Remembrance of things past (show-biz edition) and a few petty gripes

Some performing groups came in twos (the Everly Brothers, the Smothers Brothers, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Steve Lawrence and Edyie Gormé, Peaches & Herb, Ike and Tina Turner, Simon and Garfunkel, Martin & Lewis, Martin & Rossi), some in threes (the McGuire Sisters, the Andrews Sisters, the Ritz Brothers), some in fours (the Pointer Sisters, the Ames Brothers, the Four Lads, the Four Tops, the Chordettes, Little Anthony and the Imperials, the Pointer Sisters), and some were even larger (the Osmonds, the Marx Brothers, the King Family, the Von Trapp Family Singers, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). I'm kidding, but only sort of.

All of the foregoing are from the part of ancient history known as the mid-twentieth century. I stopped listening to pop music when my children were small (translation: five decade back). We have blogger Tasker Dunham of Yorkshire,England, to thank for stirring up my brain cells in this area. At least you know that if, as Scottish people say at this time of year, auld acquaintance should be forgot, you will always have this blog to fall back on.

Enough of that.

There are words that describe various kinds of animals, words like canine (dog), feline (cat), asinine (donkey), bovine (cow), .ovine (sheep), equine (horse), porcine (pig), lupine (wolf), volpine (fox), caprine (goat), leonine (lion). If there is no such word as orcine to describe whales, there should be. All of these words describe mammals. Words also exist that describe birds (avian), bees (apian), and fish (aquatic) but they do not end in "-ine". If you know words ending in "-ine" that describe particular species (ducks? geese? chickens? hippos? rhinos? giraffes? ostriches? opossums? beavers? mongooses? platypuses? kangaroos? alligators?) please share them with us in a comment. Inquiring minds want to know.

Enough of that, too.

Mispronunciations irk me, especially by untrained singers at Christmas time. It isn't "Comfert and joy", people, and it isn't "O night deevine", and most importantly it isn't "Silunt night" or "Sleep in heavunly peace".

In regular, unsung speech all year long, "mis-cheevy-us" drives me crazy. If you try to remember that mischievous has three syllables, not four, you won't make it rhyme with devious. Say "mis-chiv-us" to keep my blood pressure in the normal range and I will thank you.

In the perfect world according to me, the first syllable of "applicable" is stressed, not the second syllable. The second syllable is stressed in "incomparable" and "irrevocable", not the third syllable. Perhaps these are problems for Americans only.

Enough of that, too.

i promised you petty gripes and I aalways deliver on my promises. And if you have spent a few minutes thinking about something besides Joe Biden or Donald Trump, it has all been worthwhile.