Recently, I have noticed people using the word FAIL as a noun and an interjection, both on television and in person. Les asked, "Is it a NERB or a VOUN?"
Yesterday, a young acquaintance said, "That's a fail." I didn't feel as if I knew her well enough to ask, "WTH?"; besides, we were with a group of other people and I felt it would be declasse of me to inquire about her usage.
I particularly like the accompanying article from Slate, (CLICK HERE to read) because of the title Goodbye, schadenfreude; hello fail, because I, along with a number of my friends, LOVE the word schadenfreude. (CLICK HERE to see my BLOG article SCHADENFREUDE)
CLICK HERE to read and enjoy an article from The New York Times.
On the morning news was a story of a car crashing into a house. Fortunately, there weren't any serious injuries as the family of the house was out to dinner and the driver was uninjured.
When Les and I see those common news stories, one of us will invariably utter the punch line to an old joke:
A woman crashed her car into a house. The home owner asks, "How did you get in here?"
The driver said, "I took a left at the dining room!"
To see the article, CLICK HERE.
Especially for my brothers and my husband.
My most requested "signature dish" to supply to carry-in functions is ham rollups. They are easy to make and keep well. I prepared two separate trays for the Election Day meals (or as we call it "grazing").
On election night the Sheriff and two deputies came to the Board of Elections as usual. The first deputy saw the tray of ham rollups and said, "I've been waiting all day to get some of these!" When the Sheriff and other deputy came in, their comments were similar.
After nearly finishing consuming the tray of rollups, one said, "Yeah, we call these HILLBILLY SUSHI!"
Someone recently used the phrase "couldn't hardly" and it transported me back in time: I recall my teacher Miss Digman physically recoiling when a classmate said it. I knew at the time that it was incorrect usage, and that I undoubtedly would never say or write it in my lifetime, but that vision of Miss Digman's reaction is indelibly etched in my brain and has kept me vigilant.
Adverbs such as hardly, rarely, scarcely, barely, and seldom should not be used in the same clause with a negative as it creates a double negative. Adverbs which suggest "few", "little" and "not often" should not be used with a negative.
A friend quizzed my using "were" instead of "was" in a sentence, "If that were the case....." Of course I know that "if" in that sentence requires the subjunctive mood and "were" is correct, but my friend said it sound "stilted"! Although pleased with her use of the word "stilted", I replied, "It sounds correct, as it were!" My brothers and I laugh and imitate our teacher Mr. Kelley when we use the subjunctive mood, as Mr. Kelley would often say "As it were."
I'm glad to have had some good teachers.
See the American Heritage Dictionary definition of "hardly" HERE.
