Saturday, May 1, 2010

Grammar Police: The "Trump This" Edition

If there's anything worse than the grammar police, it's a grammar policeperson who gets it wrong. 

To wit: I was channel surfing the other night (yes: I still have TV; the Kentucky Derby is upon us, you see) and lingered on The Apprentice

Big-hearted, sincere Cyndi Lauper had just begun to make a point--"I feel bad . . ."--when the horrifically haired host of the show interrupted her.  "Badly!" he barked, and the ever polite Ms. Lauper demurred to either his authority or his volume.

Of course, many a gentle viewer and reader will know that Cyndi Lauper was perfectly appropriate in her use of "bad" and the host should be . . . well . . . fired from his self-proclaimed position as guardian of the English grammar.

The 1980s icon Cyndi Lauper recalls for me another 80s icon: Katharine Hamnett, who also knew a thing or two about grammar, with her sentence shirts. 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood co-opted this one, above, but I think its message still stands: Relax, Mr. T. 

And Wham! wore Hamnett too.  Their hair was/is definitely Number One.



Do you think that the t-shirts fit badly?  Don't feel bad if you do . . .

2 comments:

WendyB said...

Why oh why did I not keep my Frankie and Wham t-shirts?

Sister Wolf said...

Jesus, how maddening to hear an idiot correct grammar incorrectly!!!