The Screen Actor Guilds Awards were last night. Very fast moving but not as relaxed as the Golden Globes. The results of the SAGS and the GLOBES tell us the OSCARS are going to be extremely interesting. There are going to be some battles. Looks like Best Actress and Best Actor will be really close Oscar Night. Kate Winslet won the SAG (Called Actor) for Best Supporting Actress for THE READER. She is nominated for an OSCAR for best actress for the same movie and will go up against last night's winner Meryl Streep for DOUBT. What could happen is Winslet and Streep splitting the vote and someone like Melissa Leo for FROZEN RIVER sneaking in and stealing it. For Best Actor it looks like last night's winner Sean Penn for MILK well split the vote with Globe winner Mickey Rourke for THE WRESTLER and Brad Pitt for CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON or Frank Langella for FROST/NIXON could sneak in there to win the Oscar. With Winslet out of the category, Best Supporting Actress appears to be wide open, right now my pick being Viola Davis for DOUBT. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won the Actor for performance by a cast in a movie, the SAG Best Movie Award. Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for DARK KNIGHT for both the Globe and SAG. Those two seem to be a shoo-in for OSCARS.
For you sport fans the super bowl is this coming Sunday, February 1. It is the Arizona Cardinals vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is the Steelers seventh appearance in the Super Bowl. Arizona has never been there before. I'm all about the underdog so my pick is Arizona Cardinals 19 Pittsburgh Steelers 17. For those of you that just watch the game for the commercials Budweiser will most likely have the best commercial.
An update about the job that was supposed to start today. I went to their pre-tax meeting last Friday and it was very informative. It was good to see the folks. However, the storm in December has really pushed everyone back with their work and the information is coming into the firm slower then expected and they have delayed my start date to February 1st.
I don't know but for some reason I've been bugged lately by the bad grammar that has been on TV lately. Some phrases just bug the hell out of me. Some of those are:
"The fact of the matter is" when they really mean "my opinion is."
"If you will" Do I really have a choice?
"OK" This is really bad among athletes, OK after every sentence. I don't really know them so I don't understand why they are seeking my approval.
"My bad" I just dislike it, it makes me cringe.
"To be honest with you" I guess they have to put me at ease that they are telling the truth now since everything up to that point has been a lie.
"At the end of the day" I really don't want to wait that long to find out if what they are saying is the truth.
Questions for the day. Do any of the above phrases bug you? What are some of the other phrases that just make you cringe? Are you attending a Super Bowl party next Sunday? Are you even watching it?
May this day start off a great week for all of you!
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20 comments:
Sorry about the delay in starting the job. At least I'm sorry if you're sorry. I haven't yet received the worksheet for my taxes, which is okay because I'm not ready to do them anyway. I got one for my mom's taxes and haven't started on it, either. Must. Do. That.
I caught a rerun of the SAG awards late last night, and I figure the Oscars will be kind of old hat by the time they come along. Your predictions are real possibilities, and I'd kind of like to see some of them happen.
No, I won't be watching the SuperBowl, except that it'll probably be on the big TV when I go to visit my mom, so I'll be a captive audience for a while.
I've got a few peeves about grammar, most of which I can't think of at the moment. Let's see... I twitch when I see a description of someone lying "prone" and looking up at something. Prone means lying on your stomach, so their neck must be badly twisted. "Supine" is lying on your back.
Another biggie for me is using, for example, "Bill and I" when they are objects, such as "She gave the tickets to Bill and I". Would you say, "She gave the tickets to I"? I don't think so.
Most of your choices don't really bother me much, except the "OK?" and worse, "Know what I'm sayin'?" at the end of every sentence. However, your other choices are mostly just excess verbiage and should be deleted whenever possible.
I actually kind of like "my bad".
I'm a really bad grammar snob - so there are lots of things that drive me nuts. My current hair-puller is the addition of "at" at the end of phrases. As in "where's it at?"; "where are you at?" All that needs to be said is "where is it?" or "where are you?" ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!
And nobody, absolutely NOBODY knows anything about pronouns.
And then there's spelling.....
Sorry - you should never have gotten me started.
But I have wonderful news! Our grandson who's been in Iraq is now in Kuwait on his way home. We can't stop smiling!
Hi Pat
I'm actually fine with the delay in the job, gives me a little more time to work on my to do list.
OH say it isn't so, Pat likes "my bad"
I just called the guys and they are checking into what happened to your organizer and will mail one to you within the next couple of days.
I never new prone vs. supine before until you told me.
I also dislike immensely the "know what I'm sayin'"
Bill
Hi Mary Z
Frist great news about your grandson! Welcome home to him!
The world needs more grammar snobs. I like where you are at with grammar.
I agree with pronouns and so many don't know where to place an apostrophe.
Bill
Hey, I am with Pat....My Bad?
:)
Mary Z, what wonderful news on your grandson being on his way home! I've several friends who have sons/grandsons who've done their turn(s) in Iraq and their return home is always cause for celebration and relief.
Since I'm not a big movie goer, can't comment on the awards, Bill. I'd say the odds of us watching the Super Bowl are slim to none, but I'm pulling for AZ, both because they're the underdogs and because that's where Deb lives (g).
Grammar -- you really don't want to get a free lance editor started on this! I've yet to hear an English teacher provide the simple rules that make it easy. Combine that with the lousy grammar in anything from books to movies to commercials and even newspaper writing and newscasts and it's enough to make me grind my teeth. I'm with Pat on the "prone" thing and with Mary on the "at" issue.
Most of your examples I agree with, especially "the fact of the matter" versus "my opinion is." We see much more of the latter than the former in news reporting of any kind.
Pet peeves? The continuing use of "like" as some sort of, I guess, punctuation word when people are talking. Folks from airline personnel to service personnel and others saying, "I'd like to.." Well, heck, they're going to say whatever it is anyway, so why the preface? Following a statement with "You know?"
Hate to disappoint you, but "my bad" is one I use sometimes, often to diffuse a situation with Mom or siblings. Easier to just say it was my fault than argue the issue a lot of times. Another one you may not like, but which I often mutter to myself is "Do over," wishing it was possible to make things right as easily as that phrase did when we were kids (wry s).
As an editor, there are any number of things I see in ms that drive me around the wall. "Who" vs "whom" is one. The pronoun thing Pat mentioned. Since I don't watch much TV, most of my impatience is directed to the written word, whether in books, newspapers or magazines. I think one of my greatest "grumps" in people talking is when someone says "huh?" I'd much rather they say, "I didn't hear you," or "Excuse me?" or even, "Say again."
Dona
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
Not you too!!
Bill
Hi Dr
I was looking forward to a free lance editor's comments.
Like is another one that annoys me!
As does you know, you know!
Gosh I'm in big trouble with My Bad with Dona, DR, and Pat ganging up on me! Can we compromise to I'm bad? Actually I don't mind do over at all. I also agree with you on huh?.
Bill
No, no. no compromise on saying "I'm bad." Why, you ask? Because we're not bad. In msot cases, we've done what seemed right at the time and maybe it was a mistake or went awry or other sidn't understand it. So "my bad" means we admit to doing something somesone else didn't approve or appreciate or understand, but "me bad" means we were wrong and I don't think that's the usual case. A simple matter of semantics, but important to me.
I remember when my two b-i-ls dies within ten days of each other and I was in CA, then AZ to help deal with memorials and grief and such and, as is normal in issues of grief and all the things that go wrong in trying to deal with the immediate aftermath and memorials and visitors and such, it was clear there had to be be someone to be blamed. WHile in CA, I just raised my hand (literaly) and said, "My fault." When I move don to AZ several days later, two of Deb's friends and co-workers from AK were there. I took them aside and said I was tired of my role and told Sharon she was the one to raise her hand and say "My fault," whether it had to do with flowers, the funeral home, seating, guest book or anything else. Fortunately, she's a "good gal" and understood and immediately took over the station.
So, see, I have no real real problem with "my bad" vs "me bad" and no real problem sharing the blame over things that NO ONE has any control over. Actually, if I had my druthers, "my bad, do-over" woould be all one connected pharase!
Hi DR
OK, my bad for suggesting a compromise!
I love the story about you and Sharon trading off roles!
Bill
Mary Z, wonderful that your grandson is coming home! May all the troops be not far behind.
Bill, thanks for goosing your guys. Will look for the organizer in a few days.
Nobody knows prone vs. supine, esp. mystery writers who have dead bodies prone on the floor with blank eyes gazing at the ceiling. It may be a little obscure, but it's a peeve.
I don't worry much about who vs. whom, as I often have to pause to be sure which one I want, unless it's obvious.
Thanks, Dona and DR for backing me up on "my bad". Bill, "I'm bad" just doesn't work because it *is* grammatical, and therefore not funny. Ditto for "my fault", but I like your story, DR.
I'll vote with DR and Bill on sticking "like" just about anyplace in a sentence, mostly where it doesn't belong. Very annoying.
Hi Pat
The guys sent some of the organizers out by email so it may have got lost in the shuffle. I told them to mail you one by regular mail.
Bill
Thanks, Bill. I could deal with an email organizer if I had to, but it's just a lot of printing for me, as I need to sit down with actual paper at some point. And since I have to send them all those 1099s and things, might as well do it all on paper.
As a newspaper sub-editor, I regularly expunge all the phrases you mentioned from the copy I have to clear every night. My pet peeve is: "the fact is," "as a matter of fact" and "going forward" (especially in business stories) because they don't add anything to a sentence and can be deleted without changing any of the meaning. Another verbose phrase I hate is "according to so-and-so", which could be more succinctly put as "so-and-so said ..."
I used to think that pet hate phrases were a job hazard for me. I'm delighted to find out that "normal" people think the same way too! :)
Hi Pat
I would have never sent the organizers by email unless I had asked the client first, these guys need more training!
Bill
Hi Snug
I'm not so sure how I feel about being called normal, lol.
I dislike all those you mention and in speech and in writing I am big on the fewer words the better so wordy stuff bothers me too!
Bill
Snug, how nice to meet another editor! Only problem with being an editor is it makes you crazy reading almost anything (g). I agree wtih you on verbosity. If you think you see it in newspaper articles, try reading a few manuscripts. Asrgh!
Yes, isn't it interesting that even "normal" people find these things annoying? Do you think writers and publishers will ever get a clue?
Pat, as to "my fault"... sometimes it's just easier, since there's no one else to blame. I only used it at the memorial issues, when the issues were petty and it was clear they were a result of frustration/grief (does that redeem me) and passed the torch as soon as possible.
I'm learning to not even use "my bad" much anymore, since I'm pretty darned good at all I try to do, especially with Mom. Now, there are times I'm really temped to say "your bad..."
Hi Dr
Oh great just when I get more accepting of my bad you quit using or exchanging your bad for it.
As to Snug being an editor it always amazes me how much some of the posters here have in common!
Bill
Snug, I've been called lots of things, but never "normal". At least you did put it in quotes.8^)
Hi Mary Z
I had the same reaction!
Bill
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