Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for February 19, 2018

Thank you Wiley. I really wish all the idiots that use ‘literally’, would start using ‘actually’!

And George Carlin tagged our obsession with “stuff”, actually, and it’s unhealthy.

How about “less” vs “fewer”? As in, answer in 25 words or “less”, should be 25 words or “fewer”.

We need one of those booths on every corner!

“For John and I.” The correct way, “For John and me,” is dead in the water everywhere but the most formal written communication.

What is this “health” that you speak of? Anyway, I love the sketch of the female with the ponytail and the dude in front of the Stuff Store…Too cool…….You keep that up Wiley, I’m going to have to keep laughing some more….

In the Midwest we say “Me and John went to……”…Yeah, we know it’s wrong, but we don’t care….It’s just the way we say it!

I’d settle for people using ‘different from’ rather than ‘different than’.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

“decimation” – killing every tenth, not all.“Unbelievable” As in “The actor gave an unbelievable performance”, or “Our party has an unbelievable group of candidates.” When tempted to use, “unbelievable”, see whether “excellent” or “good” would work. If so, “unbelievable” is not what you meant.

Apparently, according to Merriam-Webster, “healthy” has been used as a substitute for “healthful” pretty much since it first appeared in the mid 16th century, and people getting persnickety about it didn’t really become a thing until the late 19th century.

Other references list “healthy” and “healthful” as synonyms.

I’d like to add my $.02 Cents worth, but I don’t think it’s worth it.

School’s out. Drive careful !

“In Our Language, Simeon Potter illustrates catachresis by reporting that when King James II saw the new St. Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, he described it as amusing, awful, and artificial. The King meant no offence, and presumably none was taken, because those words then denoted pleasing, awesome (i.e. awe-inspiring), and skilfully achieved, respectively.” —Stan Carey, http://stancarey.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/

“Condemned to the use of words, we can never expect mathematical certainty from our language.” —Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice, 1967-1991

What’s infuriating (to me) is how some don’t know the difference between they’re and their, as well as you’re and your. I know that my English might not be the greatest at times, but at least I know the difference.

I know a certain N.Y. tweeter, who would be well served, by hiring a retired English teacher.

Is anal retentive hyphenated?

How do you get down from a horse?

I gave up a long time ago cringing at the listening to newscasters i.e. news readers. My solution is to turn off the TV and read the paper. The use of English is not perfect but better.

I dunno about the grammar nazis out there, but I got to the point that if I saw one more sentence diagram I would go postal.

My pet peeve is the loss of the past tense. News reporters discussing an event that happened yesterday as if it is happening right now, for example. I see it everywhere. RIP, past tense.

Ah, lighten up folks. In the end we’ll all be six feet under, and it won’t matter a whit.

We had a sign in the area advertising real estate for sale…“5, 10, 15, and 20 Acre TRACKS Available.” It drove me NUTS every time I saw it until it was finally taken down!

English teachers I have encountered do not have the depth of education necessary to be in the above booth.

My pet peeve is the word “ahold”, especially when used by well-known authors. Is it too hard to put a space in?

My favorite is “And/or”. OK, what is it, “and”, or “or”, or both?

Just for the fun of it – try convincing people that flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. They know they do until they hear them together.

The teacher can affect young one’s lives which will effect their future.

When I was a teacher, I used to explain the less vs. fewer thing by saying that you got less mashed potatoes and fewer peas. Less is for a single thing subdivided and fewer is for discreet things bundled together. My big problem is the use of myself or yourself. I tell people just take out the “self” and ask yourself, (properly used here), if you would say “Myself will go to the store.” That’s ridiculous, so “John and myself will go to the store” is also ridiculous.

Discrete things.

My mother majored in English and taught grammar school for 20 years so I grew up hearing only correct grammar and it make it very easy for me in school. I used to wonder why so many of my friends were struggling with English class. I now realize the reason for it.

You could make quite an impact with this job!

English we use is a cobbled together Frankenstein creation of words mismatched some from Latin, others Greek, Japanese, Sanskrit, et al. And with spelling similarities that are at variance from the particular word’s history aren’t readily apparent.

Wiley set off a grammar nip bomb and he just doesn’t care! Now all the grammarians are irresistibly attracted to this location to roll around in their peeves!

Learn the difference between “nauseous” and “nauseating”…

How about correct pronunciation as well? As in the word “ask”.

Grammar Police: “To Correct and Serve.”

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Mark Twain.

To add to the debate…. “enjoy” originally meant to give joy to rather than to get joy from.

I was annoyed recently when the instructions said to enter the “15 digit code” marked on the item, when 8 of the characters in the code were letters, not digits. Yeah, I get anal at times. I also searched thoroughly to make sure there wasn’t a code hidden somewhere on the item that was just digits.

What fun this all was.

How about proper usage of the work “like”.

I recently saw a sign outside of a new shop which read “Now excepting applications”.

Some people order “Ice tea” rather than “Iced tea”

And then some want “Mash potatoes”.

My personal favorite is "I have an idea which is “Kinda unique.”

Which is like saying Lenin is “Kinda dead”.

then there’s signage. kill!

Ah, excellent. A passel of grammarians.

Can any of you yahoos please tell me what the difference is between “Fat chance” and “Slim chance” ?

How about “Learn the difference between bogus made-up grammar rules and how English really works”?

When a newscaster says “There are additional troops on the ground,” what does “on the ground” mean. Is it to differentiate those troops from the ones who are up on ladders, or are, perhaps, enjoying some hang-gliding?"

Saw a car today gaily painted with big letters “Tutoring Rocks” I know what they meant but dang couldn’t help laugh at how difficult it must be to get rocks prove they learned anything. I also wondered if they were slyly commenting on the intellectual capacity of their clients. Just think it’s not a well thought out name for the company.

I couldn’t believe it when I went to college, and the student building had a huge banner over the door saying, “you got mail!”. Really?