Some thoughts on a cold day in December:
:: I’m seeing “Best of 2011” posts all over blogland. The very thought of going back through all my posts and figuring that out exhausts me. If you’d like to visit my archives, have at it. I won’t be doing a “Best of” post. (I can barely remember why I just got up to go to the kitchen.)
:: This one has always bugged me. When I see a bumper sticker or anything else that says, “I (heart shape) something,” I read that as “I love.” Isn’t that what it’s supposed to mean? When we were young and we wrote our initials and made a heart and then added the initials of whoever was our latest crush, we were saying, “Claudia loves so-and-so.” Not “Claudia hearts so-and-so.” But everywhere I turn, someone is writing the word ‘heart’ instead of what the heart symbolizes – love.
It makes me nuts.You can love, but you can’t heart. Heart is not a verb, it’s a noun.
:: I’ve been itching to write this for a long time. I understand that correct spelling doesn’t come easily to everyone, but in this high-tech age we all have spell check or a dictionary as part of our computers. I see this particular error everywhere in blogland and on Craig’s List. Please, please, please: it’s Dining room, not Dinning Room. A dinning room (if there was such a word) would be a room where a lot of noise is made.
:: What’s with news programs fudging the facts? I see this every so often on CNN and I know it happens elsewhere. The talking head makes a sweeping statement that simply isn’t true. It may be partly true, but a quick bit of research will prove that it isn’t entirely true. Or it might be out-and-out wrong. Here’s an example: Last night we were watching the local evening news, which in our part of the country comes out of New York City. That’s a big market with well paid anchors. The anchor was talking about Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, who is apparently stumping for Mitt Romney. He made a reference to Christies’s ‘having withdrawn from the Presidential race.’ He never was in the race. There was a lot of press speculation about Christie’s presidential aspirations several months back and a lot of air time was taken up with all that, but he never entered the race. Considering a run is not the same as running. You can’t withdraw from something you never entered. Word choices matter. Shouldn’t a newsperson know more about political facts than me?
Am I being too picky? I don’t think so. News organizations have a responsibility to report the facts. Even a little fuzzy reporting is too much. Walter Cronkite must be rolling over in his grave over what passes as reporting nowadays.
Okay, enough complaining.
I have a project in mind for this. I need to think it through and buy a few components. I’m not sure which way I will go with it….stay tuned.
(It must be a random sort of day today, because I did a post with paragraphs of seemingly-random thoughts, too.)
AMEN on everything here! It’s silly to think that I have to search CL for ‘dining’ and ‘dinning’ to look for a table. Craig’s List, Facebook, and even blogging, have forced people to communicate ideas in writing, and there are those out there who aren’t very good at it. Some days, spelling and grammar errors make for really humorous reading.
Your lampshade frame is intriguing. I have one that is very similar, and I’m anxious to see what you’re planning to do with yours.
Regarding your comments on Christie “withdrawing” from the race, I’m reminded of a Mark Twain quotation:
“The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
– Letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888
I enjoyed reading your random thoughts.
-Karen
amen amen amen amen and THANK YOU!
beth smith
goodvariety@yahoo.com
Love the hat! It would look great on me while sitting at my dinning room table.. LOL Sorry, could not resist. Dinning reads as a typo to me. I notice typos in my posts from time to time and try to go back and correct them after the post is posted. I see typos in other people’s posts but I try to overlook them since sometimes, like me…. they just miss them. Guess we all get in a hurry, well… at least I do. And I know my punctuation is not correct either, but it’s more the content of what they are saying that I enjoy because if all posts had to be perfectly spelled and punctuated there would probably only be 10 blogs to read.
You crack me up. I had no problem with finding my pictures quickly. The adsense stuff is another issue with me. Spending way to much time figuring that all out. Not worth the mess. Give me pictures to play with any time.
Thank you! I don’t think this is complaining. It is observing. I talk about these very issues each semester with my students. Some have difficulty spelling and have just decided that it is enough to announce, “I can’t spell.” Apparently, this declaration relieves students of all spelling responsibility. Well, this is not the case in my classroom. If you can’t spell, you will have to work a bit harder now to get it right. My students don’t like my response, but it is my responsibility to teach them that excuses will not matter when a promotion is on the horizon.
Getting my students away from believing everything they read on the Interenet is also a challenge I meet head on. It is a large mountain to climb and I have only 16 weeks to reach the summit. Some make the trek, while other decide to be left behind. I hope to send my student here to read your post. Thank you. ~Kelly
unDeniably Domestic
I do think you must creep into my mind, because you often say exactly what I am thinking! Couldn’t agree more. I am also eager to see what becomes of the lamp shade form. I have several silk shades that have deteriorated over time. My MIL was notorious for using 100 watt bulbs, and those shades are the ones with the most damage. But, they are also the ones with the most interesting shapes from years ago. There used to be a wonderful local business that relined lampshades, and I miss them so much.
That project might have a lot of ‘wrapping around’ in it. Now I’m curious.
I am in total agreement with you about the news thing. I mean aren’t they suppose to be the ones that report fact? Hmmmmmm. Love love love that hat Claudia….notice I didn’t write “heart” ! ;0)
Blessings, Joanne
You’re my kind of woman, chick! I peruse some of the news sites and cannot believe the use of incorrect words, misspellings and errors I see. You and I are alike in many ways. I come from a generation—early 40s—when the English language was taught and we were corrected if it wasn’t spoken properly/correctly. Not today!! Even college graduates who speak in church use the pronouns incorrectly: him and me went to the store, etc. I’m just astounded how they can graduate and sound like someone from the sticks of a backward country. I also see misspellings in articles and blogs each and every day. I know it isn’t just a “typo” because it’s repeated frequently. Their, there and they’re are the most frequently used incorrectly. But some of these people are college graduates! It saddens me that education has been “dumbed down” so much. Reading Robert Bork’s book Slouching Towards Gomorrah gives wonderful insights into our education system.
I sometimes use vernacular to make a point or just to be “cute”: ya know, kinda and that type of thing. But it’s meant to be funny and certainly not the proper English we should be speaking. I try to be well-spoken, but I do allow myself a few liberties when being humorous on my blog.
BTW, check your dashboard widget dictionary on your Mac for dinning. It is a word but means something entirely different from a place where we eat- —dining room. See the difference in using Command-shift-hyphen in the previous sentence. Here’s winking at ya, sugar. ;-) We are so alike!
xoxo,
Connie
And now that I’m posting it having read over it several times, I’m sure I’m made some kind of error, mistake or faux pas…..Sigh….
I want that hat.
I don’t think I believed much of the news being reported after Walter Cronkite left. Honor and integrity would mess with the ratings. So sad.
Love it when you stand on your stump!
As much as I wanted Chris Christie to enter the race, you are correct he never did and therefore never withdrew. I catch this “let’s just invent the news” all the time and not just at the local level.
I too am a stickler for spelling, but am guilty of not always hitting spellcheck and one gets by now and then. My dining room was a dinning room over Christmas with all the racket going on in there, so now I have a new term I can use every so often.
Hope you had a wonderful holiday Claudia, I love that hat! Ann
Hi Claudia! Love your rant today. I just might be the person spelling the word dining wrong. Many times, I’m on my new I-pad. It might have spell check, but I’m not aware of how to use it. I’m not very tech savy (still trying to learn how to blog).
Spelling and grammar drive me nuts, but I notice I make errors when typing on this rubber keyboard on the Kensington case that holds my I-pad touch. So…..please be a little easy on us folks who hit the send button too soon :)
On another note….I was at a little craft/antique mall yesterday and spotted a gorgeous turquoise vase with an interesting shape. When I looked at the tag on the bottom it said McCoy and I immediately thought of you and your collection! Now I see why you collect McCoys. The price tag was $55.00. It would be really cool if you did a posting about the McCoy collection. Year, era etc.
But then……..you probably already did and I just need to read your archives……
Have a wonderful day Claudia!!!!
~Sandy
You hit the nail on the head! Grammar and punctuation must not be taught any more. I was shocked when I visited my husband’s office a couple of years ago and thumbed through job applications that had been submitted to him. The applicants couldn’t spell, didn’t use proper punctuation, and many weren’t even writing full sentences. For all I know, their names may not have even been spelled correctly. It’s just too distracting to read a poorly written post, I don’t even enjoy it! I wish people would proof or have someone proof their posts before they hit “publish”, but I guess that’s too much to ask for.
I’m with you Claudia! Sounds like too much work at this point to have to go pull up all of last years projects! I am just trying to muster up the energy to pick up my own home from the last 2 weeks! Having a head cold hasn’t helped any either.~Hugs, Patti
It bothers me when TV people make statements as if they are fact. It is not just the news people but I do agree news programs should stick to the truth. All over TV you will hear those types of statements and said with such authority. One reason I don’t watch TV.
Ooooo, I so agree! You could be a guest post on my Grannie Grumpie blog. I haven’t been grumpy enough, lately! :)
Oiyyyyy,,,I’m afraid to write anything now for fear that I will use bad grammar!! LOL I’ve noticed the dinning error many times on Craig’s List.
This post reminds me of the reason I get nervous at the thought of English teachers reading my blog. The hat is wonderful. I look forward to seeing what becomes of the lamp shade form. Also, it was the first few lines of your post (seeing that you were not doing a year in review) that got me to read your blog today. Happy New Year.
I liked the second comment. There’s a big difference. The “dinning” thing drives me nutso too. But then I see a lot of misspelled words. Not that I don’t make them. Because I do not use spell check. Loved the photos here!
Brenda
I ran into a mother yesterday in the store that our kids went to school together since 2nd grade. She works for a BIG company and she was telling me when they hire college graduates they actually have a full one-day class for them in which they have to teach them what they can and cannot say in emails, refresh their usage of the language, as they just don’t have command of the English language. My 22 yo daughter loves to mess with her friend and will send her texts using they’re, their and there all wrong, just to annoy her!
Boy, Don has such great taste. We want to see a picture of you waring that hat siting over they’re at the dinning table! Boy, that was fun!
Hi Claudia,
I totally agree with you on the “hearts” issue! We don’t have enough love in the world as it is, and we don’t want to downplay it when we do. I like to hear the word “love”….just hearing it gives me a warm fuzzy. Thank you for addressing this in your blog today. Can’t wait to see how you complete your upcoming project! Love, Kim
Talking about not proof reading, I received a planner for Christmas and I noticed it had the last 4 mths of 2011, but in reading it December of 2011 was really 2012! I did a double take! I thought: What’s wrong w/this planner? Then I leafed through it to see what that is was just a simple typo. Even the computer didn’t catch that one!
I love your hat, Claudia! Don has exquisite taste! You must take a photo of yourself wearing it. You must look so sweet in it.
As for substituting “heart” for “love”, I can’t take it. Can you imagine a couple kissing and he looks down into her eyes and whispers “I heart you” but it comes out as “I hurt you” because he does not pronounce clearly. ROFL!
The word “dinning room” rather than “dining room”, I have not seen. Perhaps because I don’t search the ads for one. I don’t need one. I’m grateful that I don’t. That’s one thing less that I need! Insert a big, happy grin!
As for news anchors, they command such high salaries that they should at least do their homework.
I’ll be staying tuned to see the metamorphosis of your lamp as I also have one that needs to be put through the wringer.
An expression that drives me absolutely insane is the substitution of “would of” for “would have” as in “I would of loved to have gone with you. Oh please, somebody help me when I read that. It’s “I would have loved to have gone with you.”
I hope nobody’s been listening at my apartment door today because I’m laughing by myself “a lot”. I keep thinking of this Jerry Seinfeld episode where Jerry keeps saying “Hellooooo” in a very strange way and I’ve been saying “Hellooooo” just like he does in the episode and I can’t seem to stop. Oh, well, I suppose that eventually, the crisis will come to an end. I’m sure I’ll find something else to think about! LOL! Sometimes, you know, things like that happen when a person lives alone! LOL! I do wish somebody would telephone, though, so that I could say “Helloooo”. Ha! Ha! Ha! I’m ROFL!
I absolutely loathe ‘text’ speak and the abbreviations that entails. I refuse to reply to anyone who signs off with lol.
Happy New Year!
I’m also mildly annoyed by “your” when it should be “you’re”, and “to” when it should be “too” in blogs or FB posts by people who should no better (haha). Loved (and hearted) your spunky blog today. xo
No, you are not being too picky. I agree with you! I loved reading this post. I feel less alone now.
Thank goodness, I don’t have a Dining Room!!! Ha, Ha. Just kidding!
Anyway, nice hat :) The Hubby has good taste.
Have a wonderful New Year!!!
xxx Liz
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I love your new hat… I don’t heart it. That would be silly. Your new hat really is beautiful.
I share many of the same views as you (including your views on hunting) so I can appreciate this post. My writing is by no means perfect, and I often use conversational slang in my writing… oops. I do appreciate when a writer (especially a paid blog writer) can get their “their, there, and they’re ” correct.
I can tell you, I’m definitely more conscious of my writing since I’ve started blogging. I proof and edit obsessively to the point that a proper sentence or phrase can look totally strange to me. Does that happen to anyone else?
Hugs,
Jill
I hate “I ♥ something” too! Just say LOVE!
Hugs, Lisa
I’m so glad to see I’m in such good company. The hat, the heart thingy and news that is now geared toward ratings and entertainment.
Hi Claudia, One of my pet peeves is the use of “at” at the end of a sentence. My co-workers constantly use sentences such as “where’s the chart at?” or “where’s Mary at?”. Drives me crazy!!
Amen to all of your randomness. I hate making mistakes. If I am unsure of how something is spelled, I look it up. (Spelt it actually a word but to me it is a type of wheat and not the past tense of spell.) Now that I live on the other side of the world, I can for a fact say that what you see on CNN is not always accurate. There’s always a spin on the news in the States, usually to the negative, telling people what they think they want to hear, or to incite them. Right now I am really, really upset that the Ministry of Communication in this country has blocked access to blogspot.com. I can’t access my blog and can’t go to anyone’s who uses blogspot. I am able to come to yours and Brenda’s blog because you both have your own webpage. This country is so backwards in so many ways! Best wishes to you, Tammy
I have always thought using a heart shape for “love” was ridiculous.
I also pick up on grammar mistakes. The most frequent one I see is using “I” where me should be used. I also see your instead of you are or you’re being used. I see it in newspapers and hear many grammatical
errors on broadcast news. I think proper grammar is becoming a lost art.
nancyr
Could’nt agree with you more on the entire topic of using language – the ‘heart’ vs. love thing. I read ‘heart’ too, not love. I also think it is so sad that children in school now aren’t being taught how to write well. My 8th grade English teacher decided that our entire class needed practice in proper cursive writing. We all had to buy fountain pens and learn penmanship! Good for her. She was a great lady!