An e-mail conversation with Patricia Monaghan
are we losing it? here is my son's mother's day post
"Word to your Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Thanks and respect!"
-- TJ
There are two friends (young) on FB who communicate in some patois that I haven't a clue about. It's all "playa" this and "moman" (mo' man?) that. I read such postings and remember "back in the day" that I said things like "wow, farm out," but I really didn't say them very often, and certainly not in mixed (age) company. not only has the language deteriorated, but so have manners. But then, I'm officially old now so I can bitch like that...word!
-- PM
S'up yo
One of the real challenges of the new age copy editor is battling this
patois getting into print. there seems to be a major assault on the
language in terms of shortening some words and compounding others.
And worse, the people actually writing this stuff don't seem to care.
I don't know how many times I have put bio and info back to their
original form. Lite for light comes to mind and it goes on and on.
Somewhere along the line it became acceptable to write veggies instead
of vegetables. As you might be able to tell, I could go on and on
but I get tired of it myself. I was so proud of my son when he used “you're” properly in a facebook
post.
I'm just sayin'
--TJ
You should be correcting college papers. But actually, one expects marginal literacy there. But writers for the paper? I am also just sayin'. I just distinguish between That Stuff and slang, though. I rather like slang. Except for "at the end of the day," which isn't so much slang as some kind of bureaucratize jargon. But slang is peppy and fun, in it place (tends not to stay there). Emoticons? Gimmeabreak. And these Palinesque uses of the ampersand and suchlike (or is that amprsnd&schlk) which as far as I can tell is just a way of squeezing more words, but less content, into Facebook postings. I am a dinosaur, I admit. I am saying harumph a lot these days. remember when "a lot" was considered very downscale? have to go figure out placement for two paw-paw trees now. We don't know if they will survive this far north, but in a sheltered spot maybe? w/memrys of back-in-day
--PM
I like slang, too, but in its place. I always get a kick out of the new phrasing that rips across the language but alot of it (on purpose) getting into what is supposed to be proper language bothers me. I think every writer particularly newspaper reporters, should sit down with a 10 year old kid some time and go through a newspaper. First all the sex and violence will have you rushing past pages and turning to sports in a hurry, as if that is even safe any more, but the language usage.... but , dad my teacher says.... We are supposed to set the example and it is not happening. They are bombarded with the wrong stuff before they have a chance to learn what is correct.
I was out playing with a rose bush today. Very amateur at this but I enjoy it. And I seem to have good luck. 7 bucks for an "almost wild" rose bush at Fred Meyer. If I kill it, I won't lose much. I have been slowly getting my little flower garden ready. I actually had one geranium last the winter indoors and now has four blooms on it. Not supposed to put things out until June here, but I took the rose out of its package and put it in a big pot that I can move in and out of doors by day and night... we shall see.
Rambling here
word
Okay, we have the pawpaw in. Plus its friend/mate/spermdonor, which isn't looking too healthy. I'm going to buy another for insurance. Does that make a menage a trees? (If one partner is nasty, do they have a meanage a trois)
Did you really mean to say alot? My stars.
I was blessed with good editors. I thought I was pretty good when I got out of college, but I remember Larry Davies peering over his glasses at me and saying "committee. Now when did that become a plural noun?" I was always writing "the committee took their time deciding..." and so forth. I learned more grammar in a year of working for Larry than four years in college. But I did have some pretty good primary instruction, though. I think I can still diagram sentences.
We oldsters are charged with complaining about the young. Don't you feel conventional?
Did you really mean to say alot? My stars.
I was blessed with good editors. I thought I was pretty good when I got out of college, but I remember Larry Davies peering over his glasses at me and saying "committee. Now when did that become a plural noun?" I was always writing "the committee took their time deciding..." and so forth. I learned more grammar in a year of working for Larry than four years in college. But I did have some pretty good primary instruction, though. I think I can still diagram sentences.
We oldsters are charged with complaining about the young. Don't you feel conventional?
-- PM
I did mean "alot" did you not notice the words in paretheses after it:?
I also had some good basic education and then worked with some good editors. A book about Max Perkins who edited Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Caldwell and Wolfe also helped. And another thing is working with some good writers over the years, including yourself, that, too, is an education in editing.
And age? Conventional? I feel empowered.
I also had some good basic education and then worked with some good editors. A book about Max Perkins who edited Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Caldwell and Wolfe also helped. And another thing is working with some good writers over the years, including yourself, that, too, is an education in editing.
And age? Conventional? I feel empowered.
-- TJ
Word
--PM
Represent
-- TJ
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