Linguistics — Scheiss Weekly

The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right

January 16, 2012 – 12:01 am

Mamacita says: Why is this day a holiday in most communities? (This community doesn’t consider it a holiday, but that’s typical for this county.) (None of our schools closed. None of our schools has EVER closed for MLK Day.)(They don’t close for Veteran’s Day, either.) However, intelligent, sensitive, educated people understand that today deserves respect [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in adult students, descriptive language, Education, English, grammar, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Jobs, Jr., Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, Scheiss Weekly, schools, Things Nice People Already Know | Comments (0)

April is Poetry Month: William Wordsworth

April 3, 2011 – 8:58 pm

William Wordsworth She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways She dwelt among the untrodden ways Beside the springs of Dove, A Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky. [...]

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April is Poetry Month: Sara Teasdale

April 1, 2011 – 11:14 pm

Sara Teasdale I Shall Not Care When I am dead and over me bright April Shakes out her rain-drenched hair, Though you should lean above me broken-hearted, I shall not care. I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful When rain bends down the bough; And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted Than [...]

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Beware the Ides of March

March 15, 2011 – 12:05 am

Mamacita quotes from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: Act 1, scene 2, 15–19 Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music Cry “Caesar!” Speak; Caesar is turn’d to hear. Soothsayer: Beware the Ides of March. Caesar: What man is that? Brutus: A soothsayer bids [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in Arts, English, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Literature, Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, My daughter, Not the imitation Mamacita, Scheiss Weekly, The Arts, The real Mamacita | Comments (2)

Every Day Is Grammar Day

March 5, 2011 – 12:17 am

Mamacita says: Every day is grammar day for people who know how to use their own language correctly. This, of course, should be everyone who lives in any given country, and it is, for most countries. Except ours. The sad fact is that far too many Americans don’t know beans about how to use their [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in Education, English, Family, fools, grammar, It's Outrageous!, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, love, Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, Oh No She Dinnit, Political Correctness, Scheiss Weekly, Social media, The real Mamacita, Things Nice People Already Know | Comments (1)

Too Much Discussion Makes Me Think, and We Can’t Have That!

February 6, 2011 – 12:10 am

This post is dedicated to Bitchie Lou, a student from a few years ago whose babyish behavior, constant whining, and terrible manners have earned her the title of “Worst Student I’ve Ever Had, So Far.” This is not a title I want to ever have to bestow again, so don’t get any ideas, students dear. [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in Books, Censorship, Education, etiquette, fools, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Lessons learned, Literature, Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, memories, Not the imitation Mamacita, Oh No She Dinnit, Political Correctness, Scheiss Weekly, schools, The real Mamacita, Things Nice People Already Know | Comments (5)

Quotation Saturday: Imagination

January 22, 2011 – 1:42 am

A lot of Saturdays have come and gone lately without Quotation Saturday. How have we managed to cope, I ask you all. . . . Since I stand firmly with Albert Einstein’s “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” this Saturday’s theme is “imagination.” Take the word apart. Do you see it? IMAGE. People with imagination [...]

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People With Small Vocabularies Also Have Small. . . . Brains. *

January 16, 2011 – 4:01 am

I can’t help but wonder if all this brouhaha about dumbing down the vocabulary in classic literature right now has at least part of its origin in the sad fact that many of our parents and teachers can’t understand the big words. This isn’t funny; it’s unforgiveable. The more words we know, the better able [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in Books, Censorship, children, Education, fools, grammar, It's Outrageous!, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Lessons learned, Literature, love, Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, Not the imitation Mamacita, Oh No She Dinnit, parenting, Political Correctness, Scheiss Weekly, teachers, The Arts, The real Mamacita, Things Nice People Already Know, writing | Comments (4)

Omens, Witch-burning, and Fools

January 12, 2011 – 2:59 am

Mamacita says: Second day of class, and we’re buried alive in snow, so much so that even the college canceled classes. I don’t believe in omens, but I can’t help thinking, “omen.” I did what I usually do on a snow day: I slept. That is because I am an exciting, energetic bundle of cool, [...]

By Jane Goodwin | Also posted in Education, English, fools, grammar, Humor, Jane Goodwin, JaneG, Literature, love, Mamacita, Mamacita Jane, Mamacita Says, MamacitaG, Night owl, Not the imitation Mamacita, Oh No She Dinnit, Political Correctness, Scheiss Weekly, schools, teachers, teenagers, The real Mamacita, writing | Comments (1)

Profanity vs. Obscenity

November 12, 2010 – 11:40 pm

Warning: proceed no further if you’re one of those overly sensitive types who is easily offended. You’re no fun, by the way. == Mamacita says: Grammar. I love grammar. It’s such a fantastic segue to. . . well, pretty much anything. A student once asked me if it was true that a person could go [...]