The Nature of Things

Here's a fun activity for your Saturday. The New York Times has a language quiz that will pinpoint from where in the United States the dialect that your speak is most likely to originate. In other words, it tells you where you are from. I was very skeptical of this. I don't think I have an accent. My speech is fairly bland and without, I thought, any particular markers that would identify my place of origin. Boy, was I wrong! I took the test and answered the questions honestly and at the end, the map glowed red all over...Mississippi. Bingo! That is where I grew up, although I haven't lived there for almost forty years. Will the test be able to identify where you originated? Give it a try and find out. Click here to take the dialect quiz .

The exact date of William Shakespeare's birth may not be absolutely known for sure, although there is a record that he was baptized on April 26, 1616, but we know it was around this time in that year. This is the 396th anniversary of his birth, and the debt that our language owes the man continues to accrue interest.  It is virtually impossible for an English speaker to get through the day without quoting him in some fashion. This was neatly illustrated in a meditation by Bernard Levin that I happened to come upon today, repeated here for your edification: If you cannot understand my argument, and declare 'It's Greek to me' ,  you are quoting Shakespeare;  if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning ,  you are quoting Shakespeare;   if you recall your salad days ,  you are quoting Shakespeare;  if you act more in sorrow than in anger ,  if your wish is father to the thought ,  if your lost property has vanished into thin air ,...