Another Peevity: Hey Hey Ho Ho Has Got to Go!

The protests of today will never match those of the 60s and the Viet Nam War era. Today's marches are tame, often lame, and the lamest always resort to the banal chant that goes something like, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, this (insert the Evil du jour) has got to go,'' and then it is incessantly repeated by seemingly intelligent beings.

I wonder about that. Most protests require some thought and at least a little dedication to the "HH, HH" cause at hand. Why can't someone come up with a chant, rant, or polemic that is more creative and expressive? I suppose that if something "has to go", the chant has to rhyme with "go". So how about "bobo", or "momo". Even better and often more relevant would be "dodo".

I fear this will remain a peeve of mine as this time-honored ditty will rear it monotonous head every time someone wants to protest for a cause. So I say, "Ho Ho, Hey Hey, this old drivel is bound to stay."

I'm Ticked, I'm Peeved, But I Am Never P***ed Off

Most petulant peeves are just that: petulant. Little annoyances most of us have that, in the big picture, are of little consequence.

But this one ticks me off more than others, although still probably petty compared to dying from swine flu (oops, H1N1), which would be pretty annoying.

I am speaking of the increasingly common usage in the mainstream, of people saying they are "p***ed off" at something. This word, associated with uh....urinating, is nearly as offensive as its companion word (uh...slang for # 2). For some reason, p***ed is seen in magazines, heard in interviews on broadcast TV and other places where it shouldn't be.

Occasionally, a "star" will utter the word as in "That really p***es me off!" and then quickly says to Leno or Letterman, "Oops, can I say that on TV?" Well, obviously someone thinks they can or it would have been bl**ped. And the English must hear it even more if Chef Gordon Ramsay is illustrative of its use, as he tells nearly everyone to "p**s off".

I guess it is just one more instance of the "dumbing" of American English, that through use (and misuse) it has been added to the vernacular.

When irritated, I get "peeved", "ticked off", but never "p***ed off". For me, that should only be reserved for the fly on the toilet seat.

Pet Peeves - The List Is So Long!

I used to drive my friends (and relatives) nuts by constantly correcting them when they hit upon my pet peeves, mostly about English usage. This had to be most irritating to them, so if I wanted to be invited to parties and even Christmas dinner, I had to learn to temper my urge to play the know-it-all. I said "temper"; I did not say that I have been totally successful.

So rather than have these peeves push up my blood pressure, I thought I'd share a few things that drive me crazy. I know I should worry about much more important stuff but sometimes I just can't help myself. I apologize (again) to those I correct or chide with these vastly unimportant and vacuous items.

Does it bother anyone else that it seems there are a lot more TV ads these days where the sales huckster yells instead of just talks calmly? That guy Billy Mays hawking various products drives me to mash the MUTE button so much I may break my TIVO control. I would like to "KaBoom" him.

Another ad peeve of mine is those grossly unprofessional ads done locally with the actual staff of the car dealership or jewelry store, or whatever. They do some inane skit and then usually end with the whole cast speaking in unison. Spend a little more and hire an ad agency, please. It will do wonders for your business and they won't have a cast of thousands, all yelling "Come to Boastfull Chevrolet where the deals are Best!!!!!!"

My real peeves have to do with the abomination of the English language. McDonald's has begun to educate the masses on hunger "pangs" not hunger "pains" as some are wont to use. I am not perfect but I know that "irregardless" is not a word, and that Realtor (a person who sells REAL Estate) is pronounced REAL-TOR, not REE-Letter.

I also know that "importantly" is an adverb which modifies a verb, so that you cannot say "most importantly" because you can't modify a superlative. OK, I admit, that one's a little esoteric and although it grates on me, it is not nearly as bad as REE-Letter.

Speaking of esoteric, and one fight that I know I won't win is the use of FORTE to mean roughly, "what one has a talent for, or is good at" (Hey look at me, ending my phrases in prepositions -maybe there's hope yet). The correct pronunciation is simply FORT, not For-TAY as so many say. There is no accent mark above the "e" so it is not For-TAY, but common usage has now made that pronunciation acceptable. But if I said, "English usage is my FORT", I would get looks of scorn, so rather than having to explain this to the ignorant masses, I do not use the word at all (So there).

And finally for today I will end with this mind numbing comment I heard the other day. "The staff interviewed over 1000 people for this study, 55% of them women, and 45% men." Wow, were there other choices?

Political Pet Peeves

I am one of "those" persons who has a few pet peeves for the world in general. I am usually a nice person so I don't blast people too often, but those who write or say "Me and her went shopping", or "irregardless" grate on me nevertheless.

For today, I will pick on the three current presidential candidates. Nothing big, just irritants that their handlers should have brought up and corrected.

For Hillary the list is long. The woman just rubs me the wrong way. It is more my issue, I guess, than hers. Of course, she would be totally unaware of what I thought, and would care even less. So to be fair, I will only list E pluribus unum (likely only my brother will get the reference).

I don't know if she can help it but the poor lady's voice was not meant to be used above 65 decibels. When she hits 80 dB it is more of a screech and is not becoming of a lady. She should just wait to speak until the roar of the crowd subsides. Or talk at 65 dB so everyone can wonder what she is saying. Remember the Howard Dean shreik didn't win him many votes.

Senator Obama, the great speaker du jour, has this very annoying habit of injecting "you know", when he is stretching for the right words. Actually it is more like "a no" but then most of us slur some of our words. His people should certainly have coached that out of him by now. To me it is like the word "like" in the current teen vernacular. Unnecessary and, like, distracting. I also happen to think he should let his waffle get cold to answer questions in a public setting, but that is just me.

John McCain, as far as I can tell, took my advice and quit using "trancendent" in every other sentence. Dr. M.L. King was a "transcendent figure in American history...", and our need to "confront the transcendent challenge of our time...", and so on, are just a few of Mac's lines. My freshman English teacher, Miss Zirian Blish, always told us, "Use a word three times and its yours". OK, Mr. McCain, I will cede the word to you, just quit letting it trip off your tongue so frequently.

My real peeve about Mr. McCain, great gentleman that he is, is that someone doesn't get him to the dentist to file his offending teeth to stop that shrill whistle when he talks. It wouldn't take but a quick flick of the emery and he would stop alerting the neighborhood dogs. Listen to him next time and it will begin to irritate you as well. And then you can thank me for pointing it out.