Enough for One Day: Rant# 04262007

I try to contain the interventionist grammarian within me. I do. Most of the time I stifle the Inner Catholic Montesorri Academy Spinster Who Made Me Diagram Sentences Until I Got It. I betray no facial twitches to "I should of done it." I lament not the fissures in today's well-meaning argot at "less we forget." I resist comment when he goes "that's the color iPod I like" or she goes "I like that one too, it's sort of unique." At the risk of polluting my own usage by failing to defend it, I definitely try to not get worked up at all. Maybe it's a mute point, the affect it has on me. It doesn't seem to effect anyone else, so it's all good. With a bag of chips. How harmless is that?

Comments

SkylersDad said…
I would assume that watching a GW speech nearly throws you into full-on seizure activity?
Unknown said…
It's well past my pain threshold. Of course, I've also been desensitized by a barrage of Quayle-isms so confounding I'm convinced that man's a clinical retard.

GWB does his damage, I'm sure, but I cain't hardly feel nothin' no-how. The thing is, you know the man can't think. My god, it's stamped on his fucking forehead: This bay is empty. No expectation, no disappointment.
vikkitikkitavi said…
Don't be so modest. Your point is anything but mute!

What irritates me is the misuse of apostrophes. You know what I mean. How no one seems to understand the plural vs. the possessive anymore. I blame anachronyms. Actually, I blame initializations, since very few of those are actually anachronyms.

And what is the deal with the singular possessive, when the name ends in an "s"? I have looked this up numerous times, because I seem to be the only one left on earth who is adding an "'s", as in "Jesus's."

All the books tell me I am right, and yet even the goddamn New York Times these days is just throwing an apostrophe on the end and calling it a day.

A possessive-plural sea change has taken place, and I have somehow missed it.

And sweet, holy Christ but I should've figured you for Catholic Montesorri type. It's all falling into place now, boy-o.
vikkitikkitavi said…
Oh my god, I just had a really frightening moment when it occurred to me that this post might have been inspired by the atrocious grammar of my earlier post on my blog, and how could I just toss off my previous comment on this post with absolutely no thought to that effect? I have no right to be so self-assured.

But then I went and read my post again, and I think I'm okay. I think.

I'll be diagramming it later just to make sure.
GETkristiLOVE said…
You are so full of shit. I've never seen you try to contain yourself! I should know after the semi-colon incident.

And Solaris is still my baby.
ttractor said…
Please tell me you have not actually heard "mute point" used. That causes me pain. The daily slaughter here is the roving "r" which will disappear from the end of words, turning deer into deah. It will then reappear-presto!- and turn data into dater. Repulsive.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Mute point? Not often, but yes I have.

Those r's you're missing seem to be resurfacing here, in the warsh, usually in Warshington state.

I watched some early Fox attempt at a beauty pageant (circa Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?) in which the hostess said of one contestant, "She's a competer." That one still hurts.