Thursday, November 29, 2007

She AWOKE With a Start...

Okay. I had to break my blogging silence (not intentional, mind you) to beg you all for some help. Words are driving me crazy. Specifically certain words and their use... or misuse.

Isn't it scary how words are used incorrectly for such a long period of time that they eventually become REAL? Ack! The horror of it all!

How... Is... That... LOGICAL?

So, along the same lines then... if, for the next 20 years, I keep saying that 2+2=5 , we'll just accept that as fact? No, I think not.

My pet peeve word this week is AWAKE. Yes, "awake" is a word. So, is "wake," "awaken," and "awoke."

Notice: there is no "waked" or "woken." Not real words.

Au contraire, ma petite chou-chou! Not so fast. Look them up in the dictionary, and THEY. ARE. THERE.

WTF?

Those are not real words, but people use them all the time. One of my friends was telling me the other day that she was "woken up by the cries of her little dog." I didn't say anything, of course. I'm only Super Grammar Cop when I'm in disguise. I couldn't reveal my alter ego right in front of her! But I digress...

That's almost as bad as the worst possible word on the planet: irregardless. That is NOT a word. By definition, it contradicts itself. Yet, people actually use that word. Gah. Oh, yeah... and if you search enough, you'll find a dictionary that recognizes it as a legitimate word. Again, I ask, WTF?

Oh, and it gets better... "irregardless" is listed as a synonym of ... wait for it... "regardless." Exactly.

So, again, I ask WHY? I don't understand how we can accept the corruption of our own language. I'm not a complete language freak non-stop, 24/7. I do use colloquialisms, "yeah" and "yep," and we know all too well my affinity for the points of ellipsis. Not exactly perfect/proper all the time.

But for the love of Bob, how many more words are we going to just give up and say, "Oh, what the hell! Everyone THINKS it's correct, so let's just make it a word."

End rant here.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay, so apparently, I only blog on holidays now. NOT true... it just seems that way.

Quick recap of stuff that's been happening:


Wrote a secondary research paper for one grad class. The draft is finished and turned in, but now I have to go back and edit/revise. Bleh. I want to be done with this already.


Wrote a grant project for another grad class. Again, draft is finished and turned in... now it's revision time.


Monday, it was 73 degrees. Lovely weather, but not typical November weather for this place. In response then, it snowed all morning today. Not just "light flurries" like they said... actual snow with accumulation! Ah, I love the midwest. Or maybe not.


Other than that, I haven't done much of anything else. Work. Go to class. Cart Child #2 to activities. Attend said activities. What a glamorous life I lead. ;-)


One more thing... it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without an appearance from Goofy Gobbles, right?


Happy Thanksgiving!