Friday, December 26, 2008

For linguists (not linguist)

Posted by Brad Mills
From the National Weather Service:
WITH TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING THIS MORNING AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN BETWEEN NOW AND NOON...MOTORIST ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING THIS MORNING...AS ANY PRECIPITATION COULD CAUSE ICY SPOTS TO DEVELOP...ESPECIALLY ON UNTREATED ROADWAYS...BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES.
I don't get it. Could someone kindly tell me when it was taught, or when it was decided, that English words ending in -IST do not need an S to become pluralized?

It's motorists. There were two motorists on the road - NOT two motorist. There has never been a precedent for this type of construction.

Quit hoarding your S... use it!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

She is the King of Scrabble!

Posted by Deadpan Alley
After months of dedicated studying and traveling to tournaments, all of our Tina's hard work is paying off! At the Cleveland Classic this past weekend, she won 11 out of 15 games! She placed second in her division, gained a LOT of rating points, and walked away with prize money!! I suspect she's on her way out of the baby leagues. Remember me when you're up in the top division, Tina.

The other three club members who competed at Strongsville did not fare so well. Chris, Brad and I all landed in the bottom thirds of our divisions. But we were buoyed by Tina's success. Even the lake-effect snow driven by crazy-cold winds didn't bring us down.

Tina also got many compliments about the three Scrabble boards she recently made. She made me a beautiful board with a Monet background. Pictures just don't capture how marvelous it is.


The board that she made for herself has very soothing, subtle patterns with a gold border. How could you get stressed playing on that board?


She made another board for artist Joe Larson with a Van Gogh theme and an offset grid. Very very nice. (Speaking of Joe, he too was at the tournament and I finally got to purchase his Gemini sculpture. Yay!)


She's going to start selling boards that are tailored to the buyers' requests. I told her how much I love Monet, so she was able to design my board with that in mind.

We here at WVScrabble are so so proud of Ms. Tina! She has shown us what dedication is all about. Her 2008 Scrabble Whirlwind Tour may be at an end, but the player lives on. She is the King of Scrabble!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

A sign!

Posted by Almost Famous

On Wednesday at Los Agaves, my Scrabble motto appeared on my rack: