Anal Grammar Nazi Foolishness

Tucson Weather Today

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Earth Day is now a day each year on which events are held worldwide to increase awareness and appreciation of the Earth's natural environment. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 175 countries every year.

The first Earth Day was held in April 1970, which was coincidentally the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin.

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For the last couple of days I have participated in an online discussion regarding the meaning of the term "Grammar Nazi." Some believe it to be pejorative and therefore an insult. Others accept it as being a badge of honor and indicative of one who valiantly wars against the improper usage of English words.

A few years back when I lived in North Palm Beach, Florida I answered a classified Help Wanted ad from a local book publisher that wished to hire a detail oriented proofreader. After a brief interview I was given a single page of typewritten text, a red pencil, and was told to proofread the page to the best of my ability. The time limit was thirty minutes.

Although I easily found and corrected most of the more flagrant punctuation violations, I failed miserably at identifying the many misuses of words. Such as:

1. " . . . the data shows . . ." [should be show, since data is plural not singular]

When I questioned the "data" thing, saying that due to popular usage, data has come to mean "the totality of data" which is singular -- well, I released a thunderstorm in that the job interviewer hotly told me that: "We expect our proofreaders to go by the book and correct ALL mistakes in grammar, and never to bow down to popular usage."

As you may have guessed, I did not get the job.

Ever since that time I have seen myself as having become a sort of domesticated grammar nazi.

There have been some who sneer at my tendency to correct their grammar mistakes, saying that English is a "living language" and is strengthened by changing the meanings of words by popular usage.

To which I say "CRAP!"

For example:

The word "unique" has always been defined as "one of a kind" -- not unusual, not strange, not exceptional -- and it therefore cannot be modified by degree. A unique object cannot be said to be "most unique" or "highly unique" just as it cannot be said to be "most one-of-a-kind" or "highly one-of-a-kind." But I hear it used that way often, especially by politicians, newscasters, and celebrities. Popular usage has denigrated it to the extent that the word's true meaning has almost disappeared. And that's sad. There is no other word to use in its place when one wishes to denote an object as being one of a kind.

And, if I am labeled a grammar nazi or an anal grammarian, all I can say is that I really don't care.

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WORD FOR TODAY

pejorative
adj.
Disparaging, belittling or derogatory.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Jack Nicholson

Born April 22, 1937

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Keep the church and state forever separate.
--Ulysses S. Grant

A Bit Of A Hotchy-Potchy

Tucson Weather Today

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In The Writer's Almanac I read that Robert Goddard received a grant from the Smithsonian Institution that enabled him to do research and publish a paper on "A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes" in 1920. In the paper, he speculated that rockets could be used to reach the moon. The New York Times heard about his paper and ridiculed him. He went from being a relative nobody to a laughingstock literally overnight. But he persisted, and on this date, March 16, 1926, he completed the first successful launch of his liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.

Perseverance sometimes conquers all sorts of interference from outside forces, or so it seems to me. But persistence in the ever-sneering face of self-deprecation is surely the most difficult of obstacles to overcome.

God! I am such a weakling. Such a whining, shiftless, incompetent, wastrel. A quitter. Gutless.

A writer? Me? Hah!

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Word For Today

execrable [ek-si-kruh-buhl]
Adjective
Extremely bad or unpleasant.
Synonyms:
abominable - odious - loathsome - abhorrent - detestable

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Henny Youngman

Born March 16, 1906
Died on Feb 24, 1998

One evening back in the 1960s (I think it was) while strolling through the coffee shop at Las Vegas's The Mint casino, I spied Henny Youngman seated at a large table filled with drinks, surrounded of course by a bevy of beautiful female casino employees. I paused and eavesdropped on the conversation (monologue) for a minute or so. Sure enough he was easily as funny as he always had been on TV. And all of his jokes were snappy repetitions of the old reliables, such as "Take my wife... please!"

Note: I deleted the word "babes" and inserted "female casino employees" so as not to ruffle the feathers of overly sensitive feminists. As if I had any feminist (or any female) readers.

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George Will's latest Washington Post column reveals a possible halt to taxpayer funding of union salaries. Of course, if you do not care for the Washington Post or for George Will's opinions, you can just ignore it. But it is somewhat informative, in my questionably humble opinion.

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While admiring some of Dmitrii Lezine's beautiful photography I ran across the following phrase, "...because I thought it was cool and unique in its own way."

Since the maddeningly ubiquitous misuse of the word unique (which means one of a kind) is such a fiercely long-held obsession of mine, especially when adding a modifier of degree such as very unique (how can something be very one of a kind?) I was immediately driven to question the expression unique in its own way. So I hastened to get the opinions of others I trust for the question: Is unique in its own way grammatically correct?

Here is the most convincing response I received:

"Consider a stack of brand new one dollar bills. They all differ, but only by serial number. They are all unique in the same way.

"Now let Hanna von Goeler have one of the bills to work her magic on, converting the banal slip of linen into a bespoke art piece.

"Is this bill more unique than before? No, unique is unique... but in contrast to the rest of the stack, it is now unique in its own way."

That response was from the owner of Quarkscrew and in light of that clear and lucid explanation, I now believe unique in its own way is grammatically correct.

So, 'nuff said.


By the way, one of Dmitrii's many compelling photos caught me eye.

Seattle At Night

Photo by Dmitrii Lezine http://sillymonkeyphoto.com

(Click photo for larger view)

A truly magnificent sight to see is that striking photograph.

Don't you agree?

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For NASA, space is still a high priority.
--Dan Quayle
Note:
The quote was originally meant as ridicule.
But it's not so ludicrous these days - right?