MMMM #424 --- Language

    

      I'm confident that if the punk band Pussy Riot had called itself Russian Girlies, their imprisonment in Russia would never have been reported on most local TV stations in the U.S.
     As it is, the story was everywhere over the holidays. Seems some producers and anchors can't resist getting the word pussy on air without having to interview a veterinarian, and without risking an FCC fine.
    Language is important.
    A news release I received informed me that "Less Americans know what the phrase "See Something, Say Something" means.
     That would be fewer Americans, of course. That's one of the most common grammatical errors in the language, but far from the only one.
     Another is using "There's" with a plural object of the verb. As in:
    "There's too many cars on the lot".
    No, there are too many cars, not is. There's is a contraction of There is.
    I'm literally (one of my top linguistic pet peeves) tilting at windmills here, for the rules about meaning and spelling (my own weakness) are dissolving. In fact it has been suggested that writing itself---the penmanship kind--- be eliminated from schools. When was the last time you wrote, really wrote a letter?
    

The Columbia Journalism Review this past week included a column about "Words of the year" selections. It proved my vocabulary needs some freshening up. I has never even heard of some of those hot new words. Twerk, sure, but ITAP and 404?
     Who can keep up?
     I should have asked Santa for a new dictionary!

[ALSO: Longtime Birmingham TV News Anchor Scott Richards is leaving WBRC-6 after being unable to reach an agreement with the station on a shorter schedule of work hours. He's been there 33 years, which would seem to be long enough for any job.  Scott has always been kind and supportive to me, so I have a soft spot in my heart for him.
     There was a time back in the 80's when WBRC-TV said it was

dumping Scott, and a kind of mini-revolt took place on-air at WERC-TalkRadio...I want to think/remember we helped him keep his job, though it may be simply that the TV station came to its senses. Good Luck Scott. I'm sure there is a media entity that would be delighted to have you, short schedule or not.]

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of TimLennox.com]