Three Examples

Here are three entries about language use and abuse. I decided to put them into one post instead of three different ones because they were a little too short to stand by themselves.

One
Recently, I've been tempted to use the word proper like the English do -- as a synonym for correct or best, as in "The proper way to fix the motor is ..."

Americans, I find, use the word proper as a synonym for the way things should be done -- as a moral judgment. It's close to the use of the words appropriate and propriety. To me, they mean a coerced conformity done out of fear.

Two
An abbrevation I'm sure you've seen on the internet is WTF -- short for what the fuck.

An eight-year-old girl thought it stood for why, that's funny. Her older brother told her that -- surely out of the goodness in his heart.

Somewhat related, I thought FTW always meant fuck the world. It turns out that it also means for the win.

Three
As for using about or of in the following context, which is better?

Many people say, "I know about it." It's heard more often in everyday talk.

Some people write, "I know of it." It's more literary, but sounds pretentious if it's spoken.

Jackery

The jackery and prudery of some people nowadays ... I find it appalling.

Here's an example. It ran in the Sept. 24, 2007 issue of Newsweek. It was in an article about Ken Burns' documentary The War:

Some (PBS) affiliates -- which didn't seem to mind the obscenely gruesome Holocaust pictures or the scene where a machine gun blows off a soldier's head -- had a problem with the four uses of cusswords, one of which is alluded to in the anagrammatic title of episode five, "FUBAR" ... Did you need further evidence that today's decadent home front can't see past the end of its own nose?

Harold In The Crevice

Harold looked out from the crevice and thought:

What I need to do is get out of this crevice -- no light, too damp, no room to move -- and get out into the world. But I gotta watch out for the sunlight. It might be too bright for my eyes. They might've become too adjusted to this dark.

He moved outward but suddenly stopped. The light was too bright.

He closed his eyes in a wincing expression, as if he had been hit.

Then he lowered his head and opened his eyes to let his sight adjust to the brightness.

He went from there.

And The Ants ... They Crawl ...

Most of you know my friend Frank, who often sends me correspondence of a somewhat off-beat nature -- and that's putting it mildly.

Frank has often been institutionalized, always with his knowledge and approval, so that he can't harm himself. When he feels better, he goes home.

While in a certain institution, he met a man named Anthony, who called himself Ant'ny, The Mad Ant-Man. Ant'ny also writes to get things off his mind, and wanted Frank to see this. Frank passed it on to me with Ant'ny's permission.

So here's is Ant'ny's first bit of correspondence to be posted here.

And the ants ... they crawl ... on my body ...

I feel them ... they hurt ... because they bite ... their stings ... I roll in pain ...

When will this end ... this new fresh hell ... this twenty-ton dump of just more bullshit ...

When will it be over and done with ... be final ... and then .. it'll be the end ...

Ah so ... ah so ... oh no .. oh no ... for me don't stay ... for me just go ...

But look ... but lo! ...

A boat's that ready ... get aboard it ... and forward ... go.

Still Life

A still life ... of two things ... that can still your life ...

Booze yourself to death ... alcoholic poisoning or cirrhosis ... that's long term ...

Or shoot yourself when you're sober ... that's short term ...

Or get drunk and shoot yourself ... that's also short term ...