Author: Julia Palmer - Page 2 The Farmville Herald

Columns

Excuse my Finnish!

When Clark Gable’s character delivered the line “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” to Scarlett O’Hara in the movie version of Gone with ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, April 12, 2018 7:09 am

Columns

Words with multiple meanings

We are normally comfortable with the fact that a word, at any given time, may have multiple meanings. For example, club can mean “a heavy ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, February 1, 2018 8:16 am

Columns

That which troubles us…

From time to time readers contact me with grammar questions. Today’s column is dedicated to answering some of those letters. Dear Dr. Palmer, I don’t ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, November 16, 2017 6:10 pm

Columns

Me, myself and I, oh my

Several of us refer to it as “administrator speech” and it is, unfortunately, becoming a little too common. I think that our rhetoric and composition ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, September 21, 2017 9:33 am

Columns

Needless repetition or necessary distinction?

I was having dinner with colleagues from my department recently when the topic of redundancy in language came up. One of my friends pointed out that ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, August 24, 2017 8:11 am

Columns

Vegetable word histories

Several vegetables common to our gardens come from the Latin word for cabbage “caulis.” Through a series of phonetic changes this Latin word came into ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, July 27, 2017 9:25 am

Columns

Myths that make monsters — Part IV

This is the fourth part in a series that challenges four fallacies or myths in our culture’s general perception of language and how it works ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, July 6, 2017 8:09 am

Church & Community

Myths that make monsters — Part III

This column is the third part in a series that challenges four fallacies or myths in our culture’s general perception of language and how it ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, June 29, 2017 7:36 am

Columns

Myths that make monsters — Part II

In a previous column, I started a discussion of myths that students often have about how language really works. These myths that students (and society ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, June 1, 2017 7:36 am

Columns

Myths that make monsters — Part I

A few years ago, I experienced something completely unexpected in a college classroom that continues to trouble me. I had been asked by a colleague to ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, May 18, 2017 8:20 am

Columns

A bouquet of flower and plant word histories

Many of the flowers commonly found in our gardens have word histories worthy of note. For example, the word daisy is from Old English doegeseage ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, April 27, 2017 11:58 am

Columns

I hate it when you say that!

Recently, my friend Linda and I were talking about language, specifically about language that gets on our nerves. Now I realize that variation or multiple ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, April 6, 2017 10:36 am

Columns

Is language change decay?

In order to be accurate, any description of language must always acknowledge two fundamental principles that are always operating in a language, and these are ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, March 16, 2017 8:44 am

Columns

Where words come from

One of the most fascinating aspects of language and something that interests almost everybody is how new words come into our language. Because language is ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, February 16, 2017 12:07 pm

Columns

The aks vs. ask controversy

As I explained in an earlier column, there are two principles that are always at work in language. The first is that language is always ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, January 19, 2017 6:09 am

Columns

Between you and me: A grammatical misfortune in the making

These days, it is not uncommon for someone to be corrected for saying “That’s between you and me” or “Send that to him and me.” ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, December 15, 2016 7:30 am

Church & Community

‘Beauty’ is Panto-magic

It’s that time of year again! Decembers in Farmville have been much more entertaining ever since Mary Jo Stockton brought the much loved, time-honored British ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, December 8, 2016 11:28 am

Columns

Do women really talk more than men?

In her book “Language Myths,” Janet Holmes notes that many languages in the world have sayings or proverbs that describe women’s apparent ability to talk ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, November 17, 2016 9:45 am

Columns

More on Appalachian English

When it comes to Appalachian English, myths and stereotypes abound. It is not uncommon for people outside the area to think that those who live ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, October 27, 2016 7:02 am

Church & Community

Don’t miss Waterworks’ Vanya

Calling all theater lovers! You do not want to miss the Waterworks Players’ production of Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. If ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, October 13, 2016 9:57 am

Columns

Appalachian English in Virginia, Part 1

Dialectal differences capture our attention, especially those differences or points at which communication breaks down between two people speaking different dialects of the same language. ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, October 13, 2016 9:44 am

Columns

Losing -ed

It’s happening all around us and we don’t even seem to be aware of it. In fact, every time I mention it to somebody, they ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, September 22, 2016 7:12 am

Columns

It’s really crappie!

Crap-pie (krap-e) n., pl. –pies. Either of two edible North American freshwater fishes, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, the black crappie, or P. annularis, the white crappie, related ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, September 1, 2016 5:44 am

Columns

Pairs of words that cause problems

It is with more and more frequency for us to see confusion between pairs of words some of which are homonyms (two words that sound ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, August 11, 2016 6:23 am

Columns

The pesky apostrophe

Today’s column is dedicated to a grammar error which causes a great deal of irritation for those who know the rule governing standard usage and ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Thursday, July 28, 2016 5:27 am

Columns

Sayings from different languages

Learning a different language is difficult and time consuming (although ultimately worth it) because different languages divide up reality in different ways. While it is ... Read more

by Julia Palmer, Friday, July 15, 2016 10:12 am

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