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 ...
Julia Palmer, Author at Farmville - Page 2 of 2
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.” ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...