Pwning the typo
So a few days ago, I finally worked up the nerve to ask my 18 year old, “what’s up with the whole ‘pwned’ thing?”  According to him, and he’s less reliable than wikipedia, it started with World of Warcraft, when a gamer mistyped that he “owned” another gamer.  The typo had legs, probably because it’s less offensive than “owning” someone else, and it also looks like “pawning” or even “spawning,” which are both useful activities.  Maybe even “prawn,” which are tasty.  Who knows? Point is, the language evolves.  When I was at McDonnell Douglas, we routinely transposed

Most alarming suffix?
Warning: Adult content. I’ve long asserted that any verb/animal combination can be made to sound filthy.  “Flogging the dolphin” sure…but what about: Interrogating the ocelot Flummoxing the badger Employing the penguin All are rude. I defy anyone to come up with a non-filthy sounding construction.  While you are Cogitating the Emu, crunch on this: Which suffix, applied to any word, is the most likely to provoke offense: -bag, -hole,-sack,   -wad, or something else? Again, in my experience, these suffixes will nasty up any partnered word, no matter how innocent:  “doilybag”   “strolle