Thursday, November 20, 2008

Marina Orlova

Normally I wouldn't do this, but I couldn't resist. Everyday I scour the web for news related to boating, marinas, and while I found that this has nothing to do with boating, or our waterways, it was very educational none the less!

"Marina Orlova (born December 1980) is a Russian-born philologist (although primarily an etymologist) who has become an internet celebrity, hosting one of the most popular channels on YouTube, HotForWords, and a corresponding website. She also hosts a bi-weekly radio show on Maxim Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio. The theme of Orlova's YouTube videos, which begin with the tagline 'Intelligence is Sexy', and of her website is tracing the origins of English words. Some of her entries focus on common everyday words such as irony and OK, while other address lengthy and rarely used tongue-twisters such as floccinaucinihilipilification and antidisestablishmentarianism. Some entries also address idioms, including 'let the cat out of the bag', 'dressed to the nines' and 'three sheets to the wind' or new words like the verb 'to google'. As a Moscow Times editorial observes, Orlova's success is not solely attributed to her pedagogical value:"

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