Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: media

Decry me a River

There, there. Put your head on my shoulder and have a good decry. I decried just thinking about it. Oh wait. DEcry. That’s different.

Thank goodness for the newspapers and television folk who keep those old terms alive. The Tulsa World this morning features a headline about a decision being decried, which – according to the ol’ Merriam-Webster is to: 1) depreciate, like a coin’s value; 2) express strong disapproval. We’d have understood better if it read DECISION DISSED. Dissed, we know.

And the sports folk, gotta love ’em. They’re recapping the stats:

Sportsguy One: He’s flying in space, running downhill, north and south!

Sportsguy Two: Yeah! He has twenty yards thus far on the night.

Thus far, thus good.

Do we really use -thus- in place of -so- when we talk?

Guy Who Wants a Date: Thus… wanna get a cup of coffee?

Potential Date: Sorry. I’ve already had four cups on the night.

On the night? On the season?

How about -tonight? or THIS season?

Viewer: I’ve had about enough of this tonight.

Other Viewer: Yeah, I’ve gotta get up early on the morning. I’m takin’ it to the house.

Now, as long as the car remains on the tarmac, and attention is ramped up, all is well on the world.

Know your cliches:

Is Your Name Famous?

Nils Thor Granlund

As a matter of total disclosure, I have a vested interest in offering this new book from McFarland Publishing. They gave me a contract to write it. It’s the story of a Swedish-born showman who lived through Prohibition, the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Era, and the dawn of electronic media.

He wrote music, flew airplanes, discovered entertainers, and was the first New York Deejay. He created the film trailer and was the first to use a microphone at a sporting event. He brought showgirls to Las Vegas before it had chorus lines. He made millions and died nearly penniless.

His once-famous name and routine was nearly completely forgotten. It was a pleasure to preserve the story of his many adventures and accomplishments and to solidify his place among the early entertainment world greats.