Groaners & Boners...

Okay…while I’m bouncing back and forth on exactly how to proceed with my “great American novel part II,” I’ll get a few other things off my chest. I suppose it’s that kind of day right now, and my little “list” has been lying before me for several weeks, awaiting my attention (much as my novel manuscript is!).

First off, as mentioned in an earlier post, I have always been a lover of words and language--especially if used correctly! However, I’m also a lover of the “mis-use” of words and language if for no other reason than it provides a bit of fun and humor. And the degree of humor is heightened even more when the perpetrator of the “mis-uses” is totally unaware of doing so. And so I refer to my little list before me on my desk.

1.-“Corn Beef”-Usually this can be spotted and heard many, many times right around St. Patrick’s Day. I really don’t think there’s anything drastically wrong with saying “corn beef” rather than “corned beef,” but it’s still funny just the same.

2.-“Ashphalt”-Unless I’m mistaken, the black stuff that’s used to pave streets and roads doesn’t come from “ashes” or “ash” trees. Look it over, folks. It’s pronounced just as it’s spelled: ASPHALT.

3.-“Mischievious”-Check it out, one and all. There’s that extra syllable many want to put in when they say it or spell it. That little “i” doesn’t belong in front of the “ous” ending of the word. Say and spell it correctly: MISCHIEVOUS.

4.-“Slippery Slope”-This really isn’t  mispronounced, but the problem I have with it is it’s overuse in so many situations. The phrase has become almost as annoying as “thrown under the bus.” I cringe each time I hear some bobble head on TV or radio use the term, regardless of the appropriateness of it to begin with! For some reason, it conjures up images of some mope struggling to maintain some semblance of balance on an impossibly high hill, covered in some kind of lubricant. I have stricken all uses of it from my own vocabulary, although I can’t recall ever actually saying it--or writing it--myself.

That’s the extent of this list. Now that I’ve given it the attention it deserves (I think?), I’ll toss it away and have one at the ready for the next batch of “groaners and boners” that are sure to crop up in my everyday world. Now that’s a road that’s sure to be full of fun…MLA