Exciting language news!

Saipan is a linguistic crossroads, and I maintain a vigil for important developments so we can maintain our international leadership in this scholarly field. So here are a few items from my notebook, or at least the items I’d list in my notebook if I really had one:

1) Mind the “noughty” bits

Well, the British have one-upped us yet again. They’ve come up with a snazzy word to reference the last decade, by which I mean the years 2000 through 2009.

The BBC calls it the “noughties.” This presumably comes from “nought,” meaning “zero.” I think “naught” is the more familiar spelling to Americans, but I’m the last guy to ask about spelling. Actually, I’m the last guy to ask about anything, but you knew that already.

Anyway, so far, so good, but what will we call our current decade? The “teens” won’t cut it, since the term would presumably exclude 2010 through 2012. Ideas, anyone?

2) Way!

Here’s a word that has taken on a new life: “way.”

It’s often used these days to mean “extremely” or “a lot.”

Some examples: “We were way lost.” “This car is way better.” “Smoking is way unhealthy.”

The first time I heard this usage was at a California fraternity party. Afterwards, as my age group floated up the working hierarchy, this frat-rat term went along for the ride. It seems to have stayed for the entire trip. It has, in a word, arrived.

I recently caught a news clip of a ranking military officer saying words of great importance. I was way surprised when he used “way” this way. I’ve heard doctors, dentists, and lawyers, all of them about my age, likewise using the “way” word.

As we used to say: “That’s way cool!”

Hey, wait a minute; I guess we still say that.

3) Pimsleur tips

The Pimsleur language courses, which are audio-based, are offered in about 50 languages now. My wife and I have bought Pimsleur materials for three languages.

I have found that downloading MP3s directly from Pimsleur.com saves money compared to buying the CDs and, of course, it saves time. Their website often features a discount code that can pare down the price even further. The downloaded MP3s don’t require any special software or technical mojo to get working. The audio quality is solid so there’s no lost ground there.

Meanwhile, I’ve found that there are always a few lessons (“units,” as Pimsleur calls them) that bear repeating a number of times. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to maintain a mental list of these lessons. So it’s worthwhile to make a “repeat” folder and transfer these lessons to it for easy reference. Believe me, it’s really easy to wriggle out of repeating these things when there’s some available time at hand, so unless they’re easy to find and play, they will probably not get the attention they deserve.

The courses I’ve used have included extra little lessons in addition to the standard fare of the main, half-hour lessons. The extras are usually concerned with cultural insights. Some, however, contain important grammar tips. So this realm is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get but it’s worth digging through it.

4) One, the man says

Back in the day, in typing class, we were taught to put two spaces after a period. Alas, modern times specify one space, not two spaces, after a period.

As hard as I try, however, I just can’t break the two-space habit. I’m not trying to flout convention. I’m just unable to backfill the brain-to-fingers channel that has the depth of decades etched into it.

The thing about typing is that it’s supposed to become second nature. And it does. That’s the blessing. It’s also the curse.

5) What’s a serif?

A serif is the miniscule line or barb that’s on the tip of a written character. Examples of serif fonts are Times, Times New Roman, and Courier. Serif fonts have a traditional, old-school look.

By contrast, “sans serif” fonts lack serifs and have a more streamlined and modern appearance. The “sans” in that handle comes from French, where “sans” means “without.”

I think the sans serif fonts became popular when people started reading text on computer screens. Some examples of the breed are Arial, Microsoft Sans Serif, and Tahoma.

Pros often debate about which fonts are better for various situations. I’ve got nothing to say on that note. I just wanted to point out what “serif” meant because somebody asked me.

Actually, that question came my way about a year ago. Then I forgot all about it.

I should have written it down in my notebook, but, uh, you know how that goes.