Monday, January 18, 2010
This year, go green -- or rather, turquoise
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
Recent columns
Q: What's the new color of the year for 2010? Last year it was yellow, I hope we are going into a green phase! (The color of money.) Let us know what the design pros are thinking.
Dottie Woods, Blacksburg
A: Actually, they are thinking green -- but blue-green, not greenback green.
Pantone, a company that somehow figured out how to make money out of colors, has declared turquoise the color of the year for 2010.
According to Pantone, turquoise, which they've given the number 15-5519, combines "the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green."
The color experts at Pantone also point out that turquoise is "a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky." It also "adds a unique flair" to kitchen appliances, they say.
There may be a more down-to-earth reason for the choice. Pantone says that studies have shown that turquoise makes people think of the word "escape." As in, "Thank goodness we escaped 2009."
Q: How do you get rid of stinkbugs?
Mike Mundy, Clearview
I have vacuumed hundreds of stinkbugs this year. How do you get rid of them?
Sheila Saul, Botetourt
A: I answered this question back in 2006, but since it's still on your minds, I thought I would check back with our bug expert in case there was news.
There was news, but not good news.
"They are becoming more of a problem for vegetable gardens and fruit trees now, so they have graduated to year-round pests," explained Eric Day of Virginia Tech's Insect I.D. Lab.
This particular stink bug -- probably the brown marmorated stink bug -- is a fairly new, invasive species. In fact, the first one wasn't identified in Virginia until 2004. But they've been busy since then. And they haven't been content just invading our yards and gardens. Like ladybugs and box elder beetles, they like to come right in the house, too.
And how are we supposed to keep them out? Day suggests the same thing he did the last time: Try to plug up the cracks in your house. Cold air isn't the only thing getting in.
Perhaps President Obama will find more support for his plan to winterize homes if he renames it America's War on Stinkbugs.
Grammar Grumblings
"I am especially irritated by the use of, 'all that' as an adjective when describing a condition or degree," writes reader M. Bentley.
" 'All that much,' 'all that hot, all that cold' are especially abused by weather analysts or forecasters. Would a simple 'that' not do? Why stick 'all' in there?"
We inadvertently make enough grammatical errors to slay the rules of proper usage. We do not need to use redundancy to be "all that effective." Well, personally, I'm not all that bothered by this one. I think it adds a little nuance to the meaning of the remarks at the cost of just one, quick syllable.
But our Grammar Guru sides with Bentley.
"I find 'all that' to be a very slippery, imprecise expression," wrote retired English professor Virgil Cook.
" 'That' is all you need. Even better, why not use a simple adverb of degree such as 'very?' "
So, instead of saying, "It won't be all that cold," Cook suggests you say, "It won't be very cold."
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to woym@roanoke.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.
Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.
