February Linkfest

The Name Inspector has detectified a disturbifying trend in namifying. Can you guessify what it is?

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Teachers take note: name development is an excellent way to engage kids with the mechanics of language. For evidence, read this post by Catchword name developer Aaron Hall about his very educational visit to a fourth-grade classroom.

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Inc. magazine asked seven advertising and branding pros their advice for writing memorable taglines. The answers include “Don’t be afraid of going long” and “Negative is not always a bad thing.” (Via Irene Nelson.)

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Speaking of ad agencies, why are so many of them now calling themselves “brand innovation companies,” “consumer engagement agencies,” “idea manufacturers,” and other euphemisms? Analysis from a chief creative officer (itself a title that didn’t exist in the Mad Men era). (Via Catchword.)

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It’s been a big week for gamers and linguists following the Jeopardy matchup between humans and IBM’s “Watson” (aka the Nerd Super Bowl). The conclusion airs tonight; meanwhile, read Greg Lindsay’s account in Fast Company of how he beat Watson three times in “top-secret sparring rounds.” If you missed the broadcasts, you can see the questions and answers on the Jeopardy archive, an almost-comprehensive 25-year database. Here’s Monday’s show; here’s Tuesday’s. Here’s contestant Ken Jennings in yesterday’s live Q&A about the contest on the Washington Post website. And here’s computational linguist Philip Resnick’s Feb. 14 post on Language Log, “Jeopardizing Valentine’s Day,” about what goes into Watson’s question-answering technology.

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You too can write a bestseller! Just fire up the Malcolm Gladwell book-title generator to create boffo titles and subtitles like Wink: The Power of Thinking While Simultaneously Flirting. (Via AWSamuel.)

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If you use a computer keyboard—and not, say, an IBM Selectric—here’s why you should never, ever insert two spaces after a period.

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Finally, à propos of not much: Craigslisp.

Comments

[mike]

I have to say, the Slate article did not particularly impress those of my writers who cannot be dissuaded from the two-space habit. Oh, well.