My favorite season

Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  I love those back to school days, especially when the mornings turn crisp and chilly, and the leaves begin to change color and fall from the trees. 

Like a warm sweater
You keep me cozy, comfy,
Draped in your softness.

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Yes, even in the midst of the rumbling that forayed its way into Baltimore, I found this.  I can't help myself.  This grammar gal is always on the look-out.

In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.

How did lamp posts acquire such special powers?

More Ludicrous Observations

Here is yet another round of ludicrous language.

I heard a radio ad for some weight loss product, and the opening line went like this:  If you are a man or woman who needs to lose weight...  Who does this company think is listening - bears, aliens?

How is it possible that we have such a thing as a debt ceiling?  Correct if I'm wrong, but doesn't a ceiling denote the very top and is stationary.  How can one "raise the roof?"

If one listens to something with half an ear, does this mean one only hears half of what is being said?

How did the professional title of 'bank teller' come to pass?  These people don't tell you anything, do they?

Maryland has a new program that replaces the former welfare program.  If one enrolls in this program, an Independence Card is issued.  Who thought up this name?  If one is obtaining help from the government, doesn't that make one dependent?

More to come...

Opposites Attract

One of my favorite rhetorical devices is the oxymoron.  There's something magical yet intimidating about placing two words side by side that mean the exact opposite.  That said, here are a few of my favorites.  Try to incorporate them in a conversation.  It'll make your listener think twice.

Seriously joking
Dressy casual
Regular diabetic diet
Fairly accurate
Pretty ugly
Long-sleeve T-shirt
Oven fried
All day happy hour
Single pair
Uninvited guest
White chocolate

Alma Mater

I have need to take an issue to task -- those metal frames that drivers display around their license plates.  You know to what I refer.  They most often sport the college said person has attended.  Let's clarify the word that generally appears at the bottom (and sometimes the top) of this rectangle. 

Alumnus is the traditional singular spelling.  The word refers to a graduate of a particular college.  At one time way back in the day, it referred to a male graduate.  Females need not apply.  

Alumni is the plural spelling.  This means more than one graduate, and grammar dictates that this can refer to both male and female.  Women's Equality rocks! (To note, alumna (singular) and alumnae (plural) refer to the ladies).

Well, what does all of this mean?  When you see those frames, they have the word alumni.  The only way this declaration works is if more than one person in that vehicle is a graduate of said college.  I would say that most oftentimes this is not the case.  The plate is a reflection of the driver's accomplishment.

I'll emphatically state that I always will support and display my alma mater whenever possible.  Go tigers!  For all future grads, remember this error and try to find a more grammatically correct way to support your school.