Elsewhere (295)
Rod Dreher on Bad Whitey, Corrupter Of All Things:
In New Jersey, two high school boys stand accused of racially harassing and intimidating four younger black girls. The accused are of South Asian (Indian) descent. You might think that this ugly display is a reminder that the sin of racism is a universal part of the fallen human condition. You would be wrong, according to Princeton historian Nell Irvin Painter. Writing in the New York Times, the L’Osservatore Romano of the Cult of Social Justice, Painter tells us that it’s really whitey’s fault… Even when racist harassers are brown-skinned, they’re really white, and their alleged actions are the fault of white people… I remind you that this racist screed was written by a Princeton professor, writing on the op-ed page of the most important newspaper in the world.
You see, when members of one racial minority assault and degrade members of another racial minority, they are, we’re told, merely “enacting American whiteness,” something seemingly akin to demonic possession. This, and only this, is apparently “what matters.” Such, then, are the standards of Princeton employees.
And Steve Salerno on woke education – and mediocrity for all:
It should be apparent that implementing [‘Social-Emotional Learning Theory’] necessarily presupposes some dilution of the traditional nuts-and-bolts curriculum — the diversion of finite class time to topics and methodologies that have nothing to do with mastering, say, long division. The gurus of SEL make no apologies for this. Rather, as [New York mayor, Bill] de Blasio insists in his Fortune piece, “These are hard skills… just like reading and math, that must be taught, practised, and strengthened over time.” SEL’s unflinching emphasis on the so-called “non-cognitive factors” in cognition is bad news for all supporters of no-nonsense education — that is, the kind that doesn’t encourage students to devote class time to communicating their current emotional status to their peers via emojis, as has happened in some SEL implementations.
Because the way to encourage mastery of a subject is to do away with red-pen corrections, which are “stigmatising,” and to embrace “individual” spelling – as opposed to the stuffy and outdated kind, with its rules and whatnot, and thus the possibility of being wrong. Presumably, on grounds that being precise, articulate and in possession of one’s thoughts – or just knowing the difference between ask and axe – is terribly racist.
Update, via the comments:
I’ve mentioned before how at my own state school there were several educators who felt that teaching basic grammar was insufficiently forward-looking and therefore unnecessary, positively beneath them. Consequently, at secondary school, my long-suffering German teacher was amazed to find that his ‘A’ stream students had no idea what a subordinate clause was and had almost no formal knowledge of grammar at all. As a result, the poor chap ended up spending large chunks of every lesson, for months, providing remedial English tuition to some of the brightest kids in school. So that we could eventually learn some German.
Similar views are still propagated by, among others, the Marxist, poet and BBC regular Michael Rosen, who tells fellow Guardian readers that “there’s no such thing as correct grammar.” For Rosen – whose own grammar is of course carefully crafted – learning the rules of the national language is both oppressive and inegalitarian and should therefore be frowned upon. Presumably, Mr Rosen doesn’t believe that other people – poorer people or people with browner skin – should be offered the same tools to get on in life – the tools he employs. Perhaps they’re expected to compensate with proletarian gusto and ethnic charm.
And this is the standard posture, the inevitable dishonesty. Readers may recall the taxpayer-funded race hustler Dr Caprice Hollins, who was paid $86,000 a year to tell Seattle educators that “students of colour” needn’t learn the grammar and fluency that she herself enjoys and with which she signals her own intellectual status. Apparently, those job applications needn’t be grammatical, and any spelling will do, however incomprehensible. Basic skills and attitudes, including foresight and punctuality, are apparently “white values,” and expectations thereof constitute “cultural racism.” We must, she said, see brown people as “racial beings,” but we mustn’t expect them to turn up on time.
I’m trying to imagine how the conscientious parents of a “student of colour” might feel on learning that this is the kind of attitude being propagated in many state schools, at their expense. And at the expense of their children.
As usual, feel free to share your own links and snippets, on any subject, in the comments.
The ‘Indy’ has a column today on how transphobia is really down to capitalism, and I can’t even….
Heather Mac Donald on Harvard’s racial bean-counting and the dance of excuses.
… knowing the difference between ask and axe…
I was just about to ax about that.
[ducks]
Incidentally, I never thanked whoever it was who was kind enough to post the McCain review of Valenti’s memoir a few threads ago.
I remind you that this racist screed was written by a Princeton professor…
Her again.
It was awfully white of the Indians to have developed their caste system a couple thousand years before wypipo showed up.
Oh, wait, an “elite” school professor, “the caste system only shows the awesome yet terrifying Power Of Yte™ that they can project Rayciss Rays back through time and space and corrupt an entire sub-continent”. Maybe I can get tenure.
the awesome yet terrifying Power Of Yte™… can project Rayciss Rays back through time and space and corrupt an entire sub-continent.
Again, I suspect that the conclusion – Bad Whitey – was arrived at well in advance of any actual thinking. The only question being which rhetorical dance is required to get there.
By The Power of Wypipo I Compel Thee…
encourage students to devote class time to communicating their current emotional status to their peers via emojis
Time for a hard reset.
Time for a hard reset.
Ah, but the answer to all maths questions is “Ow, my feelings hurt.”
It’s pedagogic science, people.
Time for a hard reset.
Somewhat related.
And because a cake needs icing.
The ‘Indy’ has a column today on how transphobia is really down to capitalism, and I can’t even….
This bilge isn’t confined to the usual suspects, but is metastasising at an alarming rate. We are not to be allowed to think about anything else. Dearly Beloved received the latest edition of Music Teacher magazine this morning. It includes an article on ‘Teaching transgenders to sing’. I haven’t read it, and probably won’t as I’d sooner lick the skirting boards clean, but I wonder if it’s going to touch on the burning injustice of stubble-chinned basso profundo-voiced hulks not being given soprano roles. Nothing would surprise me in Current Year.
“Mediocrity for all”
“The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning”
That name doesn’t have any nouns in it. Yeah, let’s listen to what those guys are saying about edumacation…
(Yeah, okay. “Learning”. I’m not an educator.)
Time for a hard reset.
I’ve mentioned before how at my own state school there were several educators who felt that teaching basic grammar was insufficiently forward-looking and therefore unnecessary, positively beneath them. Consequently, at secondary school, my long-suffering German teacher was amazed to find that his ‘A’ stream students had no idea what a subordinate clause was and had almost no formal knowledge of grammar at all. As a result, he ended up spending large chunks of every lesson providing remedial English tuition to some of the brightest kids in school. So that we could eventually learn some German.
Similar views are still propagated by, among others, the Marxist poet and BBC regular Michael Rosen, who tells fellow Guardian readers that “there’s no such thing as correct grammar.” For Rosen – whose own grammar is of course carefully crafted – learning the rules of the national language is both oppressive and inegalitarian and should therefore be frowned upon. Presumably, Mr Rosen and those who think like him don’t believe that other people – poorer people or people with browner skin – should be offered the same tools to get on in life. Perhaps they’re expected to compensate with ethnic charm.
Our host has said it before, but if you wanted to actively sabotage the life prospects of a minority group I’m not sure what you would do differently
… at my own state school there were several educators who felt that teaching basic grammar was insufficiently forward-looking and therefore unnecessary …
I envy you. At my primary and secondary schools I don’t think was a single ‘educator’ who didn’t cleave to these ideas.
News items like this one are hardly unheard of. But hey, feelings.
But hey, feelings.
Related: the baby seal du jour.
Well, there are more”>https://www.thecollegefix.com/teachers-union-instructs-members-how-to-push-identity-politics-on-students/>more important things to teach in school than spelling and grammar.
Oh, krep, I forgot the quotation marks. That’s what I get for talking with my daughter about her Halloween-themed fingernails instead of minding my HTML.
talking with my daughter about her Halloween-themed fingernails instead of minding my HTML.
Or afternoon drinking. Whichever it was.
There’s a table I have somewhere showing the mapping of cause and effect.
White man kills black: Racism
Black man kills white: Gun control
Black man kills black: Poverty caused by racism
White man kills white: Gun control
And let us not forget the ultimate cause and effect relationship:
woke education – and mediocrity for all
The curriculum is bad enough, but here’s betting it doesn’t get taught. Because nothing is taught at these schools.
The wife, who is a 5-year veteran of the
Kabuki Childhood Detention CenterPublic School System came home last week totally broken, having been kicked hard in the shin and not given an ounce of sympathy by the admin or even her fellow teachers. After 15 minutes of crayons the offendingcretinchild was returned to class, having not suffered a negative phrase much less a punishment, refused to apologize and so sat on the floor breaking and throwing pencils while the rest of the class took note of the incentives at hand.So we finally looked up local private and charter schools for our own spawn. We both cried – actual, unable to hold back tears cried – when we toured a charter dedicated to Classical Education. You will find no bigger critic of government schools than me but even still I hadn’t grasped the chasm between an actual, serious education and public “school”. God help us.
Related: the baby seal du jour.
Okay, Peter Kyle has dylexia and it can’t be helped that’s true. But he’s also lazy and that’s something he can control. There is no shortage of electonic aids Mr. Kyle could use to deal with his dylexia including spoken word programs where he doesn’t have to rely on any visual input. Instead he has chosen to play the victim and use his disability as a crutch to beat the rest of us over the head. We’re often told that the disabled don’t want our sympathy but that is contradicted by Mr. Kyle’s actions.
There is something about the very concept of personal agency that the Left is Hell-bent on denying.
At my primary and secondary schools I don’t think there was a single ‘educator’ who didn’t cleave to these ideas.
I think I’ve also mentioned the regularity with which I see ‘of’ being used instead of ‘have’ – “He should of done such-and-such,” etc. I see this written so often, and widely, I can only assume that in some schools it’s no longer being corrected.
Instead he has chosen to play the victim and use his disability as a crutch to beat the rest of us over the head.
What, he had a stroke or head injury, or just so thick he doesn’t know what “acute” means ?
He should of done such-and-such,” etc. I see this written so often, and widely, I can only assume that in some schools it’s no longer being corrected.
I’ve seen the misuse of to/too/two, there/their/they’re, its/it’s, and your/you’re so often that it has started to slip into my own writing. Not that my writing is all that great, but stuff so basic, so logical, so easy to comprehend (unlike say, subjunctive past perfect participial agnostic) was never an issue for me in my school days. When I got into the “real” world of reading my managers’ and directors’ and such direct emails (heh…when they did away with secretaries sooo much was revealed), I was stunned by seeing these words misused. Oooh, and don’t get me started on “infamy”. And of course there’s “literally”. And so on.
I think I’ve also mentioned the regularity with which I see ‘of’ being used instead of ‘have’ – “He should of done such-and-such,” etc.
I presume that it’s the aural transcription of ‘should have’ — should’ve. Language changes. I was going to say ‘evolves’ but evolve has the connotation of progressing/improving, and this is just mindless change.
My bête noire is the use of ‘impact’ in place of affect. I really noticed this waaay back while watching the Watergate hearings and thought it was used by pencil-necked lawyers to sound tough and muscular.
Impact should only be used to describe eirher a meteor strike or an artillery barrage.
your own snippets
(Fwiw) click-bait (no, I didn’t click) –
Woman killed in gender reveal explosion was 45 feet away from device, died instantly
Family members were looking for ways to make a fun announcement of a child’s gender, but inadvertently created a pipe bomb.
(Today’s “yahoo!”)
“utilize” vs “use”
“utilize” vs “use”
“Methodology” instead of “method”, (unless one is studying methods).
My bête noire is the use of ‘impact’ in place of affect.
I do sometimes find myself twitching when TV presenters say ‘begs the question’ despite meaning ‘raises the question’, which is something else entirely. Also, using ‘nemesis’ to mean ‘enemy’ or ‘arch-enemy,’ thereby eroding the word’s more poetic meaning.
(unlike say, subjunctive past perfect participial agnostic)
Had I been going to comment on that, I should have been wasting your time and mine, respectively.
(Important disclaimer: I couldn’t resist using the wretched “respectively” there; consider it morbid sarcasm and please don’t emulate. The needless up-cropping of respective/respectively is a noir-ish bête of mine. As in; “The police told the onlookers to go to their respective homes.” – Lest we think they were to go to each others’ homes, or to the police’s homes, or something.)
“utilize” vs “use”
“Endeavor”, especially the British spelling “Endeavour” when used in the US, vs. “try”
Had I been going to comment on that, I should have been wasting your time and mine, respectively.
I’m not really sure whether or not ISWYDT.
I’m not really sure whether or not ISWYDT.
That’s how you can tell it’s working.
‘Teaching transgenders to sing’
Is this where music teachers are to advocate the return of castrati?
“utilize” vs “use”
I’m surprised at how much this one is misused to ironic effect: “looser” for “loser.”
The words “evacuate” and “evacuated” are often used incorrectly leaving one with a very unpleasant image. Buildings, areas and objects are evacuated people not such much, unless, of course, their bowels are not functioning properly. I couldn’t be a firefighter for that reason. I’m horrified when I read headlines like, “Firefighters evacuated 7 people.” Talk about a sh!tty job.
“Higher” and “lower” are often used when people mean “more” or “less.” The local rag used to say, “$1, Higher in Outlying Areas.” My copy editing instructor told us that suburbanites had to stand on tip-toes to purchase the paper.
My bête noire …
You’ve gorn and done it now. Where to begin? I agree with all the examples given thus far (top choices, chaps and chapesses). The misuse of words in order to sound clever, for example simplistic rather than simple (and obviously gender rather than sex) is particularly irksome. One of my favourite YouTubers is guilty of something similar: seemingly incapable of using a simple adjective without adorning it with at least one suffix, he would probably describe the likes of Jelly Bean King and Martina Ratnaffallover as ‘lesbianistical’. Then we come to business/corporate jargon: some thirty years after first hearing it, I still despise those who use that diabolical locution ‘deliver on‘. Horse-whipping’s too good for them.
One of my pet peeves: “Irregardless” …
[ Wanders towards kitchen, muttering. ]
Lousy kids, with their jeans and their rap music…
‘of’ being used instead of ‘have’
‘Than’ and ‘then’. *shakes fist angrily at the sky*
It’s gotten so bad that I start questioning my own certainty when I see some of these malapoopisms.
My pet peeve is really trivial. It is the use of “factoid” to mean minor fact, when the term originated to describe something that looks like a fact, but isn’t. I coined “factlet” to cover the “minor fact” meaning, but no one uses it. Sob.
Dear host, is the sun over the yardarm yet?
Also, what is it with German teachers? Back in the ’70s I had a Czech guy teaching French and German to 15-18 year old kids, who actually berated the English department faculty about their non-teaching of grammar. He told them to their faces they should pay him part of their salaries for this service. He was also known for having responded to an English teacher who stated “The subjunctive is dead.” with “No, you merely wish it were.”
There was a line I liked in the recent movie Greta*, where the heroine’s roommate is recommending a spa day of avocado-juice colonics: not just bodily cleansing but good for the mind too: she says, So-and-so “was dyslexic, now he can say the alphabet backwards.”
*A psycho thriller, not about the current publicity hog.
for example simplistic rather than simple
For the matter of that, “is problematic” instead of “bothers me.”
Dear host, is the sun over the yardarm yet?
With the windows painted over, it’s hard to tell.
If you’re a sports fan, you’re tire of this one too, “physicality” instead of “physical.”
I’m not sure when Don King went from object of riducule to vocabulary wizard.
The words “evacuate” and “evacuated” are often used incorrectly leaving one with a very unpleasant image. Buildings, areas and objects are evacuated people not such much…
Dustoff says hello; medical evacuation can mean either removing a person or persons from a site (geographical, not anatomical) of injury, or your definition, but you’d be hard pressed to find a dictionary that doesn’t include the first definition (or words to the same effect, e.g., removing a person from a place of danger).
Dustoff says hello;
I don’t believe that definition is inconsistent with what I said. People can be the “evacuant” in the case of a medical or emergency evacuation. Still it is technically incorrect to say that people were evacuated. The site is the thing that was evacuated not the people.
One of my pet hates, and it’s ubiquitous, is “one of the only”. Its the “only one” or “one of the few”, not “one of the only”.
Still it is technically incorrect to say that people were evacuated.
If one person of many is removed from a place where his injury occurred, the place is not evacuated because everyone else is still there, the person is evacuated, as in the first definition in the Cambridge dictionary, or the Oxford, if you don’t like Cambridge.
If all the people are evacuated (singly or in a bunch), then the place becomes evacuated.
A person evacuated is an evacuee, an evacuant is something that causes evacuation, e.g., an enema, which some people may be, but is generally not polite to call them.
My pet peeve is very basic, far too common, damned near universal, and ALWAYS makes my already simmering blood boil…
The vulgar misuse of “that” for people, instead of “who” , “whose” or whom”…
One day, when this crime is again committed by either a public announcer or the press, I’m going to snap and go on a killing rampage…!!!
Well … technically, East Indians are Caucasian if not entirely white, skin-wise. They are also blessed as are the Orientals, Chinese, Korean etc, with relatively high IQs.
That is why the Orientals/East Indians go into computer professions, medicine, math and sciences, engineering etc. and black people go into show business or sports or cashiers at Walmart (no offense intended).
Sorry, but that is simply the truth of the matter.
Further to … white people go into whatever professions do not have a sign on their door that talks about inclusiveness, multicultural, or any of the sort of shit … that in reality means …. white people need not apply especially white men.
East Indians are Caucasian … blessed … with relatively high IQs.
I don’t think the case of India is quite so cut and dried. There are many ethnic groups and castes whose members do not intermarry at high rates, resulting in large differences between various populations.
Thank you all so much for these very many unique malafornications. This is the sort of errant pedantry up with … oh never mind.
A person evacuated is an evacuee, an evacuant is something that causes evacuation, e.g., an enema, which some people may be, but is generally not polite to call them.
😉
I purposely chose evacuant over evacuee too thinking it was a thing that was evacuated. lol
Trying to be a smartass. Oops!
Definition number one needs the word “from” either explicitly or implicitly in context. People are evacuated “from” something. When “from” is not used explicitly or understood in context then people are just as likely being emptied. The cases that led to my rant are the ones where the “from” is missing and not clearly, or perhaps, awkwardly understood.
Muldoon, here’s an example from today.
“LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger And More Celebs Evacuated Due To LA Wildfire”
If my house was about to burn down I might evacuate too. 😉
epicentre
based off of
different than/to/with/…
“LeBron James”, now there’s something that’s starting to piss me off no matter what the context/usage.
Betes noir:
Each others’ homes – ‘each other’ is singular and you only have one home, though you may have more than one residence, so it’s each other’s home.
Iconic – I’ve heard everything from tunes to mountains described as iconic, which is a bit of a departure from the original meaning of a small pictorial representation of something larger.
We – Possibly the most misused word in the English language: “We need to build more wind turbines” spouted by someone that’s upset at the mere sight of a spade.
Argh
Steve E:
A contrast to the excuse-making MP:
https://thompsonblog.co.uk/2014/01/they-must-get-in-the-way.html
One of my all-time faves among David’s posts.
“We need to build more wind turbines” spouted by someone that’s upset at the mere sight of a spade.
Had a Scoutmaster as a kid who, whenever something like that was said would ask, “We? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?” Heh.
Very soon after the Norman Conquest the verb “execute” came into Legal English, meaning: to carry out / put into effect — with the verb’s object being the court’s sentence. And since nothing beats a sentence of death for getting folks’ attention, the meaning of “execute” shifted almost at once to “put to death” — and one spoke of executing the prisoner, not the sentence.
Something similar has been happening (or more likely has long since happened) to the meaning of “evacuate,” though with less justice.
Selah!
Definition number one needs the word “from” either explicitly or implicitly in context.
I see where you are coming from, but in common usage, other than perhaps discussing patients preped for a colonoscopy, the “from” is indeed implied. I’ll grant you that in Hollywoodland celebrities faced with a wildfire might opt for a cleansing colonic to align their chakras (or something) instead of getting out of Dodge, but everywhere else the “from their homes” is the first thing people will understand.
so it’s each other’s home
That’s what ottocorrect told me, so I was deliberately sticking my thumb in its eye.
I defer, however, to my nonhierarchical friend. In the words of Victor Buono, “Very well, I repudiate myself.”
words of Victor Buono
Actually, I don’t know whose words they were, but Victor Buono spoke them in character — hangdog, beatnik — in a Perry Mason episode. The one with ZaSu Pitts.
Carry on.
as in the first definition in the Cambridge dictionary, or the Oxford, if you don’t like Cambridge.
Dictionaries catalog how language is used, not how it ought to be used. And I say this as someone who worked on the Big One.
Pace David’s comment about German teachers having to teach English grammar: Professor Wheellock, of the eponymous Wheellock’s Latin, opined back in the 1970’s that this was becoming a problem among his incoming undergraduates. The standard book set now includes a slim volume on English grammar he wrote himself so as to get the students up to speed.
Technically grammar is a description of what language already does and not a prescription, but it is so useful as a teaching tool as it alerts students to what language is capable of, gives them far greater fluency in the language, and enables them to identify potential cases where communication may be confused due to sloppy grammar, and to correct this. It’s been a long time since English teachers were proper grammar snobs – all we get now are anti-grammar snobs, like Rosen.
I believe native English speakers have become gradually more and more complacent about this over time, due to the relative popularity of their language. It’ll pay us dearly in the years to come. I’ve been learning German for some time and it has become painfully obvious how far ahead the German school student is, in relation to grammar, compared to English-speaking school students.
Presumably, Mr Rosen and those who think like him don’t believe that other people – poorer people or people with browner skin – should be offered the same tools to get on in life.
That.
“Momentarily” for “in a moment” e.g. “the taxi will be here momentarily” giving the impression that the vehicle will appear and disappear like some exotic subatomic particle.
That.
It’s the standard posture, the inevitable dishonesty. Readers may recall the taxpayer-funded race hustler Dr Caprice Hollins, who was paid $86,000 a year to tell Seattle educators that “students of colour” needn’t learn the grammar and fluency that she herself enjoys and with which she signals her intellectual status. Apparently, those job applications needn’t be grammatical, and any spelling will do, however incomprehensible. Basic skills and attitudes, including foresight and punctuality, are apparently “white values,” and expectations thereof constitute “cultural racism.”
We must, she said, see brown people as “racial beings,” but not expect them to turn up on time.
I’m trying to imagine how the conscientious parents of a “student of colour” might feel on learning that this is the kind of attitude being propagated in some state schools, at their expense. And at the expense of their children.
That.
It’s also worth considering the extent to which the ‘innovation’ on offer appears to be done for the benefit of the teachers – for whom, say, laxity of spelling and grammar presumably makes marking less demanding – not for the benefit of the children they’re supposedly employed to educate.
Heather Mac Donald, Demon Queen.
Apparently, she’s “very dangerous” to the seemingly tissue-like minds of students.
in a Perry Mason episode. The one with Zazu Pitts.
How odd that her parents named her after the chasm into which the heroic Boggies cast the ring of power thus ending the rule of Sorhed.
“Momentarily” for “in a moment” e.g. “the taxi will be here momentarily” giving the impression that the vehicle will appear and disappear like some exotic subatomic particle.
And the time and place of its appearance will be predictable only statistically. Think what we could learn by building a Large Linear Taxi Accelerator.
As an English teacher (retired now) specialising in English Language and Linguistics, I’ve read these comments with interest. Some of them are, to be honest, rather dubious: there’s nothing wrong with that as a relative pronoun, even when the referent is human (The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light)- it’s now slightly archaic, that’s all. Other comments pick up differences between British and US English: momentarily meaning ‘in a moment’ is now standard American English, however much we dislike it Over Here. (I could add here my own favourite US-English peeve: ‘I could care less’ for ‘I couldn’t care less’, which seems to contradict the speaker’s meaning.)
I think, though, that there’s a difference between two types of language change. First, there are usages that exhibit grammatical change (which will always happen), such as different to/than, or bored of rather than bored with – annoying but inevitable, in these cases because prepositions are the least stable part of any Indo-European language. They don’t change the meaning of the phrase at all. I fear that the illiterate use of of for have (I would of gone) mentioned above is one of those: it’s quite possible that in a hundred years, it will be considered correct.
The second type of change is semantic: disinterested starts to mean uninterested; literally is taken to mean metaphorically; unique equals unusual (hence the apparent redundancy of very unique) – and so on. These changes are more damaging to the language because they deprive speakers of specific ways to express themselves.
In the end, however, language change, of either sort, is more or less irresistible. We can take arms against a sea of changes, but we’re in the position of Canute (or Cnut, if you prefer). All we can do is let off steam (I do love a good sequence of mixed metaphors).
By the way, I agree with any nasty comment anyone cares to make about Michael Rosen. Quite apart from his political views, he’s not a particularly pleasant person. He once interviewed me (years ago now) on the Radio 4 programme (or program for our US friends) Word of Mouth, and while he was very affable on air, he completely ignored me the rest of the time and was quite off-hand to the production staff. I had the impression of a man who thought considerably more of himself than was justified by his achievements.
Speaking of wildfires and mangling the language…
Are you a vulnerable population in a de-energization area ? If so, the governor of California has a resource guide for you !
It is unclear whether flashlights or candles will be provided so that the vulnerable populations can read the resource guide in the de-energized areas, but take heart, the California legislature is on it with impactful legislation such as “AB 836 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) establishes a program for retrofits of air ventilation systems to create community clean air centers, prioritizing areas with high cumulative smoke exposure burden.”
If that doesn’t get wildfires under control, I don’t know what will.
not a particularly pleasant person… a man who thought considerably more of himself than was justified by his achievements.
Signature traits of pretty much any Marxist, I’d have thought.
I fear that the illiterate use of of for have (I would of gone) mentioned above…
The question is whether that is the result of the the tendency on you lot over there dropping the letter H (or aitch, which would explain a lot right there) where by “have” becomes “ave” (and not Maria) and when shorten further in the vernacular elided into “of”.
These changes are more damaging to the language because they deprive speakers of specific ways to express themselves.
I think the misuse of imply and infer, and refute and rebut, is especially regrettable in this regard. As you implicitly suggest, being concerned about this isn’t mere pedantry.
I am similarly peeved by the American ‘I could care less’. It makes sense only if delivered in a sarcastic tone, and then only barely.
These changes are more damaging to the language because they deprive speakers of specific ways to express themselves.
Generally speaking, I’m not, I think, overly precious about these things, but I do chafe a little when some useful distinction is being lost (as in the case of nemesis or begs the question), or when the latest mangling of language – “he should of done such-and-such” – seems the result of teachers failing to challenge the error.
heroic Boggies . . . ring of power . . . rule of Sorhed
Now you’re just making stuff up.
OK, my beef with “I could (not) care less”. The whole thing is pretentious IMNSHO. Either way, it’s a long winded way of saying more simply, “I don’t care”. Or even better, the terse “Don’t care”. Both get the point across. What’s kinda funny to me, and this is just me I’m sure, when I hear someone say “I could care less” it kinda washes over me because that’s the way I hear it most often. When I’m conscious of it, I may flinch a wee bit. Yet when I hear (an American) say, correctly, “I could not care less” I immediately picture some mid-20th century Hollywood femme fatale like Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford or even Kathryn Hepburn saying it and it feels to me much more dramatic, often to the point of sounding silly.
Also, I have on occasion (not recently I don’t think) used “I could care less” with ironic intent, but no one ever seemed to pick up on it.
One of my favorite errors to hate is “tow the line”.
“Would of” and its kin come from woulda-coulda-shoulda: the unstressed syllable having been absorbed by the all-conquering schwa; a speaker trying to sound refeened alters it to the nearest sound-alike real word — of.
Now you’re just making stuff up.
“Whoops!” said Frito.
“Aiyeee,” added Goddam.
“Floop,” suggested the tar pit.
Now that’s fine literature.
“Whoops!” said Frito.
“Aiyeee,” added Goddam.
“Floop,” suggested the tar pit.
And the grand Panjandrum, the one with the little button at the top . . .
One of my favorite errors to hate is “tow the line”.
Heh. That one kinda gets me too. Got into it with one of the Cob’s over at Ace on this. I simply pointed out that it was “toe”. Oooh, I had to be corrected. Apparently he thought it had something to do with line being tossed from a boat/ship such that you “tow” the boat/ship to the mooring position. Finally others weighed in with “toe”.
Baceseras: Indeed – schwa should have been arrested centuries ago and imprisoned for crimes against language. I’m not sure, though, that the ‘would of’ usage is caused by speakers trying to sound refined: I hear it on all sides, even among quite literate speakers who’d be mortified if they were caught actually writing it that way.
among quite literate speakers
Stockholm syndrome — they’ve given up.
Apparently he thought it had something to do with line being tossed from a boat/ship such that you “tow” the boat/ship to the mooring position.
Burlaks towing the line…
“you lot over there”
I also note that many Britishers seem to confuse typing were/we’re/where/wear, which to my ear (when listening to a Brit) sound the same.
OMG!!! Watch out! Men On Billboards!
OMG!!! Watch out! Men On Billboards!
The real travesty is having that nitwit Damon playing Carroll Shelby.
that nitwit Damon
Oh, he’s definitely another brainless leftist with too much money and not enough brains. But I have to say I’ve enjoyed his acting. One of the reasons I tend to scroll by actor blatherings. If they become too insufferable, I can’t suspend disbelief and enjoy the show.
And the movie is not a remake, reboot, or sequel!! Thank the lord!
Your daily dose of cringe. Caution advised, brain cells at risk.
Your daily dose of cringe.
Madam is a little full of herself.
And the movie is not a remake, reboot, or sequel!!
Other than this documentary…, and I still say Matt Damon resembles Carroll Shelby as much as Jimmy Carter resembles Winston Churchill.
From the “Science” section of Wired:
Never been fair, so blatant cheating makes it OK. Got it, if only East Germany’s Olympians had thought of this.