Carolina Way... (bad grammar from Okafor/Jones thread)

[gumbomoop]

...... of spelling?

I clicked on the Tyus Jones update link from the main page, and clicked again to read the column by a Minneapolis StarTribune reporter. The reporter in question is a self-reported fan of the Heels, though it isn't clear whether she ever actually attended UNC. Still, it's not good for any Heel supporter to be describing the heir to the hysteria surrounding Tyus Jones as his "aire." To wit: "Johnson, a fellow point guard and aire to the hysteria, holds a particularly special connection."

Jokes are sure to follow about students in the far-four corners of this land taking correspondence courses in Swahili from CH. Heir Jordan? Aire Jordan? Ditto, possibly, for jokes about Emerson College, her alma mater.

A somewhat serious question: since presumably the word "heir" is both commonly used and commonly understood, is its spelling a mystery to many English-speakers these days? And a second: do we suppose that this young reporter, somewhat less attentive to spelling than her elders, intuitively knew that "air" could not be right, so just guessed [.....] that adding an "e" would fancy it up a bit, and thus suffice? Help.

As an aside, in the comment section this reporter gets no grief for her creative spelling, but a whole lot for daring to write about a player who chose Duke over the Gophers.

[roywhite]

...... of spelling?

I clicked on the Tyus Jones update link from the main page, and clicked again to read the column by a Minneapolis StarTribune reporter. The reporter in question is a self-reported fan of the Heels, though it isn't clear whether she ever actually attended UNC. Still, it's not good for any Heel supporter to be describing the heir to the hysteria surrounding Tyus Jones as his "aire." To wit: "Johnson, a fellow point guard and aire to the hysteria, holds a particularly special connection."

Jokes are sure to follow about students in the far-four corners of this land taking correspondence courses in Swahili from CH. Heir Jordan? Aire Jordan? Ditto, possibly, for jokes about Emerson College, her alma mater.

A somewhat serious question: since presumably the word "heir" is both commonly used and commonly understood, is its spelling a mystery to many English-speakers these days? And a second: do we suppose that this young reporter, somewhat less attentive to spelling than her elders, intuitively knew that "air" could not be right, so just guessed [.....] that adding an "e" would fancy it up a bit, and thus suffice? Help.

As an aside, in the comment section this reporter gets no grief for her creative spelling, but a whole lot for daring to write about a player who chose Duke over the Gophers.

You make a bonified point.

Even journalists are loosing their grasp of correct words and usage.

[MCFinARL]

You make a bonified point.

Even journalists are loosing their grasp of correct words and usage.

Yup. Their just not teaching grammar and usage like they use too.

[tommy]

Yup. Their just not teaching grammar and usage like they use too.

Your so right.

[lotusland]

Yup. Their just not teaching grammar and usage like they use too.

It's bearly taught at all;).

[NovaScotian]

It's bearly taught at all;).

Than why don't you do something about it?

[Duvall]

This thread seems like an unnecessary overreaction to a minor (and already corrected) typo in a very positive piece about an incoming Duke player.

[gumbomoop]

This thread seems like an unnecessary overreaction to a minor (and already corrected) typo in a very positive piece about an incoming Duke player.

You're probably right, and the fault is all mine. I considered posting it in Off-Topic, and should have done so.

I do worry about what's happening to grammar and the basics of good writing, but that's Off-Topic.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Your so right.
Your write to!

[Jarhead]

It looks like this problem has been well aired out. No pun... uuh, oops. Correction. Pun intended.4136

[Henderson]

I hate the off season.

[hudlow]

I hate the off season.

Me to.

[MarkD83]

I am not sure this thread means what you think it means.

[MartyClark]

This thread seems like an unnecessary overreaction to a minor (and already corrected) typo in a very positive piece about an incoming Duke player.

No, Carolina mistakes are always fare game.

[Jarhead]

No, Carolina mistakes are always fare game.Fare is the price you pay.

[FerryFor50]

This thread is literally two much.

[J.Blink]

This thread is literally two much.

You know what they say--heir today, gone tomorrow.

[OldSchool]

If I could of added something to this thread I would, but for all intensive purposes everything has already been said.

[Faustus]

Sadly today, in a world without grammar or editors, if it passes Spell Check, it's good to go.

[OldPhiKap]

Sadly today, in a world without grammar or editors, if it passes Spell Check, it's good to go.

Two true.

[lotusland]

I don't think aire would of past.

[MCFinARL]

This thread seems like an unnecessary overreaction to a minor (and already corrected) typo in a very positive piece about an incoming Duke player.


I hate the off season.

Henderson's post offers the explanation for this thread and thus the response to Duvall's, so I have placed them in proximity.


No, Carolina mistakes are always fare game.

Yes, although, to be fair (I'm trying hard to behave here), the reporter in question grew up a Carolina fan but did not actually attend Carolina--she graduated from Emerson College in Boston, according to her bio.

[FerryFor50]

Henderson's post offers the explanation for this thread and thus the response to Duvall's, so I have placed them in proximity.



Yes, although, to be fair (I'm trying hard to behave here), the reporter in question grew up a Carolina fan but did not actually attend Carolina--she graduated from Emerson College in Boston, according to her bio.

She would have gotten in to Carolina, but her vertical and wingspan weren't on par with the rest of the recruits...

[gumbomoop]

Although this thread began as a hijack -- I'm the hijacker, but many of you are accomplices -- and probably does belong in Off-Topic, maybe it's safe to assume that anyone now entering knows that its subject matter is, uh, grammar. Friendly caution: proceed no further unless you're willing to read about..... words.

I'm an occasional volunteer in the grammar police, and was and still am genuinely fascinated by the puzzling invention, Carolina Way or no, of that spelling of "heir" as "aire." There's a legitimate and important discussion to be had re the impact of technology in general, possibly Twitter specifically, on reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. But in the spirit of true confessions, I confess that sometimes I'm as stoopid as [almost] anyone. Here's an embarrassing example: Until fairly recently, when I uttered the common cliche, "tough row to hoe," I was actually saying, and worse, somehow apparently thinking, "tough road to hoe." You can't be that stoopid, but I was. I'll guess I'm not unique in making this mistake, and I'd bet I've even read the incorrect phrase occasionally, but it's still a bit of a howler.

How could one hoe a road? Not easily, surely. Unless one's listener is listening carefully, however, the mistake wouldn't easily be caught. For, given the common-enough speech-slurring in which most of us engage, the spoken phrase "tough road to hoe" sounds nearly exactly like the correct phrase, "tough row to hoe." Probably because, in normal speaking-speed, the last letter of "road" and the first letter of "to" sound alike and comfortably slur into each other. Presto: tough road to hoe.

Even for men on a chain gang, I imagine.

[MCFinARL]

Although this thread began as a hijack -- I'm the hijacker, but many of you are accomplices -- and probably does belong in Off-Topic, maybe it's safe to assume that anyone now entering knows that its subject matter is, uh, grammar. Friendly caution: proceed no further unless you're willing to read about..... words.

I'm an occasional volunteer in the grammar police, and was and still am genuinely fascinated by the puzzling invention, Carolina Way or no, of that spelling of "heir" as "aire." There's a legitimate and important discussion to be had re the impact of technology in general, possibly Twitter specifically, on reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. But in the spirit of true confessions, I confess that sometimes I'm as stoopid as [almost] anyone. Here's an embarrassing example: Until fairly recently, when I uttered the common cliche, "tough row to hoe," I was actually saying, and worse, somehow apparently thinking, "tough road to hoe." You can't be that stoopid, but I was. I'll guess I'm not unique in making this mistake, and I'd bet I've even read the incorrect phrase occasionally, but it's still a bit of a howler.

How could one hoe a road? Not easily, surely. Unless one's listener is listening carefully, however, the mistake wouldn't easily be caught. For, given the common-enough speech-slurring in which most of us engage, the spoken phrase "tough road to hoe" sounds nearly exactly like the correct phrase, "tough row to hoe." Probably because, in normal speaking-speed, the last letter of "road" and the first letter of "to" sound alike and comfortably slur into each other. Presto: tough road to hoe.

Even for men on a chain gang, I imagine.

Can't remember where, but today I saw an article online describing someone as a "shoe in" for some position or award.

English spelling, with all of its irregularities, doesn't help. Growing up I believed for several years that "hysterical" and "asterical" were separate words, the first describing a condition of being out of control, the second describing something that was extremely funny. My college poetry professor (since then a US Poet Laureate) once told us that he grew up thinking that "misled" (pronounced mis-LED) was a different word from "misled" (pronounced "MI-zled"), with the former describing something accidental and the latter describing something intentional. That's actually a distinction that might be useful if accurate.

I would have sporked both of your last two posts in this thread if I could have.

[devildeac]

You know what they say--heir today, gone tomorrow.

Did you mean this instead?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6xKM-H2awE

(You have to listen/watch to the very end to know what I'm talking about.)

[Indoor66]

I don't think aire would of past.

Two heir is human, to forgive is in vane.