The Big Fresh October 18, 2014 Grief Bacon

My favorite word in the collection may be kummerspeck, literally meaning grief-bacon (kummer = grief and speck = bacon), referring to the excess weight we gain from emotional overeating. When I’m thinking about a late-night snack I now try to ask myself, “Am I really hungry, or is this just going to turn into grief bacon?”

If there can be worlds in words, then publishing something like a website that will have its words accessed far into the future puts you in the position of being a words and conventions forecaster. What I’ve learned from consulting our marvelous copy editor Laurel Robinson over the years is that there are rules, but there are also choices to be made because language evolves. What looks and sounds right now may be wrong (according to convention guides and style on the street) in five or ten years. That’s why we present minilessons and not mini-lessons at Choice Literacy, and answer email instead of e-mail.  I’ve staked our style reputation on those hyphens disappearing sooner rather than later, since we’re always in a hurry in classrooms and beyond (and I sadly doubt that will ever change). Skipping hyphens saves writers time. Yet our site uses the serial comma (or my preferred name for it, the Harvard comma) because that extra comma does sometimes clarify meaning, even if it takes a little time to add it. Every time I slip one into a draft it feels like I am classing up the joint.

Helping students see the worlds in words, the ways conventions evolve, and the reasons why spelling is sometimes a choice can be joyful work if children get intrigued by language possibilities. More important, it’s essential work if we ever want them to become skilled writers. As Misty Adoniou explains:

If spelling words are simply strings of letters to be learnt by heart with no meaning attached and no investigation of how those words are constructed, then we are simply assigning our children a task equivalent to learning ten random seven-digit PINs each week. That is not only very very hard, it’s pointless.

As I read that quote, I wonder if I should change learnt to learned and Americanize it. I decide to respect Misty’s Australian heritage and keep learnt as is. See? Choices, even if there is a reader or colleague out there ready to whack you on the head with a style guide if you decide to swim against the current norm.

This week, we look at ways teachers are making the study of words and conventions more of a playground and less of a battleground in their classrooms. Plus more as always – enjoy!