a whole nother

A Neologism and 'The Man [sic]'

2006-03-23T21:44:00.000-08:00

I read the following blurb on this website promoting this book by Shane Hipps.

Like the magician’s sleight-of-hand, we are distracted and enamored by the entertainment and efficiency of our technologies. But most of us stand oblivious to trick played on our mind. Despite our best intentions, and regardless of what information our media convey, all media have a hidden bias with the power to shape nearly every aspect of life without our ever knowing it.

I haven't even read the book (and frankly, I stopped reading the review after this paragraph, mostly because I was walking around in a state of euphoria exclaiming "Oh man!"), but I think Mr. Hipps has a word on the tip of his tongue here. And I think that word is presticogitation.

Presticogitation, according to linguist James VandenBosch is defined as "rapid mental processing that commands compliance because of its speed and beauty." Nathan Bierma devoted his Chicago Tribune column to the the word here, and has a nice collection of related links on his website.

But is presticogitation the right word here? After all, presticogitation presumably presupposes a certain individual with a motive and a means. But there's not a person (or even a group of people) behind technology. It's like this big abstract being out there controlling it. (This abstract being is probably also the antecedent of they, as in they should lower taxes.) Maybe it's God. Maybe it's 'The Man' (or its more gender-inclusive variant, 'The Person'). Whatever it is, I have a hunch that there are at least moderate levels of presticogitation involved.

New Word Creates Kerfuffle

2006-03-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to revive this blog for awhile now to include posts that cover broader topics in linguistics and words (not just whole nother - which, by the way, I've already heard twice today and it's barely 12:30). Every time I think of a potential post, I usually talk myself out of posting it on the grounds that it's insignificant or unimportant.

But that all changed yesterday when I came across an Associated Press story that appeared in the Seattle Times: President Bush talks "kerfuffle". The article begins:

President Bush is known as a plainspoken man, a straight-talker. So how did a word like "kerfuffle" come out of his mouth?

He dropped the K-bomb during an open question and answer session in Cleveland yesterday. According to the transcript found on whitehouse.gov, President Bush responded thus to a question about wiretapping:

No, I appreciate the question. He's talking about the terrorist surveillance program that was -- created quite a kerfuffle in the press, and I owe an explanation to.

The Associated Press story also says that

An aide said he has heard Bush use the word privately before, but not in public.

According to the OED, kerfuffle is as young as the 1940s, but its Scottish variant curfuffle dates back to the early nineteenth century. The shift from curfuffle to kerfuffle probably happened by way of analogy with other words that begin with ker. According to the OED, ker- is

"the first element in numerous onomatopoeic or echoic formations intended to imitate the sound or the effect of the fall of some heavy body, as kerchunk, -flop, -plunk, -slam, -slap, -slash, -souse, -swash, -swosh, -thump, -whop, etc."

It seems as though President Bush has taken very large, heavy object - the wiretapping controversy, in this case - positioning it above a body of water or an unassuming small insect and then dropping said object. Kerplunk. Kerchunk. Kerfuffle.

forwardeded

2005-11-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

Google's latest step toward world dominance: print.google.com.

I searched there for whole nother yesterday and found numerous results, including two from linguistics-related books. That pleased me.

And I haven't heard whole nother in at least a month because everyone I know knows the phrase. So I present another linguistic anomoly I recently heard...

Dave: "I'm giving a presentation on coal mining in West Virginia this afternoon."

Kent: "But you don't know anything about coal mining in West Virginia."

Dave: "I know. I guess it was in student news. One of my friends forwardeded to me."

Hurri-nother-canes

2005-10-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

I heared "whole nother" several times from the hurricanes, but I was never close enough to a computer, pen, or paper to write the exact quote. But I did notice that I only heard whole nother on the weather channel. I never heard it on any of the other news networks, even during their forecasts. This means that most of the coverage on the weather channel is probably unscripted, while the coverage on the other channels is not; I highly doubt that any script would intentionally contain "whole nother."

I also received the following from Sean:

p25, David James Duncan's The Brothers K,

"...when I heard papa singing How can there be a cherry that has no stone?, which was a whole 'nother song."

Driven

2005-08-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

While driving to Chicago yesterday...

"Kent, why would you stay in this lane when there's a whole nother lane going faster?"

Good question.

I was too speechless to answer.

In Church?!

2005-07-13T00:56:00.000-07:00

While sitting on the steps of a cathedral here in Utrecht, James said "whole nother."

Friends

2005-07-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I was watching Friends, and I heard Ross say "a whole nother" to Rachel and Monica when they were practicing a kind of Asian fighting.

Hearing this, I searched for "a whole nother" in Friends scripts and found a few more...

From season one, episode five:

Ross: "Ok, um, basically you wanna use one machine for all your whites, a whole nother machine for colors, and a third for your uh, your uh, delicates, and that would be your bras and your under-panty things."

I'm sure there are more.

A Whole Nother Theology of the Cross

2005-07-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

"That's a whole nother side of the cross."

-member of my seminar class, on Calvinist guilt

Languicide

2005-06-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Apparently Scott wants to eradicate the usage of "a whole nother" (see number thirteen on his list... appropriately numbered, I think). This sounds to me like languicide, and I don't like it.

You don't scare me, Scott.

I'm Missing My Pants

2005-06-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Less than an hour ago, I heard Tim Brown say "whole nother." I didn't have a pen and paper on hand to write down the context, so I've since forgetten it. But I did not forget "whole nother."

It's like playing capture the flag and racing back to the other side, flag in hand, but then ripping your pants while running. Pants are replaceable, but flags are not.

Tripping and Falling

2005-06-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling when you trip and you're about to fall but then you catch yourself? That in-between time of suspense sums up well how I feel this morning. Allow me to explain.

The trip...

This morning, Karen Barker, speaking to our seminar, said, "That's a whole other conversation..." Not only did she not say "nother" but she placed added emphasis on "other."

About to fall...

I was shocked, because I don't think that I have ever heard or read about this construction.

Catching myself...

But not a half-hour later, she said, "That's a whole nother conversation."

Keeping and Talking

2005-06-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

This one not only warmed my heart, but also my soul.

"That's a whole nother resource."

...from the lips of Tim Brown, one of my new favorite people, speaking of Dennis Dewey on scripture memorization.

From My Own Lips

2005-06-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

I suppose that I owe an apology to the faithful reader(s) of this blog. I never update. I'm sorry. I beseech you for forgiveness.

That said...

Today I heard Steve Chase from Western Theological Seminary say "a whole nother" while we were trying to solve some tech problems.

Last Thursday, I - yes that's right, yours truly - said "a whole nother." This is interesting for two reasons. First, this is the first time that I have accidentally said "a whole nother" since late mid-October of last year. Second, I said it while explaining the Sapir-Worf hypothesis, which postulates that much of our understanding of the world is affected by language.

Two weeks ago, I was paging through Time magazine and I found an article from the 70s with "a whole nother" in the title. It had to do with the banning of either alcohol or tobacco ads (I can't remember which). This tells me that the whole nother phenomenon has been around awhile. It's also fascinating that it appeared in print (rare) in a major newsmagazine (really rare) and in a title of an article (is it rare in here or is it just me?) of a really controversial subject (everything else has now become a mere privation of rare).

And, "a whole nother" is dropped quite frequently in the seminars office, where I've spent quite a bit of time the last few days.

That's all for now. I'll probably update in a few days; meanwhile, continue to have a great summer, spread the gospel of whole nother, and be sure to share your stories in the comments.

Nightmares

2005-05-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night that included the phrase "a whole notherwise."

I awoke in a cold sweat.

Where'd It Go?

2005-05-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

If by "it" you mean "whole nother", then I have no answer. It has been six days since I last heard "whole nother." I can usually expect it with some degree regularity from certain people, but even them - my clutches, if you will - have not been pulling through.

Point of this post: I am alive. The same is becoming less true of "whole nother."

Friends, remain vigilant.

Dropped By An English Major

2005-04-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

It's almost as if the planets aligned, the gods smiled, and the seas parted. Last night, at Thorubos of all places - a time when I'm surrounded with people who think like me and love whole nother almost as much as I do - Nathan dropped it. We were nearing the very end of discussing Ann Lamott's new book, and I was busy perusing _Real Sex_ (is anyone else having problems underlining and linking in blogspot today?) so I didn't catch the entirety of his comment, but I did catch, "...and that's a whole nother dicussion," referring to something about memoirs and truth. What makes this instance particularly beautiful is that (1) it was said by an English major, (2) it was said among those who know more about my fascination with whole nother than anyone else, (3) it was said by my roommate. Triparteid awesomeness.

Today I'm back and forth between the leadership retreat and the library. I probably won't hear "a whole nother" in the library, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone drops it at the retreat. Time will tell.

Paper

2005-04-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

My paper is now up. I couldn't find the original file, so I posted a rough draft. There are a few grammar and spelling errors and some minor flaws in the argument, but overall I think it's pretty good.

Enjoy.

Purpose

2005-04-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog is to offer documentation and commentary on the phrase "a whole nother," which was the subject of a paper I wrote last fall for a linguistics class with James VandenBosch. I highly recommend taking this class, and I'll post the paper on this site in the next few days for your enjoyment.

Today, I have two "a whole nother" stories to share.

First, this past Tuesday, I gathered with the WAs of this fading era and also with the WAs-to-be. Near the end of our "meeting" we gathered in the chapel undercroft (which, by the way, is a sweet way of saying "basement") in a circle for old WAs to bequeath advice upon new WAs. Martinus, somwhere in his advice, dropped the phrase "a whole nother." It was at the end of his last sentence and he was trailing off, so I didn't quite catch the context, but he did say it.

Second, today in class, John Witvliet (who regularly says "a whole nother") was reading from a book by Joeseph Ratzinger - now Pope Benedict XVI. It was a book about the newly elected pope's views on worship and liturgy, and they sounded surprisingly Protestant, given many of the conservative stances of the pope, especially concerning Vatcian II, which we all know as a crucial turning point in the history of Protestant and Roman Catholic worship practices. Apparently Ratzinger has another book on worship that is slightly more edgy, and to get at the polarities in edginess, Witvliet dropped "a whole nother" to describe said book. It was glorious.

Predictions for tomorrow: two.