Something I saw on the news yesterday was so appropriate to the "You Don't Say" presentation I will be making for Sisters in Crime Los Angeles on October 9 that I had to write this. My presentation is all about navigating the English language--a language peppered with bloopers just waiting for you to commit them.
Even editors aren't exempt. You see using the wrong form of a word, if taken literally, totally changes the intent of the sentence or phrase and is a terrible booby trap.
What I saw yesterday was a commentary on the deplorable state of our economy. It was part of a feature I like to watch called The Rant. They always put the written comment up on the screen. This one spoke about a "waist of money."
My first thought was why didn't someone catch that, which was rapidly followed by a giggle because I pictured the implications of a waist of money. Things like "pulling in your belt" led to imagining all these politicians parading around the House and Senate with money belts cinching in their waists --- or would that be wastes?
You can really have some fun with the wrong form of the right word. Take for example using "slight of hand" instead of "sleight of hand."
"Do you need to master SLIGHT OF HAND to be a good magician?" Hmmm. Don’t know that the size of the magician’s hands has anything to do with it. Although, with bigger hands, he could probably hold more cards."
SLIGHT is an interesting word. As an adjective, it means having a slim or delicate build or structure; as a transitive verb it means to treat with disdain or indifference, and as a noun it generally would be a humiliating discourtesy.
YOU DON'T SAY!
Morgan St. James
