Editing

And it's reminding me of the current discussion in Column 8 about the North American pronunciation of buoy. It's not pronounced "boo-ee"! It's pronounced boy—as in "buoyant". Good heavens. You just look silly when you say "boo-ee"! I mean, yes, language changes, but some things are immutable.

And that goes for "versing" used (and abused) by the Young Folk as a verb, while I'm here being cranky and pedantic. You don't verse a team or person—you play them, or play against them. Get it right.

Thank you. (And that's two words, not one.)

(Mind you, while I'm at it—how truly fabulous is Meryl Streep? Goddess!)

Now for my fellow pedants to correct me on any of the above...

(AMENDMENT: Entry and spelling of buoy and buoyant is now corrected, as anticipated, some short time after posting the above, thanks to the kind and generous reader Meg. Gaaargh!)

I blame the celebratory Golden Globes glass of wine, or two. How embarrassment. (That's a quote, not a mistake.)

She's not, actually, she's a (retired) minister's wife, which is a profession all of its own.

However, there is a point to this entry's title. I mentioned once in my ever-changing sidebar that one of my favourite TV shows is the ABC's Spicks and Specks. It's a musical trivia quiz show, and it's about the cleverest, funniest and most enjoyable show on TV (now that The Glass House has been axed, grrr aaargh).

Anyway, last night's show included the category "Lookin' for Clues": the host, Adam Hills, gives a cryptic clue to a band or artist's name. So, "50s starlet serial killer" is Marilyn Manson. That was an actual clue from last night's episode. Guest panellist, Harry Angus from The Cat Empire, got it straight away, as he also immediately got the second clue—"Dirty Hometown of The Simpsons". Bzzzz! Dusty Springfield! All the other panellists looked dead impressed, and I swear I heard him say, under the audience applause, "I can do this! My mum's an editor."

Well, if I did hear right, that's one hell of a non sequitur, but it made me smile.

And to top things off, the episode ended with the Melbourne Ukulele Kollective playing "Long Way to the Top", with kazoos for the bagpipe section. Cool and funny, all at the same time. Perfect hump day pleasure.