Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET Pushing Your Buttons by MARGARET DICKSON In the decade plus that I have written this column for Up and Coming Weekly, I have learned a thing or two about what topics get your attention, which ones get you riled up, and which ones are best left unmentioned. Your mother warned you about the usual suspects — politics, sex and religion. Politics have occasionally crept into a column or two, generating various reactions, sex not so much, and religion — never! Not only are we never going to agree with each other on these topics, we are not going to convince each other of the rightness of our positions either, so I almost always choose to let those sleeping dogs lie. I have found myself in editorial hot water with readers now and again, though, and on subjects I would not have imagined. I found out the hard way just how generational and how personal tattoos are to many of those who have gone under the needle. After a column, which wondered why anyone would decorate him/herself in such a permanent way, my inbox was flooded with deeply held responses to that question. Some writers seemed offended that I had even asked the question, and a musician in a band at a social occasion snarled at me under breath, "What have you got against tattoos, lady?" The columns which have generated the most response, though, and which people continue to talk to me about years later deal with something I never would have guessed is so important to so many, the English language! My mother and my grandmother were both sticklers, so we children heard lots about the proper use of English, but I did not understand how many other people did as well, much less how many of us took such advice to heart. I now know that there are lots of Defenders of English out there, and I am glad of it. I also know that you Defenders have some English language pet peeves, and the beginning of a new year seems an appropriate time to get them off our chests. So, I am going to share some of mine and hope you will share yours as well. Language irritations change with time, of course, and the one, which really grates on me these days, is "went missing." I cringe every time I hear it. People, pets, glasses, car keys, etc., do not "go missing." They may be missing or lost, Where we eat and speak Italian le I & tizzeriataly itrp L estaurant Your Community Handbook VOLUME 16 FEBRUARY 9-15, ISSUE 06 News, Views, Arts and Entertainment. Fayetteville's Community Newspaper providing useful information for you every week. 2011 • Parties & Catering • Carry Home Service e Fayettevillp sU Quacky Slated 910.867.8700 (All American Freeway & Owen Drive) eville The Night They Invented Champagne Entertains Focus On Fayett INSIDE ate UP In DA sid T ove I Lntown Dow Up d HOURS: M-S 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Bring Your Love Downtown M EeIN M BE SIDE AT R TE LA RS ND 1400 Walter Reed Road, Suite 130 All Major Credit Cards Accepted www.upandcomingweekly.com Duck Derb CU • Casual Atmosphere • Impressive Wine List or they might have disappeared, but they did not "go missing." I first heard this expression on television, so I will blame this misuse on that all-purpose villain, The Media. "Few" and "less." Few is used when you can actually count the items, and less when you cannot. For example, you can say few people attended last night's concert, and we have less milk than we need. You would not say less people came to the concert or we have few milk for coffee. "Farther" and "further." Here again, farther refers to something countable, as it is farther to Charlotte from Fayetteville than it is to Raleigh. In other words, Charlotte is more miles away. Further refers to something uncountable, as in we should discuss this matter further. "Lie" and "lay." People lie down. People lay the paper on the table. When a Precious Jewel makes this error — as in "I am going to lay down for a nap," I ask him whether they were planning to lay an egg, or as one of my favorite other mothers told her PJs, "children lie, chickens lay." This remains an ongoing conversation, though. I hear this one all the time from people who should know better, including many college graduates. "Jane went to the movie with Joe and I." No, no! Jane actually went to the movie with Joe and me. We would never say Jane went to the movie with I, and we should not say it when someone is involved either. Another version of that one, particularly common in children although I hear adults say it as well, is this. "Me and Thomas went to the movie." To this, I always respond, "Really? I did not know that Thomas is mean." This generally stops the speaker in his tracks while he thinks about it and sometimes gets the point. And then there is the ever popular, "Where did you get that at?" My grandmother never failed to say "between the 'a' and the 't'," because she knew never to end a sentence with a preposition. Now that this Lieutenant in the Language Police has had her say, it is time for you to have yours. MARGARET DICKSON, ConA Happy, healthy and prosperous New tributing Writer, COMMENTS? Year to all, and my inbox is open. Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200 Daily Specials • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Fresh Seafood • Hand Cut Steaks • Homemade Desserts • Italian & Greek • Children's Menu Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. 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