No. 29: You Should Know Better!

...and I do. That's kind of the problem. Let's be Grammar Nazis for a minute (mostly just cuz it's fun), and address something I've never heard anyone talk about.

I KNOW that a potential student visiting my university is a prospective student. Some people don't; I acknowledge that, and I'm not being judgy by pointing it out. But even thought I KNOW that this word is prospective and not perspective, I still say perspective, because I don't want other people to think I'm being pretentious or subtly correcting them by saying prOHspective, which is kind of unavoidable if you pronounce that "o."

Why are we afraid of doing things right? Why do I consciously pronounce this word wrong? Why do people who "know better" say things like "ain't"? (Although, admittedly, this is just kind of a regional thing, and it's pretty accepted now in some areas.) What other words do we say incorrectly, just so people won't think we're judging the way they talk? Just a thought: by doing this, we're admitting that we don't want them to judge the way we talk, right?

Ginger and I had a conversation last night about grammar in speech and stuff like that: we agreed that as long as you are understood, it doesn't really matter if you say "me and him" instead of "he and I." It just doesn't. In formal writing, sure, you're expected to be technically correct. But in everyday conversation, grammar isn't quite as important.

But what about the words themselves? If you've made up a word (ain't), or confused one word with another (prospective/perspective), can that be a hinderance to communication? Or is it more of a hindrance to use correct pronunciation and words that actually exist? If I say prospective, are people always going to know what I'm talking about? Or is it better, in that situation, to say it incorrectly?

What's more important? Being correct or being understood?

No. 21: This Friday

Finals are this week. I've been thinking a bit lately about the purpose of finals. Most of my professors treat "finals" as just the next test in a series of sectional exams.

The psychology final I just finished consisted of 45 multiple choice questions about the last three chapters of the semester. It was the easiest psych test by far.

My roommate's final today, however, was for human growth and development. They had a sectional exam on Wednesday, and then a comprehensive final this morning. I've been racking (literally, torturing, as in "on the rack") my brain trying to figure out the purpose behind this. Sarah's theory: education professors are sadists. I'm tempted to agree. The students have already been tested over this material. Some of it just three days ago!

Now, I have a Middle Ages exam on Wednesday (at 8 am!), and he told us we should be aware of previous material (since it's a history class, and history is by definition comprehensive), but that we would be primarily tested over what we've learned since our most recent exam.

So, my little rant on comprehensive college finals. Silly. Also, I think some professors weight the final and others don't. Why?

But with Thursday at midnight comes Iron Man 2 and the end of our first year of college. If we can survive until then. :)

~Hayley

No. 5: Just So We're Clear

This is Hayley. I just wanted to make something abundantly clear to anyone who is bored enough to be reading this blog. There is one man in this world who is creepier even than our friend Emily. In fact, that's an understatement. If you looked up "creepy" in the dictionary-- if you Googled "creepy"-- if you typed in "creepy" on urbandictionary-- THIS IS THAT DUDE.

A round of nervous applause, please, for......
MISTER MICKEY ROURKE!

Now let me just ask you something.
Does this man look like he belongs on the red carpet?
Or in a back alley somewhere shooting heroin?










[This has been Hayley's rant. It may be mentioned again, in later posts. There's really no telling.]



[Ginger writing: This is obviously something that these two white girls do NOT like. JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR.]


**DISCLAIMER: Not every single item reported in this post is quantifiable fact. But that doesn't change the fact that it's true! :)**