Or am I just talking to a supermarket?
First there was this [2008-01-24
13:30] then there was this
My Social-Worker asked me to day what I mean when I say "I am not Human". Because I can see things like this comming. Beacuse what I experience directly affects the future in ways that are impossible to explain. He tells me this is just 'life', but should I really be able to see what it is I see.
Doctors say things like, "It's all in your mind." How do you come to terms with the fact that it trully is "All in My Mind", and still look people in the eye. So I would direct my Social-Worker to readthis, ask him to comtemplate where I spent most of last November, to count the number of patients there on that Ward. It's a message written in Time, John, and I wrote it; there's something not right; We need help and what exists is unable, unwilling, or incapable of helping us.
Who gives a F***?
Look. Language is a tool. There is no point arguing the toss over usage. Or attempting to prove one's intellectual superiority by brow-beating others. Or discounting words simply because they are Americanisms. Read Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue, and then you'll see.
I must admit, however, that in the past I've been a bit of a language fascist. The usage of the word "irony", and the pronunciation of "schedule" are just two of my major language annoyances. I try real hard to avoid pedantry. Trust me, I really do. But once in a while... in self defence I do let rip.
Most recently when somebody had a go at the way I said "bath".
Sorry about that.
Referendums or Referenda?
Referendums. End of story.
The word "referendum" is an Anglicization of a Latin gerund. Which means, by definition, it has no plural. So when you use it as a noun simply follow the standard English practise of adding an "S".
The world "referenda" is used by intellectual snobs who think English should blindly (and in this case incorrectly) follow the grammatical rules of a dead language. The oft quoted commandment "Thou shalt not split infinitives!" is another example of this nonsense.
Having learned Latin I can honestly say the English language looses nothing by ignoring the rules of Latin grammar.