I can't tell. Is Kartul (Georgian) on there? It would be between the Black and Caspian Seas. The pic is too small on my phone for me to tell.

BTW, Im going home tomorow... yaaaa regiem changes!

from stephen holden in the ny times, ffs:

and later in the same article,


um, stephen? "rendition" doesn't mean what you think it means.

It seems like he means "torture," right? What word that's even close to rendition is he going for?

he obviously means "torture" (or "interrogation"?) but i guess he thinks "rendition" is some sort of legalese/euphemism for it that's more official-sounding. god i really hate when ppl use words they don't know the meaning of--and in the paper of record, no less. ugh. just say "torture"!

He's getting it from "extraordinary rendition", a euphemism that the US applies to kidnapping people (usually outside the US) and then taking them to other (non-US) countries for interrogation that usually does involve torture, by US agents or more frequently (I believe) by agents of the country to which the rendition takes place.

It is a violation of US law, of course, and the past couple administrations have denied doing it (much), but is quite common.

It is not completely unreasonable to relate it to torture, as it almost always involves torture. It is completely unreasonable for a journalist to use the term as a synonym for torture when in fact it denotes not the torture, but the kidnapping and international movement of the soon-to-be victim.

Thanks, Bulls. Nice post.

Pretty cool that...

I've probably been guilty of it myself, but yes, usually the old amateur grammar nazi pisses me off when using 'grammar' as a catch all term.

Maybe it's something like a TV dinner?

My dad will sometimes pronounce that phrase "pricks-fix," just to troll people.

Rediculous...

1:58 into this clip:

Today I learned what a prix fixe menu is...

and also laughed at Wigan fan's

How do I explain to my writing partner that he's using "et al" and "etc" interchangeably when they have different usages without sounding like a crazy, grammar nit psycho?

You could email him, "You use etc. and et al. interchangeably in your writing, but they don't have the same meaning," or whatever, along with concise definitions of both expressions. And possibly a snippet with one of his mis-usages so it isn't a baffling accusation.

As for not coming off as a crazy grammar psycho, I don't know if you have a proclivity towards spinning your emails off into long, grammar-related tangents, but as long as you don't, you should be fine; this stuff is usage, not grammar. And you're ****ing writers who, like, get paid for it. Unless he lacks professionalism, you shouldn't have to worry much about the nit part.

edit: I guess TV writers aren't obligated to great with usage and punctuation and all that stuff?

Just say: "Look it's not a big deal to me but I don't want agents or script readers to get turned off by stuff like spelling and grammar, so can you please learn the difference between etc and et al? Thanks."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/4-c...0806/?ref=auto

These are all over the downtown area where I live.

I like that the second one gets it even wronger

Love it.

Saw this during the Ravens-Colts game. Sigh.

I guess bloodshed was inevitable. How many must die?

Usually "I could care less" is said ironically, though, isn't it? I say it sometimes in that context, but I've always known it doesn't literally apply.

Isn't "less pickup" (treating it as a general concept rather than a countable quantity) actually more correct though?