English is a funny thing.....

Sometimes they make it so easy to be an English teacher...... This reminds me of the time I saw the bumper sticker that read "This is America....we dont press wone for English..."

For those of you who dont get this one: "Creatine" is a supplement weight lifters can take in order to help their bodies metabolize water more effectively (or something like that) so they can lift heavier things and build more body mass. Obviously, the combination of CREATINE and MASS did not work.....

The following was taken from Boston.com (Boston Globe online) two days ago. The author was reviewing Coldplay's recent concert at the Banknorth Garden:

"Coldplay reached deep into their vault for last night's playlist, performing tracks from long before they ruled the world--when they were just sewing the seeds for a new rock genre."

Anyone see the problem here? And this guy gets paid to write for the Boston Globe? Typos are one thing, but this is just a misuse of the language. Especially for this writer; if you read the rest of the article, you may feel like he is being condescending by throwing in all these 5 dollar words to try and seem all "above" you....

I won't name any names.....but there is a gentleman who is an English teacher (NOTTTTT at WHS) who is also on the "Governor's council on literacy" or some silly liberal program like that....PLUS he is a "Literacy Consultant" at the statehouse....PLUSSSSSSS he was contracted by our district to teach a mandatory multi-day literacy training for all the teachers in the building......PLUSSSSSSSSSSS he is writing a book on literacy. I am pretty sure this gentleman does not like me (just like most people who read this blog, apparently) as he always seemed annoyed at my questions. Anyway, this is his facebook status from yesterday:

"EDDIE McENGLISH feels kind of geeky, but he is working on his syllabi's for this year"

Call me a stuck up English snob, but this stuff really annoys me. I think people should be able to write and spell correctly. ESPECIALLY if you have the "resume" this person has. First of all, "syllabi" is already a plural word for "syllabus;" it already denotes there being more than one. Second of all, no apostrophe is needed....the syllabi doesnt "own" anything.

Amanda and I were talking, also, about the other funny nuances of English, and just communication in general. I minored in "Rhetoric and Public Address" in college, and one of our classes--"Interpersonal Communication"--focused on the "metamessages" many times hidden in our utterances. For example, the other night I asked Amanda if she was going for a bike ride. Her answer: "It is almost 8:00." If you think about language (like I do because I am a geek), this is pretty interesting. We do this all the time; Amanda did not in any way directly answer my question. Rather, her statement held a "metamessage," implying that because it is 8, it is too late. (Again, I am a total nerd who needs to get out more...but I think language is so cool!)

Some other common things we do to "hide" our direct responses....

"Do you want to go to the beach today?"--->I AM AFRAID OF HORSESHOE CRABS

"Do you want pizza for supper?"--->TOMATO SAUCE GIVES ME HEARTBURN

"Will you go on a date with Jared?"--->BALD IRISH GUYS GIVE ME THE CREEPS

your thoughts????

ps: Enjoy all my spelling errors too......

pps: "What an ego!!!!!"