I Heart Apostrophes

I have found a ranter after my own heart! Well, that is, when my heart is focused on apostrophes, as it certainly has been on this blog before. Check out the Apostrophe Abuse blog. I love that there has been a blog dedicated to this "orthographic pet peeve" for three years.

--Curly

Poor Pussy, Poor Pussy Cat

About two weeks ago, I posted about expanding our vocabularies. Words that people misuse and abuse include "gay" and "retarded", in my opinion. Well, one word that I left off that list was "pussy" and I didn't mention it in that post because I thought it seemed to be going out of fashion a bit, luckily. To my dismay, however, I have repeatedly heard that word used since that post, so I am now adding it to the Do Not Use list.

We all know that most people are not referring to a cat with the word "pussy". Instead, they are referring to a woman's genitals, which in turn they are using for something weak or disgusting or ridiculous. "Don't be a pussy," I hear people say, or "He's such a pussy, that wimp." Why does a woman and her body stand for something negative? Why not reclaim it as a positive word (or not use it at all)?

So I'll be a pussy and say we need to seriously consider and improve our use of language.

--Curly

Know Your Audience

Since I manage a group of writing-related resources, including a blog and a newsletter, I'm often asked to post information for others.

Trouble is, too often I'm contacted by people who haven't bothered to check the content of said blog and newsletter. If they'd done their homework and actually looked at the blog or the newsletter, they'd know that the person they're addressing is unlikely to advertise their expensive conferences, or to spread the word about their publication that pays only in copies.

But they haven't bothered to get to know their audience (some admit as much when I write back to them explaining why I can't help them out--one person recently confessed that she'd never seen the blog or newsletter but had been given my e-mail address by someone else). So they've wasted their time, and they've wasted my time. And they've peeved me.

--Prunella Peeve

Anti-Social Libraries

At the moment, I am sitting in a small public library. The woman next to me is coughing loudly, practically hacking out her lungs, and making me wonder what germs she might be passing on to me. Meanwhile, someone's cell phone is playing an annoying tune over and over again, while another woman is talking into her cell phone. And other people are chatting, while still others violently slam books and CDs down on tables.

I always thought libraries were supposed to be quiet, peaceful places, but over the past few years, I've been dismayed by the anti-social and impolite behaviors that have been cropping up. But, then, I am a curmudgeon.

Shhh!


--Curly

Sexy Girls

What is with young girls wearing make-up, high heels, and sexy clothes? I know I am not the first person to notice this or to be disturbed by it, and I wonder why the trend continues.

Recent observations: a girl around eight years old wearing a short skirt and high-heeled boots, just like her mother; teenagers in shirts barely covering their breasts, which were encased in push-up bras, while their faces were smeared with foundation, eyeshadow, and lipstick; a girl around thirteen or so who bent over, giving everyone a glimpse of her see-through lacy white thong; and girls between the ages of ten and fifteen wearing t-shirts with pictures of cherries or the Playboy emblem, or with words such as "Slut" or "Bitch".

Is it really attractive to dress young girls up like this? Personally, I find it worrisome and ridiculous, not sexy. Females have plenty of time to be provocative, so why must they start so early?

--Curly

Let's Expand Our Vocabularies: On Bias in Adjectives

I find it disrespectful and, of course, rant-worthy when people use words such as "gay" or "retarded" as negative terms of disparagement. As in, "Oh, that's so gay!" Or, "How retarded can you be?"

It isn't just young people who don't know better (though, incidentally, I am suspicious of the phrase "don't know better", since if someone doesn't know any better, why not teach him/her?) -- no, I hear people of all ages using "gay" and "retarded" as synonyms for "stupid" or "ridiculous" or "unlikeable", seemingly without giving a thought to what they are really saying. And what they are saying is that there is something wrong in being gay or in having some sort of disability.

True, words do change in meaning over time. But why do we have to take words such as "gay" and "retarded" and make them pejorative? Doing so reveals our own biases, and this says something pretty sad about our society today. I think it's stupid and depressing when we use these words in this way, but it's certainly not "gay" or "retarded".

--Curly

No Cause for Celebration

On April 4 The New York Times reported: "About a third of the nation’s eighth-grade students, and roughly a quarter of its high school seniors, are proficient writers, according to nationwide test results released Thursday."

Before I had time to stop sighing over that depressing information, I read further:

Though some experts questioned whether the writing test, which requires students to compose only brief essays in a short time, was an accurate measure of their ability, officials of the government’s testing program said they were encouraged by the results.

“I am happy to report, paraphrasing Mark Twain, that the death of writing has been greatly exaggerated,” said Amanda P. Avallone, an eighth-grade English teacher who is vice chairwoman of the board that oversees the testing program, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card.

Are you kidding me? These are "encouraging" results? When three-quarters of graduating seniors can't write?

Unfortunately, I had no time to craft a letter to the Times editors myself. Thankfully, at least one other reader was equally peeved. His letter appeared in yesterday's paper.

--Prunella

The United Polish Emirates

This isn't really a rant so much as an expression of befuddlement.

The other day, I walked past a small grocery store called "Asia Market". I assumed (perhaps naturally) that the store would sell foods from China or Thailand or other east Asian countries. So imagine my surprise when I saw a sign outside the store advertising the selection of "Kurdish, Turkish, Arab, and Polish" products. The first three I could understand, though I'd think that a name such as "Arab Market" would make more sense. But as for the last one, well, since when is Poland part of the Arab world, not to mention Asia? How does Polish food fit in to the Asia Market?

Must be those world-famous pierogi kebabs!

--Curly

The Toilet Brush

I have posted here before about the hair that gives me my nom de peeve. As I wrote then, it can be nice when people tell me how jealous they are of my curls or how good my hair looks. But I didn't mentioned the darker side of the story -- the nasty comments.

I know that people tend to tease others when they are themselves insecure. But that doesn't necessarily help me feel better when others mock me. Over the years, I'm been told that my hair looks like a toilet brush, a Brillo pad, a wig, Harpo Marx, a broom, and much more. I've been told that I resemble a sheep, because of the curly hair and the big nose. Sometimes (okay, most of the time) these comments have hurt. Sometimes (okay, rarely) I've been able to brush them off.

I currently live in a medium-sized city that is not really that diverse. As a result, I guess I stick out somewhat. I've had men running after me on the street, laughing and shouting at me, "Afro! Afro!" (I was tempted to tell them that my hair is a Jewfro, not an Afro.) And today, several young women starting screaming at me, "Poodle curls! Poodle curls!" They also referred to me as a cunt, but I guess that's beside the point here.

Again, I am aware that the problem is with these people and not really with my hair. Nevertheless, I wonder what makes them act this way. I never yell at random people on the street and I try not to hurt people's feelings or make critical remarks about their looks. So why do other people?

--Curly (who sometimes can feel like a toilet brush, dealing with all sorts of shit in life)

I Enjoy Being a…Woman

I am woman (hear me rant!) and I strongly resent being called a “girl”.

Males are not referred to as boys when they are in their late teens and older, but females are still called girls. In part, this is because there is no good female equivalent of “guy” (no, “chick” doesn’t count), but it also stems from issues of power. Women, even those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or even older than that, are still seen as weak “girls” who need to be helped or who are looked down on. Have you ever heard a twenty-five-year-old or a forty-year-old man referred to as a “boy”? Think about why that doesn’t happen.

Some females are guilty of this too – they might say “I’m friends with a girl who…” or “So I was chatting with this girl…” and yet be referring to someone in her twenties or thirties. I don’t like when they do that (and I have a tendency to speak up about it). I, too, have done it at times as well. But I have now trained myself to show more respect to my fellow women and not talk to or about them as though they are still children. I wish others would consider this as well, especially all those people who claim that this is “just semantics” and that it is inoffensive to use the term “girl” for an adult woman.

Rodgers and Hammerstein had it wrong – I do not enjoy being a girl. I am too old for that. But I do enjoy being a woman.

--Curly