I just heard a person on a local public radio show discussing a court ruling:

“That case was based around . . .”

No, that case was based on . . .

By the way, the case wasn’t based off of . . . either.

Along with the misuse of “literally,” we have “definite” and “exact.” And, “think.”

I heard a woman on a sports talk show today. She was talking about a fan who had promised to eat poop if such and such happened. Evidently, it happened.

She asked, “Will he eat poop now?”

Then, she answered her own question: “I think, it’s definitely, a possibility.”

There’s also a lot of “I think so and so is exactly right.” When one says, “I think,” these days, isn’t it kind of a qualifying statement? In other words, “I’m not positive, but . . .”

Can you say, “I’m not sure, but I think so and so is exactly correct?”

Mind you, I don’t have a problem with, “I think so and so is right.”

Some folks, even if they actually are smart, try to sound even smarter. You know, learned, literate, or erudite (three syllables, folks).

Perhaps that explains why I keep hearing “processes” (the plural, not the verb) pronounced “prah-sess-eeez.”

I looked it up. It’s “prah-sess-iz.”

I can’t help but note that 90% of the folks on TV pronounce fen·tuh·nuhl as fen-tuh-nall.

I have no idea why this is.

I mean, look at the way it’s spelled: Fentanyl.

In fact, it should probably be fen-tan-ill.

A little while back, a person on TikTok started a craze regarding the word “demure.”

“Demure” is an adjective that essentially means “modest,” “reserved,” “shy,” or maybe “coy.”

Predictively, “demure” has gotten confused with “demur.”

“Demur” is a verb that means to “object,” “hesitate,” or “express reluctance.”

“Demur” is also a legal term, that means “to take issue with an initial pleading,” such as a complaint. When a defendant demurs, they file a responsive pleading, called a “demurrer.”

The other day, an MSNBC host said, “So and so demured to something or other.”

I suggest hitting up the dictionary. And, don’t be bashful.

When my kids were in grammar school, I sometimes heard classmates saying “verse” when they meant “versus.”

As is often the case, this misuse has found its way up the evolutionary ladder.

Now I hear sportscasters doing it all the time.

I was listening to Sirius radio this morning.

There was an advertisement for, I believe, a station featuring Conan O’Brien.

Conan talked about his station, and ended with:

“Listen to Joe, Harry, and myself on the Conan O’Brien station.”

This guy has a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard?

A few days ago, I heard a football analyst on the radio say that a certain coach “slept walked through the game.”

Frankly, I don’t know if it should have been “sleep walked,” or “slept walk,” or what.

But, I would have gone with, “It seems like he was sleep walking through the game.”

Sometimes it’s best just to take the easy way.

OK. Let’s review a few gems from campaign coverage over the last couple weeks.

We learned that one candidate “is trailing behind” the other in polls.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign, in one minute, came up with these three:

“(Something) aligned (or maybe ‘alined’?) up with (something else).”

The word “refudiated.”

“I was not actually ousted out of a campaign rally.”

Finally, a person identified as a college professor used the word “subsanative.” (Not sure how that one’s spelled.)

 

Before Game 7 of the NBA Finals tonight, one of the ABC analysts got a bit excited about the situation. She said:

“(A certain Golden State Warrior)
kept
repeating
the same
mantra
over and over and over
in the locker room.”

A thing of beauty. A classic.

I don’t remember who said this, but it was someone on one of the cable networks.

It’s just too priceless to pass up.

“It’s not the traditional supply/demand dynamic that we used to see in the past.”

Let’s get back to the primary election coverage.

Yesterday, a pundit, providing pithy analysis of developments on the Republican side, commented:

“She is basically universally liked by a lot of the Republicans.”

I don’t know what to do with this.

This morning, another analyst referred to something a candidate said:

“(Those were some) remarkable remarks.”

I just read that the one candidate everyone’s talking about went to Fordham for two years and then graduated from Wharton.

I wonder why he keeps saying that he got ripped off in Louisiana because he got more votes but ended up with less delegates.

I was looking at some comments on a product I was considering buying.

One person said that his complaint to customer service “fell on deft ears.”

The Sunday morning talk shows don’t disappoint.

Republican candidate for the presidential nomination on the chances that there will be a brokered convention:

“It’s probably likely.”

Primary coverage continued.

A campaign advisor discussing the influx of certain ethnic voters to Florida (several thousand potential voters of this ethnicity are relocating to Florida every day):

“They’re anticipating an additional hundred thousand more.”

Still on the primary beat. It’s like watching a train wreck. Not to mention the coverage.

A reporter on my favorite cable news network just introduced an interviewee. A colleague.

“(She’s an old pal of mine.) A fellow former Miami Herald alum.”

I wonder when they stopped being alums.

More primary commentary:

A well-known, perhaps notorious, yet, of late at least, generally reliable, anchor on one of the cable stations was tonight providing updates about the returns from one state:

“(A certain senator) trails far behind.”

(Funny thing was, a producer or graphics guy must have thought this was pretty good stuff — within two minutes of the utterance, the quotation was in the crawl.)

Acceptable alternatives: “. . . is far behind.” Or, “. . .trails by a lot.”

I’d be surprised if a candidate could trail far ahead.

 

This primary season just keeps getting better and better.

Q: What is more entertaining that the debates?

A: The post-game show.

This morning, with regard to the Democratic debate last night, a talk show host provided this analysis:

“Both of those answers are pretty much exactly the same.”

Seems like that may be overdoing it a bit.

More fun from the political arena.

On Monday, as we got ready for the Iowa caucuses, Brian Williams provided a weather report:

“Blizzard warnings blanket most of the entire state of Iowa.”

Got it. Might snow.