myopic pilgrim

Stumbling my way to where I think Jesus is

1. smlwoman 3.5.07 / 7pm

   my grandmother used to say the same thing. She would always find mispelled words on billboards. It drove her nuts. She would write it down and then call the company and give them an earful.
2. smlwoman 3.5.07 / 7pm

   And yes, I see some in my own post. sigh..
3. nate 3.6.07 / 8am

   Funny that you mention this now. For all those who are interested in better writing, consider two sources:

   First, The Economist magazine has a reference website for the style guide they give to every journalist that works with them. The site is great if you want a quick answer regarding the use of words and grammer. http://www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide/

   Second, the Grammar Girl podcast has periodically seen the top of iTunes rankings and is another great source of quick education. She has topics such as the difference between “although” and “while”, semicolons and colons, etc. It’s a pretty popular podcast for those who care…
   http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=173429229
4. nate 3.6.07 / 8am

   oops. Funny you mention it now because I just found the first source two days ago and the second has just recently been topping iTunes ranks. Enjoy.
5. jose 3.6.07 / 10am

   I think every publication has their own style guide. One of things that Grammar Girl brings up is to check with your employer on how to render things that are up for debate like where to put the apostrophe that shows possession on names that end with “s” (is it “Chris’ bike” or “Chris’s bike?).

   But I’m talking about spelling here. Unless you’re you’re deciding between judgement and judgment or color and colour.
6. jose 3.6.07 / 10am

   Jody, one of the sidebars in an elementary spelling workbook was a note from a fictional teacher.

   “Don’t misspell ‘misspell.’
   -Miss Pell
7. -Dave 3.6.07 / 10am

   Spelling and grammar from the guy that sang a worship song with “might could”?

   I’ll stick with yay! Maybe. Thing is, I’m not just saying “yes!” It’s an expression of agreement, excitement, and the final sound (after the ya) is rarely clearly defined making it much harder to type. Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh might be better, but that’s a pain to write.

   Yea = yes
   yay = giddy excitement
   yeah = that’s what I’m talking about.

   But mostly, you just have to be there. There’s a limit to what printed letters can express.
8. jose 3.6.07 / 2pm

   I don’t know many people who actually say out loud “yea” in a long drawn out way except maybe children who get to go to Disney Land. It goes along with “whee,” as in “Whee, I like being on the swings.”

   And as far as “this might could be the most impossible thing.” That’s just a creative (and debatable) use of the word. Some writers use nouns as verbs and vice versa. It’s frowned upon some, for sure.
9. -Dave 3.7.07 / 10am

   I’ve also heard TWBWY (that word beginning with Y) used as a way of expressing a positive response to how a team is doing.

   The team’s doing well? Well, TWBWY.

   “Yes” doesn’t really fit as a good substitute. Hooray, hurrah, or huzzah might fit better. “Good for them” might also work, but I still believe yea to be improper in context because you wouldn’t use its antonym “nay” to express the opposite sentiment.

   As for not hearing the long drawn-out version, I was thinking of “you want to exclaim in great exultation…” from your description of TWBWY, so I was imagining it as used at sporting events.

   Yea may well be the origin, but it’s not the word being used. And personally, I’m more likely to read it as a homophone for yeah (with the ah as a short a) or yaw than yay, unless it is used in a formal context.

   Spelling and grammar are fluid things. They evolve with time, and I think this is one direction in which that is taking place.

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