Notes & Asides - Column

National Review, Sept 30, 2002

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: Re Mr. Magee's letter (N&A, June 3):

AtAt age 86, I have had many encounters with current usage or slang. I usually find them piquant or refreshing.

I like the shorthand of "9/11." It says so much, so quickly. I wish all the taxicabs in New York City had bumper stickers reading:

"Remembering 9/11 24/7."

Sincerely,

Carol C. Carlisle

Lake Jackson, Tex.

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: You were entirely too easy on Dr. Skapa of Denver (J(July 15), who quibbled about NR's use of "six-month anniversary." You wrote that he is right, but I respectfully disagree.

Certainly anniversaries are annual events. But after six months, we are half-way to the first anniversary. If one chooses to recognize that fact at that time, does the observation not mark a "half-year anniversary"? And since half a year is six months, is a half-year anniversary not also a six-month anniversary?

Sincerely,

Peter R. Devine

Bedford, Mass.

--Oh, come on, Devine, you're a good advocate but you refuse to acacknowledge the heavy iron cage built around the word "anniversary." The way you're going, you'd authorize "first-week anniversary."

"The English language is wonderful," someone wrote a while back, "but there are some things you just can't do with it."

Things like a six-month anniversary, which has to be, however periphrastically, six months after, or since.

Cordially, WFB

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: Please clarify the usage of two words in National ReReview that differs from what I thought to be correct.

First, NR uses a lowercase "e" when referring to a specific country's embassy (the same is true for "consulate"). As a proper noun, shouldn't "U.S. Embassy" be capitalized?

Second, shouldn't the "e" in "E-mail" also be capitalized? I have read that a single letter combined with another word to form one object (e.g., T-shirt) should always be capitalized.

Can you clarify?

Respectfully,

Rob Lisch

Tampa, Fla.

--Dear Mr. Lisch: That last rule sounds right, but it is very hard to imimpose rules in the cyberworld because the organic drive is to minimalize. As you will have noted, the vector in usage and punctuation is toward stoicism: Note that quotation marks are often disdained. I'm glad to see you using parentheses, which appear to be on the way out.

Cordially, WFB

-- Dear Mr. Buckley: As a self-confessed English-language purist, I hahave observed some laughable transgressions among news anchors, commentators, and reporters. They have no clue as to the proper use of "who" and "whom." Their rule of thumb seems to be: When wanting to appear like a regular guy, use "who," when wanting to appear hoity- toity, use "whom."

Also, the useful, if specialized, word "literally" is thrown in as a catch-all adverb in nearly every sentence. Worse, they often misuse the word, inadvertently creating low comedy. Some examples:

-- "He was literally born with a silver spoon in his mouth."

-- "The wide receiver literally flew into the end zone."

-- "It is literally raining cats and dogs."

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Sam Woods

Los Angeles, Calif.

--Dear Mr. Woods: Yes. I take my complaint even further. =93Literally," as commonly used, means now not-literally. It is raining hard, but not with cats and dogs.

Cordially,

-- WFB