At least he didn't steal the rain.

I do enjoy the movie Iron Man, but I always have to giggle during the slideshow they use at the awards ceremony toward the beginning of the movie. While they're trying to establish a backstory, all I can see is this:

I'm pretty sure this has already been covered in a book somewhere, but just to review:

Reign
v. Rule or govern.
n. The period of time during which a king rules over the land.
The king reigns over the land, and that's how you know he's in charge.
His reign lasted for forty years.

Rein
n. A long narrow strap attached to a horse's bit that allows a person to control the horse.
He steered the horse by his skillful handling of the reins.

Aside from the simple homophonic issue, another reason these can get confused is because of the expression "to take the reins," which means to take control over leading something. But because a king who is in control is "reigning," you can see how it might be easy to confuse the spelling in the idiom.

Which is probably exactly what happened to the production crew of Iron Man.

Tony Stark is taking control of the company, so it should read "Tony Stark Takes Reins at 21."



I also like to imagine that maybe the magazine cover is not an awkward grammatical mistake but that Tony Stark is actually usurping several thrones. Really, it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

Prodi-what now?

I came across this article last summer during a brief break in bar study and felt that it needed to be shared. However, since the break was supposed to be brief, I didn't have time to write a full blog post and instead saved it in a document to be blogged about later (read: After the Bar). And then in the dizzy relief that was After the Bar I forgot all about it until I ran across my note last night. So it's a little late, but I still think it's worth bringing up.

In case you don't feel like clicking through to read the whole article, here is the relevant paragraph (italics are mine):

Lady Gaga may not have attained John Lennon's cult status yet, but she certainly knows how to play a piano. The pop star was classically trained in the instrument from the age of 4, to prodigal results. Gaga began giving concerts in elementary school and wrote her first keyboard ballad at 13. The Lady continued her musical education through college, majoring in the subject at NYU.

I get what it's trying to say: She was a musical prodigy at the age of four. (I wonder what happened there. . . .)

But that's not what it actually is saying.

You see, the adjectival form of "prodigy" is not, as one might think, "prodigal." It is the less-commonly heard and sillier-sounding "prodigious." (I don't know about you, but I hear "prodigious" and I think of a really fat Dickensian character talking about a large amount of food. Is it just me?)

"Prodigal" probably comes to mind more readily because 1) it's just easier to say and 2) there's that whole parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11—32). You know, the one with the fatted calf? (And we're back to prodigious amounts of food. I promise I got enough to eat today.) But it's not really related to "prodigy"—at least not as far as my superficial research shows (cough dictionary.com cough)*—even though it sounds like it should be.

To review:

Prodigal
adj.: Spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.
n.: A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant manner.

Prodigious
adj. 1. Resembling or befitting a prodigy.
2. Exciting amazement or wonder.
3. Remarkably or impressively great in extent, size or degree.
4. Unnatural or abnormal.

Yeah, any way you look at it, I'm pretty sure that article should have said "prodigious."



*I lie. I also checked Merriam-Webster.

A group of packrats?

Well, hello again!

I'm always interested in homophones and homonyms, especially when I "discover" new ones that I hadn't realized were around before. This happened to me recently, and now I would like to share my discovery with all of you (assuming there are any of you still checking this blog).

Hoard vs. Horde

Hoard
This can either be a verb (to amass, collect or store and hide away) or a noun (a collection of hidden items, usually secret). The key is collecting.
Example: He likes to hoard yarn in the cellar to support his secret knitting addiction. He has the biggest hoard of yarn I've ever heard of.

Horde
A very large group. I usually think of any group that has attained "horde" status as being either ruffians or berserkers, possibly fleeing in panic from some disaster, such as a larger, berserker-ier (yeah, I just said that) horde.
Example: The horde descended on the clearance table at the Walmart Black Friday table like, well, a horde of ruffians. (Poor salespeople!)

So, to review:
A hoard is a collection of items.
A horde is a group of people.
I suppose you could have a hoard of people, but that's just kind of creepy.



And yes, I realize there is a third homophone to this group, but this is a family-friendly blog. So I'll just leave you with this picture. You win if you can figure out the connection.