Language things that have bugged me today

Accompanied by begonias. Why? Because begonias, that's why. Actually, just because they were there. Dad recently put them in his front planter, which he generally does every year. Mom usually had geraniums instead, but I'm not that big of a fan of geraniums because of the smell. I'm just as happy to see the begonias.

 All right, let's get down to it. Oh, and I'm hoping that there are less words today than yesterday because I really should do that work drawing I've been putting off.

First, let me say that I'm well aware that when I said "because begonias" up at the top there I completely annoyed a few people. It would have annoyed me if I'd read it in, say, a book, unless a character was being quoted. I figure that there's a time and a place for certain types of language, though, and I certainly use different forms of English depending on how formal the situation is. This? This is a blog. If it was formal it would come across as being incredibly pretentious. I purposely choose a pretty casual voice when I'm blogging (yeah, you read right. There's actually thought behind this blog). However, there are language and grammar usages that are always going to annoy me no matter what the situation, and I found a surprising amount of them even in a short browse around the web and social media this morning. Gotta love the internet for making people sound uneducated, right? Here's a bit of what I saw, then:

More unique.  Or it could have been many other variations on comparing uniqueness. This is a very longstanding annoyance of mine, to be honest, because whether people realise it or not it indicates that a person doesn't know the meaning of unique. Unique is unique, as in there's nothing else like it. By definition, something that's unique can't be qualified. Nothing that's unique is more or less unique than something else that's unique. They're both JUST unique, because saying unique is enough.

It's a usage that's creeping in more and more which means that in a living language sense the meaning of unique is changing for people. That means that, in the end, as a proponent of non-proscriptive language rules (rules should describe a language as it is, not tell it what it should be. In an organic language, at least. A created language like Esperanto is a different animal) I should and will (grudgingly) accept the new, evolving use of unique. It sure the heck bugs me, though.

It's versus its. It's not hard, people. It's = it is. Two words. Its = something it has. Possessive. Yes, I do know that its is an unusual possessive and that most possessives have commas, but English (the ultimate mongrel language) has tons of exceptions to rules and most people remember them without much problem. We all (well, most of us) know that the plural of foot is feet, not foots; why can't so many people remember it's and its?

It's (it is) something you should have learned in elementary school.

 Apostrophes where apostrophes aren't necessary. Oh man. You see this everywhere these days, and I can't figure out if it's (it is...) some form of overcompensation or what the deal is. Plurals do not need apostrophes, folks. The plural of desk? Desks, not desk's. The plural of cat? Cats, not cat's. The other day I was at my local grocery store and they had bagged up overripe banana's for quicker sale. The banana's what? The banana's bag? I didn't even know that bananas owned things.

You're versus your. I can't believe that I even have to get into this one. You're = you are. Again, two words. Your = something that belongs to you. Possessive. 'Nuff said. Or should be.

Have people stopped teaching contractions, or something?



By the way, if anyone's wondering why some of the begonias (not begonia's) have rock-looking things on them, they're (great, now I'll have to do they're versus their) plastic glow-in-the-dark pebbles that my uncle brought home from the dollar store while he was working there. I have no idea why Dad decided to put them in the plants. Whim, I suppose.

They're, their, and there. I'm getting tired. Let's make this quick. They're = they are. See a pattern? Their = something that belongs to them. There = a place that's not here.



Sigh. That was just this morning, folks. It's enough to drive a language freak spare. I'm not really a snob about it, even though it probably looks that way now. It's just... well, part of my job is editing things, and I get really tired of seeing educated, intelligent people looking like they don't know their own language just because their brains have gotten autocheck/internet-speak/cellphone lazy about it. You may think it doesn't matter and wonder what stick is up all the grammar nazis butts, but it really does affect the way you appear to the others who are reading your words. It also makes your opinions matter a lot less, whether you realise it or not. So please, take a breath and think about your language next time you post a comment or... well, anything. It'll be good for your image, and much better for my head.



And so much for less words. Ah well, busy week ahead, so it may well be no words at all coming up for a while. We'll see how it goes.

Thursday Eve

Title? Well, Hugh Laurie wished his twitter fans a happy Thursday, which of course brought up the very predictable flurry of "why you take X out of Xmas" semi-literate comments that make a person wonder how any celebrity actually manages to stay on social media for more than five minutes before wanting to smash any and all technology. It's especially astounding with that particular account, since so many of his followers don't seem to get it when the COMEDIAN and actor (and musician and whatever else I need to add for the Hughheads) is making a joke...

Today's photo, by the way, is the closest you're getting to a Christmas tree from me. I told you that we weren't going to have one, courtesy of the Turkey Brothers, and we don't.

Can't say that I miss cleaning up the mess anyway. We'll try for one next year, though.



And no doubt spend a lot of time cleaning up the mess.

Anyway, I feel like I should be trying to blather something to make up for the lame posts of the last few days, but I'm not sure what I have. Well, I do have a cold, but that's been going on since about last Thursday so by now it's not exactly newsworthy. I've been taking otc meds, which have taken the edge off, but that's about it. I suppose if I took the full dose it would help more, but that would mean a whack of acetominophen and that's so completely unnecessary -- and potentially bad for a person's liver -- that I just don't want to do it. Edge off is fine, then.

What else? Well, what with the hospital stuff and using this excuse to get my diet (which wasn't horrible, but could have been better) a little more up to par, I've lost a bit of weight and it all seems to be from my fingers. Seriously. One of my newer pinkie rings (which, admittedly, was a tad big to begin with) now fits most of the way onto my ring finger. Do I smell a reason for more new toys, then? Possibly, depending on the finances. Luckily for me I prefer silver anyway, so picking up a cheap ring or two won't be a big deal. Not giving up on the infamous rolling ring, however. Even if it ends up moving to my middle finger.

You needed to know all of this, of course.

Lastly (for the moment), if I'd had time yesterday I definitely would have made mention of Joe Cocker's death. Sad, that. He was an acquired taste for me, for sure, but once it hit there used to be nothing better than coming home from work, putting my head between the speakers of my old bookshelf stereo (which sat on the floor, in case anyone was wondering if I actually crawled up on the bookshelf) and blasting through Delta Lady or She Came in Through the Bathroom Window. The man was definite proof that it's not so much the instrument you have as what you can do with it, and I spent a fair amount of time at work yesterday with a Joe Cocker soundtrack.

And there's a good excuse to wrap up with my personal all-time favourite. I've linked to it before, but I'm going to again. And I hope that, in the lead-up to the Big Day, my two fans are also feelin' alright (must... not... fix... spelling... gah).



See you later.

Random things

I was doodling a bit this morning and now I want to go have lunch, so I'll try to keep this short. Ish.

Thing 1: Yesterday I was talking with my dad in the driveway when a truck that was parked at the uphill neighbour's started reversing down the hill. I thought that it was going to back into our driveway to turn around -- they do that sometimes -- until I noticed that there was no driver in the vehicle. I said to Dad, "there's no driver in the truck" (I tend to be very original and creative in my statements, as you see). Somehow or other, the truck managed to stop itself (itself!) before it smashed into the downhill neighbour's vehicle or swung into traffic. I'm not sure how. Dad figures that it might have had something to do with four-wheel drive automatically stopping at a certain point. Still, it was a very weird thing to watch a truck back downhill and stop itself (itself!).

Thing 2: The pointless photos are likely going to be even more pointless in the coming while, because taking pictures in the yard is massively winter-boring. As you know, I can't be bothered to find winter pretty because... well, because it's winter. At the moment winter in Dad's yard is all about snow covered in things, since the massive winds this past week managed to cover the snow in various tree needles and things like that. So, yeah... be prepared for a lot of shots of Things on Snow.

Thing 3: I enjoy playing with the recommendations algorithm on Amazon way too much. I've ordered some rather eclectic things from them over the years, and just when the poor algorithm thinks that it's got me figured out I go and tell it that I'm not interested in any of its suggestions. If it had a brain, people like me would drive it bats. Still, it's fun to see what weird things it decides to dredge from the depths of my purchase history. I'll refresh for half an hour at a time just to see what it digs up. Yes, seriously.

Thing 4: I've decided that I want a rolling ring to fidget with. Just a cheap one, though. Silver, or maybe even stainless steel. I'll keep you posted on the hunt because I'm sure you're just dying for another jewellery post.

Thing 5: I mentioned doodling above; I was playing with some of my Christmas toys. Check the other blog if you want to know which ones. This year I mostly restocked my paper supplies -- sounds boring, but paper's fun -- but I of course got a couple of other things to try out, as I always do. This year, some woodless pencil crayons that are very nice, some metallic pens... oh, and a couple of good quality brushes since they were having a two-for-one sale. I always feel sheepish about buying good brushes since I'm so very much not a painter, but it does make a difference to have the proper stuff even if you're not so good at using it.

There. That's a post, right? Lunch time for me, then. Have a good one, all.