Editor's Corner

Good morning, folks! I hope this finds you all in good cheer.

Today’s topic is vocabulary. More specifically, it is vocabulary from The Great British Baking Show, which has just returned to Netflix®. I was watching the other evening to see what amazing things people can do with flour, and I jotted down a handful of words that I was not very familiar with. You may ask, “Don’t they speak English in England?” Well, yes, they do, but there are Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, and people from former British colonies in the contest, and they have many terms that aren’t the same as American English. Here are a few things you might hear:

• stodgy (adjective)

1a: having a thick gluey consistency

b: having a thick texture: heavy—used especially of food

Every now and then, the hosts will describe a cake as “stodgy,” when the contestants serve up a layered sponge cake that hasn’t risen very well.

• bap (noun)

chiefly Scottish

: a small loaf or roll of bread

In this case, the hosts were talking about a “crusty bap,” but it was cake week, so I don’t think that was a compliment.

• claggy (adjective)

1 dialectal : sticky, gummy

Again, this comment is usually delivered with the judges scrunching up their faces and returning most of their forkful of cake to the plate. Just saying the word “claggy” sticks in your throat—give it a try.

• chuffed (adjective)

British

: quite pleased : delighted

I love this word. I must admit, I heard it much more in the Junior Bake Off, when the kids said they were “so chuffed to be (there)” making some delicious-looking desserts.

• pebble dash (noun)

: a mixture (as of mortar) prepared to be dashed against a moist surface to make a finishing coat (KC – in this case, pebbles).

I know, that doesn’t sound very delicious. It is a “finish” for houses (I got the impression it was for less expensive homes in Britain), but it is also a technique for cakes. Here is the mortar and pebble siding for a home (the pebbles are just thrown into the mortar):

And here is a pebble-dashed cake (in this case, with Post Fruity Pebbles™):

If you’re looking for some entertainment, nice looking (usually) baked goods, and some new vocabulary, I definitely recommend this show.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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

For as many depressing songs as Monday has, Saturday is a happening day that a lot of us can’t wait for! Here are just a few songs about that day of the week.

• Saturday, in the Park
• Saturday Night’s Alright
• Saturday Sun
• Almost Saturday
• Saturday Night Special
• Saturday Love
• Saturday Night at the Movies

To finish up our series, let’s see what Dictionary.com has to say about Saturday:

The first records of the word Saturday come from before 900. It comes from the Middle English Saturdai, from the Old English Saternesdæg, which is a partial translation of the Latin Sāturnī diēs, meaning “Saturn’s day.”

The ancient Romans named the day we call Saturday after the planet Saturn, which was named for their god of agriculture. This naming system was based on the one credited to the ancient Babylonians, who are thought to be the first to use a seven-day week and who named each of the seven days after planets and other celestial bodies.

In U.S. history, the Saturday Night Massacre is a name for the events of October 20, 1973, during which senior government officials resigned to protest actions by President Richard Nixon related to the Watergate scandal.

In pop culture, Saturday Night Live is a long-running sketch comedy show that’s broadcast live on Saturday night.

In English, we still stick with Saturn’s day, while the other romance languages and Greek, return to the newer, religious definition: Saturday is the sabbath, a day of religious observance and abstinence from work. Jewish people recognize the sabbath (Shabbat) from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Most Christians recognize their day of rest on Sunday.

Τετάρτη

Tetárti

Πέμπτη

Pémpti

Παρασκευή

Paraskeví

Σάββατο

Sávvato

Now it is time for our day of rest, after covering English and the days of the week. I’m sure there are so many other stories out there, depending on different religions, history, and languages. I hope you’ve learned something new…I know I have!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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

I have a particular fondness for the word Friday. I’m sure we all like it because it usually means the weekend is ahead. But I also like it because it reminds me of my niece, Freya. You’ll see why in just a minute. From Dictionary.com:

The first records of the word Friday come from before 1000. It comes from the Old English Frīgedæg, meaning “Freya‘s day.” In Latin, the name for the day we call Friday is dies Veneris, meaning “Venus’s day,” referring to the Roman goddess of love. However, the name of the day in many languages is instead based on the name of one of two goddesses from Norse mythology, either the love goddess Freya or chief goddess Frigg (or Frigga), wife of Odin.

In Islam, Friday is a day of worship.

In Christianity, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter that marks the death of Jesus.

In U.S. history, Black Friday refers to September 24, 1869, the date of a financial panic sparked by gold speculators. The term Black Friday is more commonly known as the informal name for the day after Thanksgiving, on which retailers offer special sales to mark the start of the holiday shopping season.

The date Friday the 13th is popularly associated with superstitions about bad luck or evil occurrences.

I’m returning to the original table I made for this, because there is one language that makes a change on their meaning for this day. While English and the Romance languages (minus Portuguese) named Friday after the goddess of love in their cultures, the Greek name has made a change. As I mentioned before, while the Ancient Greeks followed the days named after the sun, moon, and gods, the modern Greeks changed the names to God’s Day, and then “second,” “third,” etc. Once they get to Friday, they name it Παρασκευή (Paraskeví), which means “preparation.” Specifically, it means preparation for the Sabbath. Once again, we return to the religious naming of the days (like Sunday, in all of the languages we’ve looked at, except English).

Now, it’s time for us to prepare for the Sabbath: our last day of the seven!

Παρασκευή

Paraskeví

Σάββατο

Sávvato

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

Editing Requests

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I was recently sending an email to a friend and colleague, and I wrote that I had a “sneaky suspicion.” As soon as I typed the words, I had a sneaking suspicion that I got the idiom wrong. And I was right about being wrong, so I fixed it before I sent it. My friend still doesn’t know that I’m not perfect! Whew!

A few months ago, I wrote a post called Commonly Confused Idioms, and “sneaking suspicion” wasn’t on that list, so I thought that I’d provide a few more idioms that give people pause. Here you go.

Explanation: This is simply a misheard expression. The entire original phrase was “If that’s what you think, then you’ve got another think coming.” I would argue that “another thing” is much more common these days, but it’s good to know the original idiom.

Explanation: This mistake makes sense because beckon means to call over or request. But a beck is a nod, or wave, or other signal that is used to summon or command.

Explanation: This one is a little murkier, as idioms often are. It seems like you could make your case and your point, but actually, your case is in your point.

Explanation: Extract means to remove. Exacting is another word for getting. This idiom is talking about getting revenge.

Explanation: If you say “first come, first serve” you are implying that the first one who comes has to serve everyone who comes after. Actually, the first one who comes is served first.

Explanation: I think this mistake happens because people aren’t familiar with the word shoo, which means to urge something along (think of the phrase “shoo fly”). According to Merriam-Webster, “the meaning of shoo-in comes from an earlier use of the verb shoo, which generally means ‘to scare, drive, or send (someone or something) away.’ At the turn of the 20th century, the verb shoo, followed by in, came to be used in horse racing to mean ‘to allow a racehorse to win easily.’”

Explanation: This is another misheard expression. Sure, step foot in makes sense, but I’d argue that set foot in makes more sense.

Explanation: Adieu is a French word that means goodbye. This expression isn’t about leaving; it’s about getting on with it. Ado means “fussy excitement.” We don’t want any of that nonsense!

Happy Thursday all!

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

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Pronouns she/her/hers

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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I’m guessing that most of you have heard the term “short shrift” before (meaning unsympathetic dismissal or curt treatment), but this term has an interesting history and some related words that may be of interest to you. We’ll start with some definitions and then the historical significance.

short shrift (noun)

1: a brief respite from death

2a: summary treatment: little consideration

b: quick work

shrive (transitive verb)

shrived or shrove; shriven

or shrived; shriving; shrives

1: to hear the confession of, impose penance on, and give absolution to (a person) in the sacrament of penance <the resident parson … would sing his daily Mass and come in to shrive the sick — G. G. Coulton>

2: to free from guilt: pardon, purge <shrives his burdened mind — Robert Trumbull>

shrive (intransitive verb)

1 archaic: to hear confessions, to impose penance, and to give absolution in performance of the ecclesiastical office of confessor

2: to confess one’s sins especially to a priest

And now, for a little background on “short shrift” from Phrases.org:

Shrift? Not a word you hear every day. In fact, apart from in this expression, it is now so rarely used that it’s hard to think of a shrift that isn’t short.

The verb shrive is also now an almost forgotten antique. A priest in a confession, often when the confessor was near to death, would shrive them by imposing a penance, called a shrift, in order to provide absolution.

Shrove Tuesday, which most of us in the UK now refer to as Pancake Day, derives from shriving – originally a day when people were shriven or shrove; more recently a day when we toss pancakes.

In the 17th century, criminals were sent to the scaffold immediately after sentencing and only had time for a cursory “short shrift” before being hanged. From that literal beginning “short shrift” migrated into meaning “give cursory consideration to.”

The term “short shrift” is ancient and has been part of the English language since at least the 16th century.

The first known use of “short shrift” in print relates to the history of the British monarchy. Following the death of Edward IV in 1483, the Duke of Gloucester was appointed Lord Protector of England. He accused Lord Hastings of plotting against him and arranged for him to be executed. Hastings was allowed only a short shrift as Gloucester was anxious to get his dinner.

An account of this story was printed almost a hundred years later in by the English writer Raphael Holinshed in The Chronicles of England, 1577. (KC – See the article for the rest of the story.)

Shakespeare had undoubtedly read the Chronicles before he wrote Richard III, first performed in 1594, as his account of the events differ little from Holinshed’s:

GLOUCESTER
Off with his head! Now, by Saint Paul I swear,
I will not dine until I see the same.

RATCLIFF:
Dispatch, my lord [Hastings]; the duke would be at dinner:
Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head.

Nowadays, if you hear this phrase to mean “little consideration,” it seems like it is used quite casually. Who knew it had such a grim and lengthy history behind it?

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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

Hello, and happy day of Thor!

We Americans like Thor. I wonder why?

As with Tuesday and Wednesday, English has strayed from the Romance languages with our name for Thursday, too. According to Dictionary.com:

The first records of Thursday come from before 950. It comes from the Old English Thursdæg, from Old Danish Thūrsdagr, meaning “Thor‘s day.” This is a translation of (or is modeled on) the Latin term diēs Jovis, meaning “Jupiter’s day.” In many Germanic languages, the Roman god Jupiter was subbed out in favor of Thor, the hammer-wielding god of thunder in Norse mythology.

In Christianity, Holy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, marking the day on which the Last Supper is believed to have taken place.

In the U.S., the only national holiday to fall exclusively on a Thursday is Thanksgiving, which is observed on the fourth Thursday of November.

So, we have named our day after Thor, a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of mankind, hallowing, and fertility, according to Wikipedia. Similarly, the Romans, Spanish, French, Italian, and Romanians have named their Thursday after Jupiter, by Jove, the god of thunder, lighting, and the sky. Same god, same day, different names.

I hope you have a great day without too much hammer-wielding and thunder!

Thor, in battle

Kronos, time god

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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

Welcome to Wednesday! Well, not quite yet, but I’m continuing our days of the week adventure.

While most of the Romance languages we’re looking at name Wednesday after the Roman messenger god, Mercurii (Mercury), English has kept the day named after Woden, the Old English god of wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, war, battle, victory, poetry, and the runic alphabet. (Yep, he was a busy dude! According to Wikipedia, he also did some magic.) Here is a little bit from Dictionary.com:

The first records of the word Wednesday come from before 950. It comes from the Middle English Wednesdai, from the Old English Wōdnesdæg, meaning “Woden‘s day.” This is a translation of (or is modeled on) the Latin term Mercuriī diēs, meaning “Mercury’s day.” In Old English, the Roman god Mercury was subbed out in favor of Woden, the chief god of Anglo-Saxon mythology (equivalent to the Norse god Odin).

Kronos, time god

Woden (Odin)

Winged sandal of Hermes (Mercury) the messenger god

Here’s wishing you a happy Wodenesday tomorrow!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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

Good morning. It’s quiz day Thursday, but today, I have a different kind of quiz for you. It’s all about typographical symbols—those characters or symbols that are not considered to be punctuation marks but are often used for various purposes in writing. This quiz came to me from Dictionary.com. Are you ready to rumble?

I’ve copied the quiz questions and answer options below. It’s multiple choice, so all you have to do is choose the correct answer. Scroll down to see if you got them right. Good luck!

Don’t be fooled by these typographical symbols: they are not punctuation marks!

1. How is a typographical symbol different from a punctuation mark?

1. Typographical symbols were created more recently than punctuation marks.
2. Typographical symbols usually have no grammatical usage in formal writing.
3. Typographical symbols are only used in relation to computers.

2. Which typographical symbol is used to accent letters in words?

1. tilde
2. ampersand
3. caret

4. pound symbol

3. Which typographical symbol is used to replace the word “and”?

1. tilde
2. ampersand
3. caret
4. pound symbol

4. Which typographical symbol is used when summarizing or highlighting main points:

1. pound symbol
2. bullet points
3. tilde
4. ampersand

5. Which two typographical symbols are commonly used in mathematics?

1. caret, ampersand
2. caret, pipe symbol
3. pound symbol, backslash
4. pipe symbol, backslash

6. Generally an ampersand is flanked by spaces, except…

1. When it is used in a company name
2. When it is in a title
3. When it is in a phrase or incomplete sentence

7. Which symbol can you place next to a word or phrase to signal that more information about it is available?

1. tilde
2. ampersand
3. pipe symbol
4. asterisk

8. Which typographical symbol is commonly used on social media and can also be interchanged with the word “number”?

1. tilde
2. ampersand
3. caret
4. pound symbol

Answers

1. How is a typographical symbol different from a punctuation mark?

b. Typographical symbols usually have no grammatical usage in formal writing.

2. Which typographical symbol is used to accent letters in words?

1. tilde

3. Which typographical symbol is used to replace the word “and”?

2. ampersand

4. Which typographical symbol is used when summarizing or highlighting main points:

2. bullet points

5. Which two typographical symbols are commonly used in mathematics?

2. Caret, pipe symbol

6. Generally an ampersand is flanked by spaces, except…

1. When it is used in a company name

7. Which symbol can you place next to a word or phrase to signal that more information about it is available?

4. asterisk

8. Which typographical symbol is commonly used on social media and can also be interchanged with the word “number”?

4. pound symbol

Enjoy the rest of your day!

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

8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123

Pronouns she/her/hers

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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I’m taking a break from the days of the week.

Today’s Editor’s Corner is dedicated to Ron Fauset, who asked me about these idioms some time ago. He managed to fit all of them into one email, but here they are split out, along with their definitions and where I found them. Enjoy!

Get to the point (The Free Dictionary)

To reach the most important or crucial part of something.

To speak plainly; to address the main issue. This expression, which in British parlance is usually phrased come to the point, dates from Chaucer’s time. Chaucer himself wrote in the “Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales, “This is the poynt, to speken short and pleyn.”

Fit to a T (Daily Writing Tips)

The expression “to a T,” as in “That suits you to a T!” is often mistakenly written or said as “to the T” (or “to a tee” or “to the tee”).

But what, exactly, is a “T”? None of the various proposed origins of “to a T” is definitive, but only one makes any sense. The opinion that it refers to how well a T-shirt fits is nonsensical: The term for a collarless, short-sleeved shirt is less than a hundred years old, and the expression dates to the late 1600s.

That also disqualifies the more plausible theory that it alludes to the precision a T square, the T-shaped drafting tool, enables; the first attested use in print of the tool’s name postdates the first use of the phrase by nearly a century. And it has nothing to do with the golf implement known as the tee, which has always been spelled as such (though the spelling error “to a tee” goes back hundreds of years).

Most likely, the phrase is descended from the expression “to a tittle.” A tittle is a small mark used in orthographic details, such as the dot over an i or a j or a diacritical mark such as an accent mark, and the sense is “to the smallest detail.”

(See more on the tittle here at Editor’s Corner: Title, Tilde, and Tittle.)

The long and the short of it (Merriam-Webster)

Used when making a statement that is brief and that tells someone only the most important parts of something.

Example from Phrases.org (British, with the long and short reversed)

The short and long of it is the substance; the plain truth. It is used to refer to something which is unambiguous and may be described quite simply—the long version and the short version being the same. For example, "You can debate the 1971 Ali/Frazier fight all you like but the long and short of it is, Frazier won.”

get short with (The Free Dictionary)

To speak or react to one in a curt or abrupt manner.

Ron gave me one more thing to research: short shrift. I’m saving that for an article of its own.

Hmm, what’s up with all of the “short” idioms?

I hope you all have a good day!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

Editing Requests

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Hello! I’m back with the next day of the week in our series: Tuesday. For the rest of the days, I’ll just put my handy-dandy chart with all of the translations at the end of each email. In today’s chart, I swapped Greek for Ancient Greek, and I added a column for Roman, since our history gets into the changes of the seven-day calendar. I removed Portuguese because it’s current days don’t follow the pattern of the other romance languages.

As we learned in previous blogs, the seven-day calendar started with the Babylonians. The ancient Greeks adopted that calendar, and then the Romans came along. All three groups started their weeks with Sunday (the day of the sun) and Monday (the day of the moon), but this is where they diverged. Having seven days total, the Babylonians decided to name the other five days after the five planets they could see from earth: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

The ancient Greeks came along later (around the 12th Century BC) and named the extra five days after five of their gods:

• Tuesday: Ares, the god of war
• Wednesday: Hermes, the messenger god, trickster, and god of commerce
• Thursday: Zeus, the god of the sky, thunder, and king of the other gods, oh yes—and king of people
• Friday: Aphrodite, the goddess of love
• Saturday: Kronos, the son of the creators of the universe; father of time

As the Roman Empire emerged in the First Century BC, they also adopted the seven-day calendar and like the Greeks, they named the five additional days of the week after their own gods.

• Tuesday: Martis, god of war
• Wednesday: Mercurii, messenger god
• Thursday: Jovis (Jove, Jupiter), god of sky, thunder, etc.
• Friday: Veneris (Venus), goddess of love
• Saturday: The Romans moved away from the Greeks here and “named Saturday after Saturn, father of Jupiter, god of agriculture, and namesake to the Saturnalia festival, a celebration in which masters and slaves traded places for a few wonderful days.” (Grammar Girl)

Now, for a little history of the word Tuesday itself, from Dictionary.com:

The first records of the word Tuesday come from before 1050. It comes from the Middle English tewesday, from the Old English Tīwes daeg, meaning “Tiu‘s day.” This is a translation of (or is modeled on) the Latin term diēs Mārtis, meaning “Mars’s day.” In Old English, the Roman god of war Mars was subbed out in favor of Tiu, the war god of Anglo-Saxon mythology (equivalent to the Norse god Tyr).

Tuesday is usually thought to be much less exciting than you might expect it to be for a day named after a god of war. Except of course for the most anticipated of all days: Taco Tuesday.

In years of U.S. presidential elections, many states hold the primary vote on the same day in March (or sometimes February), known as Super Tuesday.

In U.S. history, Tuesday, October 29, 1929, is known as Black Tuesday, the day of a stock market crash that is often thought of as the start of the Great Depression.

Hopefully, you can start to see how the days of the week have evolved, and romance languages of today still maintain their history from Rome (or Latin).

Kronos, time god

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | (619) 542-6773 | jackhenry.com

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