I popped into town today. The weather was lovely again, though not warm.
It was only 1.30 pm but look how low the sun is - not quite behind the Castle but not far off.
And I sat on the little bench in the queue at the bus stop and wondered, as I often do, why some tall chaps stand on the non-queue side of the bus stop, blocking the view of the buses coming. Do they feel they're too cool to queue? I don't suppose they realise they're blocking the view but I wish they wouldn't. I have to keep bobbing up and down and craning my neck to see round them.
When I'm Queen, this will be a punishable offence. Haha. I have one or two other plans in mind for this time, connected with people who drop chewing gum on the pavements, those who say "I" when they mean "me"* and thin people who eat far more than I do and still remain thin.
And you? What's on your statute book?
* ... such as "He gave it to John and I". No he didn't. He gave it to John and me.
Our bus stops are placed so that if you perch on the little seat you have your back to the arriving buses and can't see them coming - that's annoying. But not only that, the bus actually stops at the other end of the shelter from the one where the stop is. As we are a tourist town lots of people don't know this and queue facing the wrong way. When the bus arrives and they realise that the last have indeed become the first the resulting scramble is not pretty. Could you add our bus stop designs to your list of punishable offences, please?
ReplyDeleteFor the last week I have had to put the lights on by 3pm - I don't really object to winter, but I do miss the daylight :(
Once a teacher always a teacher! Will you be moving to Buckingham Palace then?
ReplyDeleteAh, don't be complaining! At least you HAVE buses! Here you get in the car, or walk, and good luck with the walking since everything is a good hike....and it's not nearly as cool here as it is there.
Oh Isabelle..please don't get me started on this...it is a very long list!
ReplyDeleteI've never known what the I /me rule is. I just guess...wasn't taught grammar so had pick it up along the way. Go on, you know you want to, explain it to me. I'm sure you wouldn't want to have to punish me along with the other miscreants come the revolution?!
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed a new verbal tick manifesting itself - namely that of starting every sentence with 'So'. It's very catching.It may be replacing 'Well'.
ReplyDeleteMy very basic understanding has always been be to mentally leave John out for a moment - as in "He gave it to **** *** me." Thankfully, I've never heard anyone say "He gave it to I."
ReplyDeleteThis one really annoys me, especially when used by programme presenters on the BBC!
I was just going to say what the veg artist has already put so well. It has worked well for me over the years! My complaint recently is about radio/TV presenters who talk very slowly, almost making a sentence out of each word. Grrrr!
ReplyDeleteSuperfluous apostrophes.
ReplyDeleteOr should that be superfluous apostrophe's?
ReplyDeleteI hear and see the mistake of using "I" where "me" should be used so often that I think the language must be changing. It's a mistake made by quite well educated people. Depressing. And superfluous apostrophes are another peeve. But I don't think I will be Queen of the United States anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as you about the you and I thing.
ReplyDeleteThe other one that makes me hot under the collar is "The thing is, is that..." I can't believe how prevalent this is becoming - language divorced from any sense of its structure, or of the meaning of individual words!
People who say "are" but mean "our".
ReplyDeleteChildren will be seen and not heard, and will do what they asked to NOW!
ReplyDeleteOn my list: the use of the "historical present", descriptions of the past using the present tense. This includes novels written in the present tense - my brain keeps wanting to convert it to the past tense.
ReplyDeleteThe past tense was a sophisticated development in the history of language. Even Homer, or those who wrote his works, c. 700 BC, used the past tense!
It's a horrible habit which probably comes from America, to try to make history more accessible to the masses. Unfortunately it's unstoppable. Grrr!
1. People who wait until they are centered squarely in the doorway of a shop to stop and try to find their cell phone/cigarettes/keys/brain.
ReplyDelete2. People who stand too close behind you in queue.
3. People who drum on their desktop at work/ jangle their pocket change/ hold a running commentary out loud of what's going through their mind at the moment.
4. Political bumper stickers and lawn signs. They're not changing anyone's mind. No one cares who you're voting for.
5. People who volunteer extremely personal and unrequested information about themselves and their family members, during working hours, in the workplace, where you are unable to get up and get away from them without getting fired.
Actually, come to think of it, perhaps if I were Queen I'd just make other people illegal. That would solve everything, I think.