Monday, August 5, 2013

How new words and Phrases come into being


Last week I realized that an email with a draft document I had sent to Dr. Z**** last year, … well, … it had never been commented on or returned or even acknowledged. Everyone in the library is aware of the fact that Dr. Z**** (a D.Ed., as you may suspect) rarely ever responds to emails, phone calls or any other form of electronic communication.  On this campus he has become legendary!

So I forwarded the draft to my boss in another email, this time referring to Dr. Z’s tendency, as they say, “to drop the ball.”  Unfortunately, I mangled the expression in the sentence:

“Here is another one of Dr. Z’s ball droppings” 

It was only after I sent the email that I realized just how nasty this sounded. I was not trying to imply that Dr. Z**** is a “teabagger” or anything else. I guess this is how the English language grows through mutation.

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