Posted on 02/09/2012 4:45:34 AM PST by secret garden
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
cacography \ka-KAH-gruh-fee\ noun
1. bad spelling
2. bad handwriting
Example sentences:
The letter was marred by cacography and poor punctuation, among other flaws.
"I sprang out of the car, sensing that I was different, and that I had only begun to comprehend the enigmas underlying mankind and cacography."
-- From Jeff Deck's 2011 book The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time
Etymology:
In its earliest use in the 16th century, "cacography" meant not "incorrect spelling" but "a bad system of spelling." Today people worry about misspelling words, but back then there was little need for such concern. English spelling was far from standardized; people spelled words any way that made sense to them. Not every one was happy with such laxity, however, and over the coming centuries spelling reformers pressed for regularization. Some reformers thought spelling should reflect the etymological background of words; others thought words should be spelled the way they sound. And of course, everyone believed his or her own way of spelling was the best. Our present inconsistent system was arrived at over time. Today "cacography" usually suggests deviation from the established standards.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
Review Thread One: Word For The Day, Thursday 11/14/02: Raffish (Be SURE to check out posts #92 and #111 on this thread!)
Review Thread Two: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/14/03: Roister
Review Thread Three: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/28/03: Obdurate
WFB's attempt to emulate us ; ) No pushing at the door please!
Rise and shine!
Please change the date in the title to the 9th. Thank you.
Good morning. I am visiting three of the grandchildren in Texas, but I will try to get my homework done.
dang was sure this had to do with feces-consumption!
no sleeping in for Grampy, i see! ; )
I engaged in a little cacography in yesterday’s WFTD thread.
I was rapidly corrected!
My attempt at calligraphy and orthography resulted in cacography.
Across this great nation’s geography
Many youngsters succumbed to cacography
Tweet and text with a thumb
Make all standards undone
It’s a grammar and spelling pornography
Good for you!
Plus, it’s an hour earlier here. Geez—it’s a day earlier as well, according to today’s heading. Apparently, I crossed the international dateline somewhere between New Jersey and Texas.
A+ for you. I really did type in the wrong date. I was using a template from January and couldn’t just add 7 to it. Plus when I tried to correct it, I got a series of proxy and server errors and couldn’t find a poster named ad mod, or even administrator/moderator to redo it.
LOL on the international dateline, but yes, i was immediately thinking that it was an hour earlier there and here you are bright eyed and bushy tailed!
the ad mods really do need to identify themselves better here and make themselves accessible. who else to throw the sawdust on vomit in the hallways should someone take sick, etc? ; )
My penmanship was good in grammer and Junior High School.... it was even quite legible in High school. But once I entered college, where note taking was speed-dependent, it became a cacography based on caffeine, lack of sleep, hangover and kitchen-scratch. Which explains Doctor’s scrawls.
It can only be in a language that acquires words from other languages that this concept would even arise.
Yet how else can a language grow to encompass more ideas and more ways of expressing them except through such acquisitiveness?
Worthy of a different discussion perhaps, but through invention and combination of existing words, as answer to my own question. Cacography would also only be considered a problem among those for whom literacy is widespread, rather than confined to a select few.
Most of us make the excuse for the poor quality of our writing by saying that we are in a hurry. If the most permanent part of your passage through the day is not worthy of careful scrutiny and attention to detail, what is?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.