Grammar Geek Wednesday: Keep your shirt on, Charlize Edition
Posted December 19, 2007
As I said last week, it's getting difficult to think of things that you all haven't already covered for me. Two of the things on my current list were use of the word "heighth" as pointed out by OCDMuch and "I could care less" as covered by Horrible Warning.
Height. HEIGHT. There's no h at the end. Yes, width, depth, height. English is screwy, granted, but it still deserves our respect. Sort of like Willie Nelson or Canada.
And when people say "I could care less" what they actually mean is the exact opposite. If I said I could care less about baseball, I would be lying. I don't care at all about baseball and therefore could not possibly care any less.
The one thing left on my list is yet another instance of people unknowingly saying the opposite of what they mean and it drives me insane. Have you heard people say "I'll miss not seeing you"? If they knew what they were saying, then this was not a compliment. What this actually means is "I'll look back fondly on those times of not having to be around you." Like when a co-worker you can't stand comes back to work from vacation and you miss not seeing them. Wasn't it great when Annoying Co-worker wasn't here? you think to yourself, I miss that.
This last thing has nothing to do with grammar, but does fit into the category of things that bug me. I was listening to my holiday playlist the other day on my iPod and came across the lyric "A child, a child shivers in the cold, let us bring him silver and gold." Really? If a child is shivering in the cold, wouldn't a better gift perhaps be, I don't know, A BLANKET? As Charlize Theron points out in her nonsensical J'Adore Dior commercial, gold is cold. Also that diamonds are dead, and while I hear the alliteration, I do think that proclaiming diamonds dead is a mite hasty. Charlize sure seems mad about being dressed in that commercial. Why so angry, Charlize? You know, you could wear that perfume with your clothes and jewelry. I suppose that the sight of Charlize stripping is supposed to make men run out and buy J'Adore for their wives and girlfriends due to some mental association they have formed between it and naked Charlize Theron. I, for one, miss not seeing that commercial.
Yours hated... says:
December 19, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Personally one thinks that 'English'/grammar is a lose definition.
With the abuse of such words like awesome and mispronounced 't's', also not forgetting generaliSed bastardiSation of the English language, you should see what it is like from my perspective.
Some boy says:
December 19, 2007 at 05:00 PM
That would be formalized bastardization of the English language, and if you think that is bad you should speak to the French, since more than 40% of English words are French in origin. Or are you still upset about 1066?
Can you really bastardize a language that itself is a bastardization of dozens of other languages?
You also understand that there are more than twice as many native speakers of the American dialect of English than there are of the combined population of the tattered remnants of your former glory. I believe you call it the Commonwealth of Nations. Non-native speakers outnumber native English speakers 3-to-1 and they all speak - wait for it - American English.
Thanks for playing.
Diane says:
December 19, 2007 at 11:09 PM
Yeah, well, my country could so beat your country at ... being awesome ... err ... something.
Seriously, folks, let's just calm down. :)
Missed the point says:
December 20, 2007 at 02:05 PM
Playing? What are you sources? I love the quoted figures of nothingness.
I'm not sure why I would be indignant about something that wasn't in my lifetime?
Point is; people do what they want to do with language. Get used to it.
I'm calm. I'm calm. Wine, wince. Sarcasm is only good when you cease to be bitter.
Daily Tragedies says:
December 20, 2007 at 10:53 PM
Wow, and here I just came to bitch about incessant use of the phrase "re-look at." I get what someone is trying to express, but what's wrong with just saying, "we'll take another look at that"???