However you say it…

Even a grammar anarchist enjoys a holiday respite. 
To keep you thinking for a while, here is my message:
 

Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!,

     Joyeux Noel

Froehliche Weihnachten

     Feliz Navidad

Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto

     Feliz Natal

Buone Feste Natalizie

     Nadolig Llawen

Glædelig Jul

     Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!

     God Jul or Gledelig Jul

Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah

     Merry Keshmish

Mele Kalikimaka

     Gajan Kristnaskon

and if you didn’t find your language:

MERRY  C H R I S T M A S  

and

  HAPPY,   P R O S P E R O U S

N  E  W     Y  E  A  R!

Beware What You Call “Good English”

Listen to the oft-quoted British playwright, William Shakespeare, who noticed half a millennium ago, “Good English writers cannot be understood today.”

As if to prove the Bard right (two centuries before he was born), Thomas Hoceleve commented about something written by Chaucer,

Ye knowe eek, that in forme of speche is chaunge
Withinne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho
That hadden prys, now wonder nyce and straunge
Us thinketh hem; 

Lest you don't read “English”, he's saying, that speech changes every thousand years or so, and words, although they contain hidden human traits that once sounded nice and strong, become misunderstood. Language changes. Get used to it!

Upper Case Respect

Nouns are things; some nouns are more important than others — they’re called “proper nouns”. Proper Nouns receive capital letters, to increase their importance. Kathleen Parker, in a recent column in the Washington Post, called it “Upper Case Respect” — a term that describes the guideline very well. Which nouns deserve your Upper Case Respect are your decisions. Ain’t grammar fun!