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Category Archives: UMBRAGE!!

This is why we can’t have fun things, guys

Yes, I know there should be a random doodle or something today but I’ve decided to post a link to this story instead.  Did you read it?

I AM SO ANNOYED.

You’ll remember that I’ve mentioned rare-earth magnets before and why I was so irritated with parents and their small children playing with the magnets and subsequently swallowing them.  So…you can imagine how I feel about A TEENAGER doing the same thing.

WHY IS A TEENAGER PUTTING RARE-EARTH MAGNETS IN HER MOUTH AND THEN SWALLOWING THEM??  To her credit, she said that it was a “stupid kid moment” and didn’t try and give some lame excuse as to why it was acceptable for her to swallow the magnets.  But still.  SHE IS NOT A TODDLER.

She also knew of the dangers of swallowing the magnets and she still put them in her mouth.  I can understand that she didn’t want to put them on the floor of the bathroom, but THEY’RE MAGNETS.  She could have stuck on her shirt.  They’re rare-earth magnets.  They’re incredibly strong.  They would have held together on her shirt.  WHY DID SHE PUT THEM IN HER MOUTH?  She could have put them in her pocket.  She could have even wrapped them in paper and put them by the sink.  Any of these things would have been acceptable.  Yet SHE PUT THEM IN HER MOUTH AND THEN SWALLOWED THEM.

She also decided to report her story to the media in order to alert parents and other children of the dangers of swallowing the magnets.  Ok, that was nice of her.  BUT WHY WAS SHE SWALLOWING MAGNETS TO BEGIN WITH?!  Younger children are known to put things in their mouth.  It’s part of their way of exploring the world.  It’s a known thing and it’s also why Buckyballs and related came with strong warnings against allowing younger children to play with them.

Why can’t parents have some common sense?  If there are 1o328u12o3 warnings on a product not to give them to small children, don’t you think you should at least investigate why the warnings are there before disregarding them?  Not all children have a fascination with putting things in their mouth.  I get that.  Maybe it would be ok if they played with the magnets.  Most children are not like that.  Parents probably already know their children’s typical behavior.  If they already have ample evidence that their children like to put things in their mouth, WHY ARE THEY GIVING THEIR CHILDREN SOMETHING TO PLAY WITH THAT IS POTENTIALLY FATAL TO THEM?  And then suing.  Yes.  Please to blame someone else for your own stupidity.

GAH.  I AM SO ANNOYED.

Et voilà!

I’m kind of a stickler for spelling and to a lesser extent, grammar.  And I definitely have some spelling pet peeves.

Loose?  As in you lost something?  NO.  It’s “lose.” One O.  One.  Yes, I know why you might think there are two O‘s in “lose.”  I’m sorry that English is a weird language and breaks pretty much all of its own rules.  But you went to school for a reason.  Please remember that there is only one O in “lose.”  So things happen and you lose your pen.  But your dog runs loose in the yard.  There’s a difference.

Definately?  NO.  Definitely.  It’s kind of like infinite, but more defined.  Just…remember how to spell the word properly.

There/their/they’re?  Really??  And also it’s/its?

Why are these things?  I know you went to school.  You may have even had to pay for it.  Why didn’t you even remotely try and get your money’s worth of education?

Those are only a few of my spelling pet peeves.  The loose/lose example probably bothers me the most.  But there’s one misspelling that’s quickly making its way up to the top of the list, that being “walla.”  Don’t know what that is?  That’s because it’s not spelled anywhere close to how it’s supposed to be spelled.  The people I’ve seen use that word really meant “voilà.”  As in, the interjection you might say when presenting something.  It’s used something like “tada!”  (Obtw, I would be willing to accept “voilà” without the accent, since accents can sometimes be a pain to include when you’re typing.)

Why does “walla” bother me so much?  I’m not entirely sure.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that it’s not even pronounced “walla.”  Do you see that V in front of voilà?  It’s not a silent V.  It’s not even a weird V that you pronounce like a W.  It’s pronounced like a V.  Merriam-Webster says that it’s pronounced like \vwä-ˈlä\.  I’m sure that’s very clear to you now.

Maybe you’re arguing that since the word is French in origin and the French do all kinds of weird and funny things to their spelling but still pronounce things the same way, spelling “voilà” as “walla” shouldn’t matter.  And I say to you pbblblblt (this is my spelling approximation of blowing a raspberry)!  I think we should respect other cultures and their weird spelling rules and spell words like they meant those words to be spelled.  And I mean it especially for our own English words.

LEARN TO SPELL.  IT’S NOT REALLY THAT DIFFICULT.  AND WHILE YOU’RE AT IT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL READ MORE.  AND DO YOUR MATH HOMEWORK.  DID YOU KNOW THAT HAVING A PAGE FULL OF CALCULATIONS CAN BE VERY SATISFYING TO LOOK AT AND RELAXING TO PRODUCE?  JUST…MAKE YOUR EDUCATION COUNT FOR SOMETHING, OK?