Calling All Philologists!!! T.A. App.

Given the ever swelling size of my student body, I am calling for my best students to try to lend a hand. Below you’ll find a link to an aptitude application for the coveted position of honorary HotForWords T. A.!

As my Teaching Assistant (what did you think T and A stood for?), you’ll need to see to my every etymological need and sundry chores to be performed at my discretion. As such you’ll receive the privilege of (virtually) sitting alongside your teacher in her hot and hallowed inner sanctum and you’ll be the envy of HFW devotees the world over.

My star pupils will rotate on a biweekly basis allowing every eager beaver the chance to show off their etymological endowments for their favorite whimsical wonder of the word world. :-)

Good luck and may the most demonstratively philological students win.

Marina

The aptitude application is now closed.. but if you’d still like to be the teacher’s assistant.. then help out in the comments for a bit… and let one of the reigning TA’s know that you are interested in helping out.. or let me know.   – Thanks, Marina.

Thanks to Jay The 7 Million Dollar Man for the list of questions!

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  • davidsudm

    so you have to know a lot about Enlgish and better if you are a native speaker, right? well, that’s too bad for me eventhough I enjoy your lesson. Could please, at leats, give me a good book name to start reading it? Thanks, if you’ll do so, and if not, well thanks anyway for the lessons. Besos…(means kisses)

  • davidsudm

    opps, sorry, I forgot the “you” between “could” and “please”… Ahhh English, French, Spanish, I’m getting lost and confused, haha :shock:

  • quepasakoolj18

    I am so gonna sign up! Count me in!

  • errinf

    When it comes to you, Marina, T&A stand for Totally Awesome. : )

  • StylinAzn

    I’ll apply Marina!!! Look out for me. :mrgreen:

  • marinas morris

    Book recommendation:-
    http://www.amazon.com/Morris-Dictionary-Word-Phrase-Origins/dp/006015862X

    Just one of the reasons why my login name is appropriate.

    Disclaimer: I have no connection with this book or the authors and gain no profit from recommending it.

    Bob

  • Pseudonym

    These are great questions. Well done, 7 million dollar man.

    Just one quibble: When you submit your entry, there is no indication that your entry has been received; you’re just redirected back to the application form. It would be nice if there were some kind of reassurance, for those of us with insecurity issues.

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    Let me see if yours went throught.. it is supposed to give you a thank you page.

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    I don’t see a completed one with your screen name Pseudonym! Can you clear any cookies you have that say surveygizmo then take it again? I had a similar problem.. but cleared out my cookies then it works. Not a good thing as NOBODY should have to do that! Unless you put a different screen name for yourself?

  • tryant

    Honorary TA! Does this mean more words and less Marina?!?! And when there’s money being made from adds n such does the “honorary” title exclude the Helpers from any profit!? And here I thought You might actually be a kind soul willing to teach and entertain from the goodness of Your heart. That’ll “learn” Me!! Please clarify these issues so the student body has a full and unchanging grasp of the true spirit of Your work Marina. Also the standard statement of “there are operating costs” is true I’m sure but only goes just so far.. I hate to have such negative connotations in a post to One so beautiful and seemingly generous but My suspicious side will always question motives when money may be involved..

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    tryant, it simply means you will have your picture and/or name on my site as my honorary TA.. and that’s it! You’ll be my teacher’s pet for 2 weeks! I am the easiest person to “work” for on the planet :razz:

  • tryant

    Well said Marina!! LOL,,I shoulda expected as much from One such as You!! Even though You are 20 years younger than I You would likely win any debate I could muster wether seriously or all in fun!! Now,,,ummmmm,,,when is it We get a look at Your portfolio?! Both from before and after the formation and subsequent success of Your site!?!? LOL,,sorry,,poking fun is inherant to My nature and laughter really is the best medicine! I can take a jibe as well as long it seems to be in good spirits..

    A few years back I lived with a lady from in or near Russian Federation,Kazakhstan I think it was. Loved Her accent too! She was’nt quite so good at the tough questions tho and left My silly ass behind! LOL..

  • Pseudonym

    Will do, thanks.

  • http://sunshineandfarts.com/ skatoolaki

    One of my favorite & fun books that helps along the lines of grammar, punctuation, and word usage is Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. Yes, it’s more punctuation than words, but – in writing – a strong understanding of both will help you express yourself all the more fluently! Good luck!

  • http://sunshineandfarts.com/ skatoolaki

    Woot – what fun?! Thanks, Marina – truly appreciate the chance to be “teacher’s pet”! :grin:

  • buzzword

    I highly recommend School House Rocks, Grammar Rocks. http://www.school-house-rock.com/

  • pupilo no. 1

    Marina,

    I loved the questionnaire. It was an honor and a pretty fascinating experience.

    I am looking forward to working with you,

    Besos,

    Tu alumno No. 1

  • fashiongirl

    Hi Marina,

    TA stands for a TEACHING ASSISTANT, a junior scholar employed on a temporary contract by a college or university in teaching-related responsibilities :razz: :mrgreen:

    P.s I am not a subscriber on your youtube channel because i already been kicked out ! I have posted a movie before but i have no idea why they disabled my account forever. So now i have registered here which is better since i am not allowed to make another account on you tube anymore SAD

  • http://jackseslblog.blogspot.com/ jackdoitcrawford

    I want to be a TA. My son is a TA at the University of Maryland and his older brother was a TA at Carnegie Mellon in the 90′s. I have to keep up with them. :mrgreen:

  • padmcd

    You could try going back to school to re-learn basic punctuation, capitalization, sentence structure, spelling, most of all regardless of how many whiz bang features your browser has, PROOF READING YOUR POSTS PRIOR TO HITTING SUBMIT/SENT/POST/ETC!!!!

    Oh wait, that might cut into your text messaging and gaming time!

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    You don’t have to know English! I barely do :razz:

  • http://www.kunstscheiss.de alx

    padmcd,

    what’s so important about capitalization?
    what’s wrong with his sentence structure?

    btw, it’s “proofreading”.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/trgoblin trgoblin

    It might be just as much fun to make an example of the ones who need detention!

    I’m not gonna do any more homework, and next semester instead of an A+, I want an F. :grin:

  • mello-g37

    I would Never give marina a APPLE i would have a load of grapes and feed her ….mmmm…. :lol: …….My english spelling is SO SO bad and grammer….but words are SO SO COOL ! :razz: :cool:

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    Thanks mello-g37! And your English spelling is not bad at all! :grin:

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    That’s weird fashiongirl about YouTube! Just get another email address and sign up on YouTube… or don’t! :razz: You can just hand out over here!

  • fashiongirl

    wow, thank you so much dear. I DID use another email address and i now have a new account on you tube yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :smile:

    I am going to subscribe now to your videos. I am so happy

    Thank you again lovely teacher :mrgreen: :lol: :oops:

    my you tube name is: Whyattractive

  • http://www.myspace.com/metalkid66 robeldritch

    Did you get my application, Marina? I would love you forever if you picked me!

  • mileycyrus

    Can I sign up for t.a

  • http://citylife.4umka.info mariyashch

    Already applied and happy. Yeah, I’m getting confused as well, because I speak too many languages: Russian (Привет, Марина!), Ukrainian (I live there), English (fluent, studied since was 2), French (not so bad), German (see French), study Spanish and Italian and Korean. Yeah, my friends call me crazy, but I’m OK with all of that. Really. I’d love to help you out with your lessons and talk to you in our native language. Bye! :wink:

  • http://www.myspace.com/rockstarxwannabe britxdyess

    Oh, I love that book! =]

  • http://www.myspace.com/rockstarxwannabe britxdyess

    applied! i hope i’m not too young for it? or does it matter? :???:

  • JD

    I completed my app. with style and perfection
    Now I wonder how long before you make your selection
    I hope you don’t mind that I’m being persistent
    But, I really want to be your teaching assistant

  • http://hotforwords.com Marina

    I know.. I NEED to get to those applications ASAP! All the more reason why I need that Teacher Assistant!!!!

  • http://www.kunstscheiss.de alx

    lol. a ta to go through all the ta’s applications? ;P

  • penatbater

    lol it rhymes! :lol:

  • http://www.myspace.com/metalkid66 robeldritch

    Marina, when will you actually be picking the TA? When we will know who got the gig?

  • JD

    Marina,

    It’s been over a month since you made the request
    That your student body take an aptitude test
    Now the ball’s in your court, to fill the position
    With the pupil that showed the most skill and ambition

    Hint: Pick me :mrgreen:

  • nickc1188

    To HotForWords:

    Despite my comparatively rudimentary knowledge of words, I would as a fan of your show definitely enjoy having the chance to be a “T.A.” for you. If this position curtails research, then I can definitely help as much as anyone (I live 4 blocks from the city library). If it involves movie production, then I can also help as I have some experience in both sound editing and movie editing.

    I noticed, however, that you no longer have the application posted. I hope for my sake that the opportunity is still available or for your sake that you found somebody capable of filling the position (though based on the posts that I’ve seen, I suspect that you found the field to be wanting and/or suspect).

    If you could email me the application and/or any questions and/or concerns, that would be great (I’d rather not post my email address unless necessary as I’d like to think you can access it via the administrative functions on this website).

    Thanks

  • nickc1188

    improper use of “curtails” – in my sleepy stupor, I intended to write “entails”

    This doesn’t reflect very well on my potential as a “T.A.” lol

  • spintown

    When are you going to pick a TA? I haven’t seen anyone picked as a TA yet, and I’ve been stopping by each week to see who wins first.

  • http://captainjack.ws captainjack

    Marina,

    Do you need more words to look up or do you need help in investigating the words? Ask us what you need of us oh great goddess of Philology.

    P.S. No we will not do any videos. That would defeat the whole purpose of watching your videos.

    Jack

  • runawayscott

    Hi Marina. I wanted to be your teachers assistant, or better teachers pet, but I’m afraid I’m not a youtube subscriber at all let alone a subscriber to your channel, and I’m just not educated enough for the job. I love your videos though and I was thrilled when you did one of my requests, peace out.

  • http://au.youtube.com/user/secsayboy secsayboy

    etymological endowments = lol…i like that phrase

    i like your style 2 :grin:

  • gaspra51

    I so much do enjoy your videos.It’s good to learn something new everyday .The English language is so hard to understand sometimes. Makes you wonder what they were thinking sometimes. You do wonderful job explaining the origins. And those decolletages are just a added bonus.. Thanks !!

  • senator

    I carry a car dictionary – that is, a dictionary in the car, and one on each of the floors in my house, because my wife and I often study the meaning and origins of words. I would love to be your virtual assistant, but as a fan, I must insist that I would be much happier if you find an eager beaver assistant nearly as pretty as yourself.

  • elpollo

    How can I apply? is it virtual?

  • zirionian

    i would like to know why the word ”WIZARD”was created?

  • http://www.zenithmaritime.com/ CaptainJack

    …you’ll need to see to my every etymological need and sundry chores to be performed at my discretion….My star pupils will rotate on a biweekly basis allowing every eager beaver the chance to show off their etymological endowments for their favorite whimsical wonder of the word world.

    Hum… Let me guess. No one here has even come close to qualifying for this?

    “Good luck and may the most demonstratively philological students win.”

    Oh I see. Its all about reading the damn instruction hu? Marina, don’t you know that men don’t read instructions. Grunt grunt! You don’t see me buying myself pretty flowers now do you? Oh wait…Whats that on my desk. Ok bad example. Ok you don’t see me… Well you get the picture. ;)

  • http://www.zenithmaritime.com/ CaptainJack

    Oops I forgot that darn “/” again. :oops:

  • melikadothechacha

    “whimsical wonder of the word world”
    an interesting choice of words, when
    you consider the difficulty enunciating
    the letter “w” in English can be for a
    Russian ( no “w” sound per Marina)
    Try to say this three times real fast: :mrgreen:
    “There’s blood on the rubber baby buggy bumpers”

  • http://www.zenithmaritime.com/ CaptainJack

    I sent in my application. Your website said that you received it. If not then I can reapply. If you did received the app then was there something on it that disqualified me, or did you find better applicants? Maybe you misplaced my application? I really would like to help you out.

    Your little student.
    Me

  • azereal

    Correct me im rong but i think, The root or origin of the word wizard/witch derived from the word WIT/WIZ witch simply means knowlodge or too know.

  • http://FantasticDougsSpace 2utoday

    :roll: Why am I commenting on a contest that closed months ago? It must be one of those viruses that is spreading around this time of year. I’ll wait a day or two to see if I get a fever. That is always the symptom of the dreaded internet bug. So Marina,if you know of a quick cure,let me know please!!

  • http://invisiblestripes.blogspot.com/ protac6

    I’m interested. Very.

  • http://invisiblestripes.blogspot.com/ protac6

    So what have you done so far?

  • http://invisiblestripes.blogspot.com/ protac6

    So how old are you?

  • http://www.zenithmaritime.com/ CaptainJack

    My post on the TA page should give you some clues. Also there are many things Im working in the background that really don’t need to be mentioned here. Really, its all boring technical stuff. :smile:

  • leonard

    soon i hope to have this escape :razz:

  • http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=8743f055c4696b70a371248cb110ddc89a953023 Fianchetto

    Though it is closed, I would still like to try my hand at the test for fun:-)

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBfWNAoZUZk&feature=related Chemikal

    I spent a bunch of time writing something that I thought was smart, well researched and humorous. Before I could complete the last few items on the list, my PC restarted, and put an end to my TA career, before it even began :)

  • http://www.familiabooks.com Evan Owen

    Milaya Marina,
    How can you pack so many doble-entendres into one paragraph and then say “application closed”?
    I was ready to rise to the challenge!

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Not your typical philologist! Putting the LOL in PhiLOLogy :-)