Re: The National Park Service says, "WMYBSALB? Banned!"

1

Its a crying shame what liberal's will due to our country.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:00 AM
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2

You mispelled the word country"


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:04 AM
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3

I want to know what the typos were.


Posted by: Matt F | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:06 AM
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3: Yeah, how can we judge whether a crime took place without knowing the exact nature of the misplaced comma and apostrophe ?


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:08 AM
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5

The sign.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:11 AM
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6

Again, I am put in mind of the Militant Grammarians of Massachusetts.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:11 AM
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7

Inspector Gadget is his hero. Hm.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:12 AM
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8

So one of the guy's names was Ben?


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:15 AM
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9

8 is hilarious.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:16 AM
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9: Because it's true.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:17 AM
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So, they're paying $3000 to repair the sign. Are they going to correct the typos? Also, the typo they didn't correct, "emense," seems like it should be a verb describing getting your period.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:20 AM
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12

"emense," seems like it should be a verb describing getting your period on someone else.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:23 AM
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12: And that someone else is Adam Kotsko.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:27 AM
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10: not just because of that.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:37 AM
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5: So that's the "corrected" sign, with dollops of white-out apostrophizing "women's" and commaing "wands, carved wood"? Why did they stop there? The whole thing seems like a grammatical nightmare (what's with the semicolon after "germination"?).


Posted by: Chris Conway | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 10:55 AM
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not just because of that.

Only Sifu really understands me!


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 11:12 AM
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17

Why did they stop there?

Seriously. They forgot to add a serial comma in the sentence they edited, for one thing.


Posted by: mrh | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 11:51 AM
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18

Serial commas are considered harmful.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 11:55 AM
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Real badass grammar vigilantes would have made it look like an original part of the sign, and not have gotten caught. But like true little bitches, they couldn't bear to correct it in a way that didn't draw attention to the correctors.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 11:57 AM
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Serial commas are considered harmful.

Cereal commas, on the other hand, would be a great addition to Alpha-Bits™. I have long lobbied Post Cereals for such an upgrade, the better with which to create grammatically sound breakfast constructions.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:25 PM
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21

i think i've read some 8's comment and it's now disappeared
was it the 'blankface'commenter's comment?
at least he signed his esoteric comment
i thought his like babysteps should be like a little bit encouraged, no?


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:29 PM
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his like babysteps should be like a little bit encouraged, no?

No. e-mail apo, off blog if you want an explanation.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:34 PM
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i thought his like babysteps should be like a little bit encouraged, no?

No. Also, we do not discuss him.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:34 PM
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wow, what an unusual harsh treatment, he is like hitler or what? well, ok, i trust your judgement unfogged


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:40 PM
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25

He's far worse than hitler.


Posted by: Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:41 PM
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26

8 as in me?


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:42 PM
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27

26: Not 8 inches, just 8.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 12:43 PM
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Cereal commas, on the other hand, would be a great addition to Alpha-Bits™.

You're supposed to gnaw your own punctuation, Stanley.


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 1:33 PM
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29

Banned! Exciting!

max
['Gee, I bet this dies too.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 1:47 PM
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You're supposed to gnaw your own punctuation, Stanley.

Ooh! And the re-insertion into the cereal can be called a "colon blow"!


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 1:58 PM
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31

That's a rather surprisingly melodramatic end to the TEAL saga. I remember thinking what a cute idea that was... but I hadn't imagined them trying to correct signage in national parks, which is an order of magnitude beyond your local cornership with its "Great" Deal's!!


Posted by: DS | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 1:59 PM
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32

A lot of the National Park Signs in Puerto Rico were in this weird language with normal American words beneath it, so I scratched out the weird stuff, because I'm a feminist colonist.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 2:02 PM
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33

Correcting typos on standard government-issue highway signs is ok. Doing anything to the pictured sign, which is obviously old and has been kept for reasons other than the information it contains is obviously dickish.

P.S. The original signmaker had damn good paint-writing skillz.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 2:49 PM
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34

33: she was quite the talented architect, too; she designed the building the sign is in.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 2:50 PM
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35

||
Springbok? Them's good eatin'.

Kudu? Um num num num num.
|>


Posted by: Knecht Ruprecht | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:16 PM
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36

Actually, if you're a proponent of the Chicago Manual of Style (as all right-thinking writers are), the serial comma is preferred.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:20 PM
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37

Ah, C's channel-hopping has landed on Ghostrider - funniest Nic Cage film ever. Am in flaming skeleton heaven.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:24 PM
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38

the serial comma is preferred

Of course it is. Ben's on crack and would like to thank his parents, God and Ayn Rand.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:25 PM
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39

Quick Question:

When will Michelle O be speaking tonight? Stupid Schedule page at the DNC website is broken (nice job, Dems! I'm voting for Nader!), the closest I can get is "prime time."

I don't want to miss it, but I'll be damned if I'll spend 2 hours watching prelim. nonsense.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:27 PM
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I'm looking forward to the part in the Convention when Obama catches a springbok, breaks its neck with his bare hands, and eats it.

Some people say it will reinforce him as 'other,' but I think America's sportsmen will support him.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:29 PM
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I don't like the serial comma, but I do like the Oxford comma—yet how is this possible?

Something else I like.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:29 PM
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I'm looking forward to the part in the Convention when Obama catches a springbok, breaks its neck with his bare hands, and eats it.

Don't be ridiculous. He can't be a leader if he eats the whole thing. He'll take the best cuts for himself and distribute the rest to his followers.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:31 PM
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39: Late, ish. I think. 10 pm or later, EST.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:34 PM
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44

I don't like the serial comma, but I do like the Oxford comma--yet how is this possible?

Ben doesn't like cattle, but he does like oxen.
Ben doesn't like parties, but he does like mixers.
Ben doesn't like smoked salmon, but he does like lox.
Ben doesn't like a postulate, but he does like an axiom.
How can this be?


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:34 PM
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45

35 - Indeed. The best of all is warthog - absolutely no meat quite as good. It's like venison with just a hint of bacon.

One time my folks took the family on vacation in Malawi (which isn't as odd as it seems, since we were living next door in Zambia), we came upon a village that had just killed a hippo. The hippo had killed a villager, so they had organized a hunting party and gone out to take care of business. Anyway, a hippo is *really* big, so the whole village (probably about 150-200 people) had participated in butchering and curing the meat. When we arrived the meat was curing on racks set up throughout the village - strips of hippo meat about an inch wide and twelve inches long were draped over wooden frames to dry. On the way back we bought some of the dried hippo meat - good stuff.

Incidentally - Hippos area really, really dangerous. They kill more people than crocodiles, lions, cheetah, and hyenas combined. Avoid.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:34 PM
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46

I don't like pornography, but I do like x-rated films.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:35 PM
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47

Ben doesn't like redcoyoteshrubtail, but he likes redfoxshrubtail.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:35 PM
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48

Obama will probably have to provide some Tofudebeest if he wants to lock up the arugula vote.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:35 PM
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49

Tailshrub, tailshrub.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:36 PM
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50

I don't like femmes fatales, but I do like vixens.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:36 PM
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51

He doesn't like Shell or Mobil, but he does like Exxon and Texaco.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:40 PM
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52

I saw a red fox on my last bicycle trip. They're not rare around here, but you don't see live ones much.

I have now bicycled to 5 of the 6 taverns on the 500 block of Sinclair Lewis Avenue.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:40 PM
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39: Late, ish. I think. 10 pm or later, EST.

That sounds right.

Hmm. We want Iris to see it, but that's a bit late. And you know, VCR, hassle. Hmm.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:41 PM
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54

He'll take the best cuts for himself

My friends, that's not change we can believe in.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:42 PM
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55

I don't like Satan, but I do like Xenu.


Posted by: Isaac Hayes | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:42 PM
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56

Is there a reason why the upcoming speech by Michelle Obama is making people post about bushmeat? Racists, all of you.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:45 PM
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Oh hey, the stinkin' NYT gives the specific time in the caption to the photo for their blog post on MObama. 10:30. Say 'goodnight,' Iris.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:45 PM
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58

Dangerous but relaxed hippo being groomed by some kind of fish


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:46 PM
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59

At 43 seconds.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:47 PM
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Is there a reason why the upcoming speech by Michelle Obama is making people post about bushmeat? Racists, all of you.

I blame Knecht.

Also, I believe we're talking about Barack eating the springbok. While Michelle doing it would impress Hillary supporters, it would scare off a lot of undecideds.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:47 PM
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The serial comma is such a waste of ink and labor that spending on serial commas over the last five years matches spending on the Iraq War. True fact.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:48 PM
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62

The narration on that video is disgusting.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:49 PM
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58: a rich buffet of dead skin, algae, and parasites

Ben, I have an idea for your sister's restaurant.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:50 PM
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64

I don't have sound.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:51 PM
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65

I took a great deal of pleasure in defining house style for my company and insisting on the serial comma. AP style is for newspapers, people.


Posted by: Chopper | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 3:56 PM
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66

Ben doesn't like wrestling, but he adores boxing.
He hated the Pyramids, but was impressed by the Sphinx.
He despises bobcats, but has a pet lynx.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:20 PM
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67

45 is the only useful comment this blog has ever produced.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:21 PM
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68

Bets on whether Tweety plans to embark on a campaign of acquiring warthog meat, or merely to avoid hippos.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:23 PM
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For those of you not on Sifu's Twitter feed, his last entry is as follows:

aborting hippo house mission


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:25 PM
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I've eaten barbel. I had no idea they ate hippo shit. I feel faintly queasy.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:25 PM
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The local zoo here in Boston once had a barbecue festival to coincide with their new warthog exhibit. I was, needless to say, thrilled, but it turns out they'd invited all the local barbecue joints to bring their regular old pork and beef to barbecue, rather than letting them select the weak and infirm from the exhibited pack. What a ripoff. A delicious ripoff, but still.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:26 PM
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69: you missed the colon.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:27 PM
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72: No one ever says that to Apo.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:28 PM
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74

Shrimp eat all kinds of nasty stuff. So do pigs and chickens. Rest easy.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:30 PM
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"pack" in 71 should have been "sounder". Select the weak and infirm from the exhibited sounder. Sorry!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:32 PM
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I've heard that strong, healthy warthogs are the tastiest.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 4:40 PM
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64: You left off "mental health."


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 5:28 PM
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Mental health is like relationships. If I had a yellow dog that did no more good than mental health, I'd shoot it.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 5:32 PM
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78: John, what's your position on relationships among non-human animals? Should dogs be monogamous? Polyamorous? Celibate? And what about hippos?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 5:36 PM
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I'm not willing to get between a hippo and its desires, whatever those desires may be.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 5:39 PM
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81

Knecht is succumbing to the influence of the veldt after all. What will the consequences be?


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 08-25-08 8:13 PM
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82

OH SHIT HERE WE GO!


Posted by: AMOROUS HIPPO | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 7:49 AM
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83

STRUCK DUMB, EH? GOOD, THAT'S HOW I LIKE 'EM.


Posted by: AMOROUS HIPPO | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 8:01 AM
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WOO! HYEAH! HYEAH! CALL ME A RHINO CUZ I'LL STOMP YOUR FIRE, HOT STUFF!


Posted by: AMOROUS HIPPO | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 8:05 AM
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WHICH IS TO SAY:

the reason they stomp out fire has to do with there sence of smell nerves, when they come across the sent of ashes/ fires it is like putting a rubber band around and bulls testicals it angers them so there for to stop they have to put out the fire.

IYKWIM, VELDT LIPS.


Posted by: AMOROUS HIPPO | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 8:07 AM
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The rubber band on the testicles initially angers critters, but after three days they drop off and the critter becomes peaceful, happy, and relationship-neutral.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 8:59 AM
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after three days they drop off and the critter becomes peaceful, happy, and relationship-neutral

One of the handful of off-color jokes that my father ever told me was when he confided that the reason for castrating bull calves was because it "gets their minds off of ass and onto grass" (i.e. they eat more and gain weight faster without the distractions of breeding).


Posted by: Knecht Ruprecht | Link to this comment | 08-26-08 11:47 AM
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I just noticed somethng annoying about the article. Making fun of the guys by calling them "self-anointed 'grammar vigilantes'". There's no need for the "self-anointed" part -- they are grammar vigilantes, just by virtue of their behavior. it's not like "vigilante" is a word that you have to go through certain specific requirements in order to be deemed an official vigilante.


Posted by: peter | Link to this comment | 08-28-08 7:43 AM
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I think they probably just wanted to make clear that they weren't calling them vigilantes, just reporting what they called themselves.

Alternately, there's a grammar vigilante certification process run by the MLA and we just haven't heard about it.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 08-28-08 8:10 AM
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I thought "self-proclaimed" meant the proclamation that there could be such a thing as a "grammar vigilante", and applying it to themselves. That is, the only kind of vigilante is a self-proclaimed vigilante, but one could proclaim oneself a vigilante without proclaiming oneself to be a "grammar vigilante".


Posted by: mealworm | Link to this comment | 08-28-08 8:26 AM
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