I'm all for the evolution of language, but this is being different for different's sake, which most of us learned in junior high is pretty lame.

Can "grass-shoots" be far behind?

Hi Nancy, Mr. Blobby was more than a marshmallow. He was a squeaky, squealing, bizarro-world character on a UK TV show. Despite his pink-and-yellow-polka-dotty appearance, I find him slightly terrifying. You can see him here, if you dare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NngdWbvpztk

As I read this, I suddenly remembered a bit of dialogue from the 1980 movie "Saturn 3"; my husband and I joked about for years. Benson (Harvey Keitel): "No taction contact." Alex (Farah Fawcett): "You mean, 'Don't touch'?"

Thank you so much for mentioning the word hoyden, a word I haven't heard much in recent decades; the nuns used to sling it at us in eighth or ninth grade. It kicked off a whole train of memories about nuns that are surprisingly funny in retrospect.

It just occurred to me that among my friends and probably tons of other people, "ffff" became a kind of code in 1960s. Origin: the Who, "My Generation" -- "why don't you all ffffade away."

"media personality Sarah Palin" — thank you for that accurate and complete description.

My experience with garden leave (which sadly does not include being paid to do nothing) is a bit different from the examples above. In 2005, when the U.S. agency I worked for was taken over by a British conglomerate, my boss, the North American CEO, accepted a job with a different agency. His contract with the old employer prevented him from starting the new position for six months; during that time the British company paid him his full salary and called it garden leave. Similarly, in 2007, my nephew was lured from one big London bank to another and he, too, enjoyed a lengthy garden leave.

To me, lardcore sounds like...lard. Therefore, I nominate Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom" for lardcore anthem. Runner up: Rockpile's "Knife and Fork."

I saw the Dutchers give a talk about wolf-pack pecking order at the American Museum of Natural History a few years ago. Overall, while wolves are harsh, I think they ultimately care more for their omegas than humans do.

I suspect that bad taste and bad grammar are a package deal.

A friend sent me a link to this article, which has a headline that sums things up rather neatly. http://bit.ly/38gpQV However, my African friends (and not just South Africans) are ticked off about all the criticism. To them, it's seems to be a symbol of African pride.

Batey + Campbell = twaddle.

What a fun post. Congratulations on your fourth anniversary (I'm very glad blogs don't have term limits) — a fine time was had by all!!

I am unduly fond of the word louche. Whenever I hear it or see it, I am instantly and powerfully reminded of my late, great friend Denis Lemon, the publisher of the UK's Gay News, from whose lips I first heard it. Sometimes words are like aromas from childhood — they can be time machines.

I don't think I ever realized what a lot of ego-driven foolishness people in your line of work encounter. The most ridiculous part of this particular example is, with a celebrity chef and a location like Lincoln Center, this is one of those rare cases where the name is almost beside the point. They could call it The Dog's Breakfast; if the food and the buzz were great, the foodies would come. Given the story in the Times, it sounds like it's destined to be one of those places that's more about the foofaraw than the food.

Thank you for the laugh and the homework. I had a feeling it was bigger than local people making jokes, and the late '50s timing of the magazine meshes perfectly with my memories. One thing's for certain: no matter how you spell it, it's a pretty stale idea.

I spent some of my growing up years near the IBM Country Club in Sands Point, LI. People in those parts used to say, "THIMK."

This is the lazy communicator's response to the mantra that "the consumer is in control." Instead of thinking through what that actually means, they address people in the second person. Problem solved!

In my experience, the people in LinkedIn writers' groups range from the nearly illiterate to the extremely talented. It is bizarre to see them interact.

So...what does J-Roll mean? Is it related to the baseball player?

My guess: Like most ads these days, this one was written by and for people in their twenties (no matter what the client's actual target demographic was).

Design-minded? Style seeker? Gaga for gewgaws? (just kidding)