Just for fun

No particular subject here, just some random thoughts on the last week's news.

I read where California is proposing to require restaurants to post a written notice that french fries can cause cancer. I don't know what study by whom is supposed to have come to this conclusion. I don't even care if the cancer risk has been incontrovertibally proven, it is one more example of the nanny state runamuck. At this rate, eateries won't have to worry about paint or wallpaper, they can just cover the walls in mandated health warnings that nobody reads anyway.

The Senate debate over its filibuster rules punched one of my buttons. Not the subject itself, but naming it the "nuclear option" brought to the fore one of my pet peeves. Nuclear should be a simple three syllable word, but for some reason, it is overwhelmingly pronounced "noo-q-lar". If the weather is pleasant with no clouds in the sky, is it a "q-lar" day, or a clear day? The last President I remember who correctly pronounced the word was Eisenhower. Even the peanut farmer with nuclear submarine service on his resume said nucular. Is it possible that somewhere between building self-esteem, unrolling condoms on bananas, and football practice the school system might fit in a course on English spelling and grammar?

Ranks right up there with "calvary", a perfectly good word in Christian theology, but now used almost universally in reference to military men on horses coming over the hill to save the day. Sadly, half the generals in command of cavalry units turn them into a geographical hillock in Israel. The word "hopefully" is a lost cause, and the gerund case seems to be a forgotten anachronism. Ah well, hopefully, the grammer calvary will ride to the rescue with their own vershon of the nucular option and that will prevent you decideing whether we need to teech English as a second language to American stoodents. Two brownie points will be awarded to the first person to catch and correct all the booboos in the preceding sentence.

Coming soon at a Blog near you; Star Wars and traffic lights.