I was their in 1952. Their what??

  I read a lot of news in the local paper, some other papers in the State and online, and of course other site devoted to news.  I also read a lot of comments left by other readers.  I find some errors, no a lot of errors in the way our language is used.
  The title leads to my biggest gripe.  Their, there and they're are not interchangeable, but it's almost unbelievable how many people use them that way.  Their refers to people, there is a place and they're mean those people are doing something.
  A reader of the Bangor Daily News wrote a letter to the Editor yesterday to complain that the paper was using the apostrophe in the wrong way while writing its and it's.  Its is an ownership word, it's mean it is.
  I don't even pretend to be an expert but I did have some tough teachers/instructors in all of my 16 years of schooling (must have been in the first grade for 12).  In college I think there were three courses just on writing and those instructors were tough, picky too.
  Oh!  Let's add to, too, and two to the list.  To indicate directions, too describes inclusion and, or course, two is a number.
  By now you all wish I had work on the 'house project' yesterday, don't you?

How small is small?

  I have a problem with news outlets, print and electronic media, who use the words "small town" when they are really speaking of larger towns or cities.
  Some examples are:
          President Obama quoted as saying about Joplin, Missouri "......a small town has overcome....." when in fact Joplin has a population of over 15,150 souls.  Joplin has indeed overcome the hardships it endured when hit by a killer tornado.
          The Portland (Maine) Press Herald carried this article:
Monday, May 7, 2012

Small-town official accused of stealing $53 million

ROCKFORD, Ill. — The former comptroller of a small northern Illinois city pleaded not guilty Monday to charges

     The story wasn't about Rockford, that's where the courthouse is, it was about Dixon, Illinois which has a population of 15,733 so it's still not a small town.  Wealthy maybe but not small.

Reporters, news writers, producers and editors need to understand what a small town is.  The two "small places" mentioned above would have made the "Top ten largest cities" in North Dakota, Wyoming and some other states. 
  Maybe those reporters et al should live for a short time in Medford, Maine or Drake, North Dakota; both towns with populations that hover around 200.  I have lived in Medford and my old friend "Wilbur" is still in Drake, we know what a small town is.
To be fair maybe 15,000 in population is small to a lot of people, but they're not really small.
  Research isn't difficult, I gathered the material presented here in about ten minutes.
  Before we know it the National Cathedral in Washington DC will be referred to as a "quaint country chapel".

May 22, 2012 8:00pm

Man With Zebra, Parrot in Front Seat Charged With DUI

This was on ABCNEWS.go.com this morning, you never know what you'll find in the gool ol' USA. 

NO the project isn't done yet, but wait please.  "Patience is a virtue", I'm going to beat somebody up if I don't get some patience!

It's all about....

.........the words you use, or the time or place,
which word to use where will stare you in the face.
Whether it's a catfish or maybe a horned pout,
rely on where it's caught, of that there is no doubt.
Maybe you can grab a guy to make sure he's not gone,
or use can go down east and really muckle on;
it's words that we are taught from a very early age,
and of those that we remember were all the social rage;
but what about the local stuff, I worry about that,
we lose our "local words" and there is no tit for tat;
we used to call it tonic, I don't know that still exists,
now it's just called soda, what a brutal twist.
It's not how you take it home, but the container that it's in,
a bag or a poke are both the sacks twin.
So, just stop and think it over, it's a national disgrace,
to lose our local words and become the human race.

I just..

...finished watching the Boston Red Sox game,
they finally won, but watching causes pain;
because I have to see, the 'temps' and bullpen,
they keep screwing up, again and again.

That's not to say the regulars, sometimes do no good,
but overall they're better, play the game as they should.
So I'm going to try to lay off, baseball banter for a while;
which will cause reader relief, and maybe you can smile.

Let's take language for example, how about fun with that?
Here a couple of lines about a comma and a cat;
A cat has paws at the end of it's claws,
and a comma has a pause and the end of it's clause.

See how much fun English can be?
It's a difficult language, can cause misery;
we have so many words that pronounce just alike,
of words that have different meanings, like strike.

You can strike a ball and knock for a mile,
of you can you can swing the bat for a strike, smile!
If you swing the bat three times and don't hit the ball,
go and take your seat, three strikes, you're out after all.

Or, you can say the wind blew, across the blue sky,
while you're feeling blue, 'cause someone said goodbye.
How about cradle, you can sleep in one,
or, you can cradle a loved one, if they don't weigh a ton.

Speaking of "weigh", you know it sounds the same,
as saying "way", same word? You like this game?
There can be contractions of words, oh my lord,
go to buy a board, to fix a ship, and take it aboard.

Well that's enough of that, my brain is going numb,
there are many examples and some of them are dumb;
can you imagine how hard it is, for someone to try..
..to learn our language without having to cry?

Smile