C.A. Pinkham's discussions

Do we...do we dislike Doug? Did I miss the memo? Read more

I noticed that, but I wasn't going to say anything. ;-) Read more

Every restaurant I've worked in has used "Panko-crusted" or just "Panko" to describe that particular type of crumb crust, so I'm not sure about that one. "Golf club" is an interesting example, but I'd argue that the amount of time a word has been part of the language does make a difference - and "golf" has been part… Read more

I'm really not buying this "languages evolve" argument. That would be an argument if conniption was used to mean something other than "fit," but no one's arguing that; they're just arguing that since languages evolve, redundancy isn't a problem.

Another commenter brought this up, and I consider this a much more… Read more

There's apparently a lot of confusion on where "conniption" originated. I have no problem believing it wasn't Yiddish, despite always being taught that growing up (Yiddish is just an amalgamation of terms from other languages anyway), but I do think the most common usage of the term in any language has historically… Read more

Btw, "ATM Machine" in particular makes me freaking crazy. Read more

Man, even I hadn't heard that term. Nice grab. Read more

This quote is wonderful. Read more

But the argument becomes how long does it take for the words to become part of the new language and take on their own identity? What length of time has to pass here? Because people argue that it's cultural appropriation to use African-American terms that have only been around for 20 years, but a lot of Yiddish terms… Read more

In general, no, I do not use those terms; but you're right, they are equally incorrect and redundant. Read more

Since the origins of the word are cloudy, no, not particularly (and btw, one of your own links said that Yiddish was a possibility) - this article doesn't even source it other than to say, "it's really English" which is funny since my Grandmother used it regularly growing up and didn't speak a single word of English… Read more

The third definition under the second link you sent says "Yiddish," so...I mean, I'm pretty sure you just made my point for me. Also, I'm going to go with "my Yiddish-speaking grandmother" as data-point #2. Read more

It really isn't, though. The word's still Yiddish even if you're borrowing it for use in an otherwise English sentence, the same way that deja vu is still French even though we use it in English all the time. Read more

Well, that's a different matter altogether then. I fully understand MRA's being so awful that one has to resort to both redundancies AND other languages in order to deal with them. And, of course, there's no better swearing language than Yiddish - we've got 83 different words for "penis," and all of them sound like… Read more

NEVER Read more

AAAAAAAAARGH Doug, "conniption" means "fit" in Yiddish. You just said it was sending them into a fit fit.

A message from the Jews to all Gentiles: you're welcome to use our Yiddish words as much as you like (they're pretty wonderful, after all) - but only if you actually use them correctly. So feel free to have a… Read more

I will be staring at this gif until the end of time, when I am but ashes and our cities are but dust. Read more

My favorite moment of the entire speech was "that's another rap reference, Bill" to O'Reilly. Read more

BEHOLD ITS WONDROUS MADNESS Read more

This is the same argument my brother and I have gotten in with our mother. Read more