Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Some things just never get old

...and I never tire of reading Dave Barry when he goes into his “Ask Mr. Language Person” mode.

Here, from The Miami Herald, is Dave’s column from November 10, 2010, which first appeared in The Miami Herald way back on April 9, 1989.

Here, from the New York Times, is Dave’s column from October 9, 2004.

Here, from (I kid you not) the Arab News, is Dave’s column from May 28, 2005.

And here, from a website called Anvari.org, is an undated column of Dave’s.

I think I pointed you toward “Ask Mr. Language Person” a couple of years ago, but with my sides aching from laughing and my barely-suppressed giggles threatening to become full-blown uncontrollable guffaws, I am unable at this time to point you to that link.

If you want to read more of Dave Barry’s “Ask Mr. Language Person” you will just have to Google him yourself.

There is method in my madness. I’m just trying to put us all in a good mood so that we can be ready for whatever the Ides of March may bring.

(La Mort de César (The Death of Caesar), oil on canvas, 1867,
by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904), Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland)

2 comments:

  1. I have a question for 'Ask Mr Language Person': Why did Julius Ceasar say 'Et tu, Brute?' when the rest of the time he spoke English like regular people?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Although I am not now nor have I ever been Dave Barry's personal mail forwarder, I can tell you that (a) regular people are hard to find except in advertisements for Ex-Lax and (b) no two people speak English the same way. In America a so-called regular person might say, "I had to laaff to see the caaff go down the paath to take a baath" but over there where you are a so-called regular person might say, "I had to lahf to see the cahlf go down the pahth to take a bahth." I learned this interesting fact at, and sometimes over, my father's knee more than 60 years ago, and if ever there was a regular person, it was him, er, he.

    Julius Caesar said, "Et two, Bru-tay?" because a couple of pieces of pizza were missing.

    ReplyDelete

<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

We are bombarded daily by abbreviations in everyday life, abbreviations that are never explained, only assumed to be understood by everyone...