While watching Penn State eke out another ugly victory yesterday, I was reminded that, contrary to popular belief, and a columnist for Spark, footballs are not made of pigskins. Au contraire, mon frere, they're made of cow skins -- leather. Oh, and the same columnist -- Rob Kalesse, by name -- thinks all right is spelled alright. In his defense, most people make both of those mistakes. But most people aren't columnists.
And while watching post-game interviews and ceremonies as Joe Paterno celebrated his 409th win(well, celebrated is not exactly the word; others celebrated; he merely nodded and mumbled), it occurred to me once again that it's time for the man to retire. He is showing every one of his 84 years, and it's just selfish of him not to announce his retirement and allow the process of choosing his successor to begin.
As the holiday season gets underway (call me Scrooge, but I really dread it), here's a game you can play: See how many times you can spot the misuse of the first word in that old standard "Season's Greetings." It should have an apostrophe because it conveys the thought "greetings of the season." Guaranteed you'll see it without the apostrophe or with the apostrophe following the word -- i.e., Seasons'. Pay attention; report back.
I leave you with a few redundancies to watch out for: gather together, Jewish synagogue, lag behind, manual dexterity, occasional irregularity, outer rim, basic fundamentals, first time ever, rarely ever, personal friend, shrug one's shoulders.
Till next time.
Bob
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