coincidence. If you and I share the same birthday, it is not ironic, it’s a coincidence. And even though it might be very unusual, if we bump into each other three times in the same day, it would not be ironic, it would be series of coincidences.

Let’s move on to sarcasm, which Merriam-Webster defines this way, “a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain.” For example, when someone does something wrong, it would be sarcastic to say, “Good job, Ace. You really nailed it!”

It might help to think of the relationship between irony and sarcasm this way: sarcasm is a form of irony that is directed at a person with the intent to criticize in a “humorous” way.

I hope the explanation and examples help. Thanks for the question David P., and I mean that sincerely, not sarcastically.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

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About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Good morning. I’m back from my brief hiatus and I’m raring to go.

Back in January, I provided Dictionary.com’s word of the year (which was hallucinate) along with a short list of the runner-up words. Today, I have another gift of words for you from Dictionary.com. They recently published a list of over 300 new words that they’ve added to their dictionary. As a reminder, according to Dictionary.com, in order for a word to be added, it must meet the following criteria:

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>It’s a word that’s used by a lot of people.

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>It’s used by those people in largely the same way.

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>It’s likely to stick around.

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>It’s useful for a general audience.

Since they’ve added over 300 new words, I will share only one word from each category. If you want to review the entire list, you can find it here.

The diligent lexicographers who write and edit dictionaries don’t only add and define new words, they also add new definitions to existing words to reflect common usage, they revise definitions that have become outdated or have changed, they provided pronunciation information and etymologies, and they decide which words to remove. They’re a hard-working group!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

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About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Hello again. I have a quick correction to make to the Editor’s Corner I sent this morning. I accidentally switched the old and current meaning of prestigious. The corrected definitions are here:

Thank you for notifying me, David and Kari!

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Don’t want to get Editor’s Corner anymore? Click here to unsubscribe.

Do you have a question or an idea for Editor’s Corner? Send your suggestions or feedback to Kara and <a href="mailto:DBurcher.

From: Donna Bradley Burcher <DBurcher@jackhenry.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 6:52 AM
To: Donna Bradley Burcher <DBurcher@jackhenry.com>
Subject: Editor’s Corner: More Words that Have Changed in Meaning

Good morning to you all. Recently, I shared with you the word of the year from Dictionary.com. The word was hallucinate with a new meaning related to artificial intelligence. The new definition is “to produce false information contrary to a user’s wishes, and to present it as if it’s true and factual.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen and heard this word, with this meaning, quite a few times since I learned about it.

I received a few responses to that post, and one from Jason M. initiated an email conversation about how the meaning of words can change over time. Both Kara and I have written about this phenomenon in the past and included words like girl, which used to refer to any child, not just a female, and the word bully, which used to mean sweetheart or darling and was used to refer to males and females.

And today I want to share some words we didn’t cover previously. These words come from two places: IDEAS.TED.COM and A.Word.A.Day. The original meanings and the current meanings are provided below:

I’ve only included the words we never covered before. If you’d like to see our earlier posts that include even more words that have changed in meaning over the years, you can find Kara’s here: Editor’s Corner: Words Whose Meanings Have Changed | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).

And you can find mine here: Editor’s Corner: Meanings Change | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).

Kara is currently on leave, and I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks, so you won’t receive any Editor’s Corner emails from us until mid-March. We’ll miss you. I hope you miss us!

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

Did someone forward this email to you? Click here to subscribe.

Don’t want to get Editor’s Corner anymore? Click here to unsubscribe.

Do you have a question or an idea for Editor’s Corner? Send your suggestions or feedback to Kara and <a href="mailto:DBurcher.

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Good morning to you all. Recently, I shared with you the word of the year from Dictionary.com. The word was hallucinate with a new meaning related to artificial intelligence. The new definition is “to produce false information contrary to a user’s wishes, and to present it as if it’s true and factual.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen and heard this word, with this meaning, quite a few times since I learned about it.

I received a few responses to that post, and one from Jason M. initiated an email conversation about how the meaning of words can change over time. Both Kara and I have written about this phenomenon in the past and included words like girl, which used to refer to any child, not just a female, and the word bully, which used to mean sweetheart or darling and was used to refer to males and females.

And today I want to share some words we didn’t cover previously. These words come from two places: IDEAS.TED.COM and A.Word.A.Day. The original meanings and the current meanings are provided below:

I’ve only included the words we never covered before. If you’d like to see our earlier posts that include even more words that have changed in meaning over the years, you can find Kara’s here: Editor’s Corner: Words Whose Meanings Have Changed | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).

And you can find mine here: Editor’s Corner: Meanings Change | Editor’s Corner (episystechpubs.com).

Kara is currently on leave, and I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks, so you won’t receive any Editor’s Corner emails from us until mid-March. We’ll miss you. I hope you miss us!

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

<![if !vml]><![endif]>

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

Did someone forward this email to you? Click here to subscribe.

Don’t want to get Editor’s Corner anymore? Click here to unsubscribe.

Do you have a question or an idea for Editor’s Corner? Send your suggestions or feedback to Kara and <a href="mailto:DBurcher.

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I subscribe to Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day email; so, each morning, as I start my day by reading emails, I get the gift of a word. Sometimes I know the word well, sometimes I’ve heard the word but am unsure of the meaning, and sometimes, as with the one I’m about to share, I get exposed to a new word. And that’s the best gift.

Recently, they sent out the word tmesis (pronounced tuh-mee-sis), which is “the introduction of one or more words between the parts of a compound word. I do this all the time, but never knew there was a name for it. Let me share their example: the word superhero can be separated, and the syllable duper can be inserted to form super-duper-hero.

Here are some examples you might recognize:

• Abso-blooming-lutely (from George Shaw’s Pygmalion)
• La-dee-freakin-da (from Saturday Night Live – thank you, Chris Farley)
• Some-other-where (from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)
• Well-diddly-elcome (from The Simpsons – thank you, Ned Flanders)

And here are some examples you’ve likely heard or used:

• Abso-friggin-lutely
• Any-old-where
• A-whole-nother
• Fan-freaking-tastic
• Un-freaking-believable
• What-the heck-ever

As you might have noticed, the words “freakin” and “friggin” (and the unmentionable word those words stand for) are often used to create tmesis. And then of course, and this is the fun part, we make up our own tmesis words and phrases all the time. For example, you might be thinking something like this right now:

In case you’re wondering, tmesis is not a new word. It was first recorded in the late 1500s. It comes from the Greek word tmêsis, which means “a cutting.” And I hope you enjoy playing with it as much as I do.

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Don’t want to get Editor’s Corner anymore? Click here to unsubscribe.

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Hello, language lovers. Today I’m sharing a pet peeve that one of you sent in. And I admit that I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of times I see this particular issue in the writing that comes to the editing queue. It has to do with using the word where when you are not referring to a location. Although many people use where this way, especially in speech, it is not considered correct in professional writing.

I’ll start with a couple of examples:

Incorrect: The system does not assess fees where the user enters an incorrect amount.

Correct: The system does not assess fees when the user enters an incorrect amount.

Incorrect: The use of a spreadsheet created a situation where automation was not possible.

Correct: The use of a spreadsheet created a situation in which automation was not possible.

If you’re still a little unsure, just remember that where should indicate a location. It is not a synonym for when or which. Here is an example of where used correctly:

Correct: The source indicates where the data in the field comes from.

Let me be clear: this is a matter of professional versus casual language. Most of us are more careful when writing for work than we are when we speak or text. In casual conversation, you’ll hear many people using where as a stand in for when, or in which/for which. I have found that it’s best not to correct them, especially the ones with a temper and a quick “bunch of fives.”

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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Don’t want to get Editor’s Corner anymore? Click here to unsubscribe.

Do you have a question or an idea for Editor’s Corner? Send your suggestions or feedback to Kara and <a href="mailto:DBurcher.

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I was surprised the other day to learn the etymology of the word jumbo, which as we know means “a very large specimen of its kind” (Merriam-Webster). I enjoy finding out how words come into our language, where they come from, and how long ago they showed up. The history of words intrigues me. But I had never thought about the word jumbo. And I had no idea that jumbo is an eponym.

An eponym is a person or thing that a word is named for. For example, according to Grammarly, “…Achilles [from Greek mythology] is the eponym of the Achilles tendon. Queen Victoria is the eponym of Lake Victoria and quite a few other things. Amerigo Vespucci is the eponym of America.”

It turns out that Jumbo, a famous 19th century elephant, is the eponym for the word jumbo. I overheard this fact during a TV show my spouse was watching, and I learned that Jumbo was purchased from the London Zoo by P. T. Barnum, and he became an integral part of the Barnum and Bailey circus in the second half of the 1800s.

The Online Etymology Dictionary confirms the information I overheard. The word jumbo appears to have received its definition in 1882 as a reference to Jumbo the famous elephant. Speaking of Jumbo, P. T. Barnum said, “I tell you conscientiously that no idea of the immensity of the animal can be formed. It is a fact that he is simply beyond comparison. The largest elephants I ever saw are mere dwarfs by the side of Jumbo."

I’ll never use the word again without thinking of Jumbo the elephant. And honestly, I’ll never think of the elephant without wishing he could have lived out his life in Abyssinia (now known as Ethiopia) where he was captured as a calf, rather than in a zoo or circus.

There are so many stories behind the words we use—some happy, some sad, some surprising, some confusing. Ain’t it grand? And ain’t Jumbo grand?

Donna Bradley Burcher |Technical Editor, Advisory | jack henry™

Pronouns she/her/hers

9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego CA 92123

Symitar Documentation Services

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About Editor’s Corner

Editor’s Corner keeps your communication skills sharp by providing information on grammar, punctuation, JHA style, and all things English. As editors, we spend our days reading, researching, and revising other people’s writing. We love to spend a few extra minutes to share what we learn with you and keep it fun while we’re doing it.

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