Well, we all have petty annoyances and pet peeves, so allow me to vent. The term “anniversary” denotes specifically an annual occurance for it incorporates the root of the latin word for year (Anno).
Occasionally I hear young couples (always YOUNG) refer to their “two month anniversary” or some such nonsensical statement. I guess we can allow them that, but when we begin to give journalists (whom we presume are professionals who have gone to college and don’t wish to mangle the english language) a pass on such usage, we know that we are truly slipping!
If we want to speak about the number of months that have passed since some big occurance, maybe we can simply say “ten months [to the day] after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina” or, if that is too clunky, we can make up a word like “monthiversary” and begin disseminating it.
I know this is not that big a deal, but it gets under my skin and from time to time, one needs to vent.
4 comments
Well, we all have petty annoyances and pet peeves, so allow me to vent. The term “anniversary” denotes specifically an annual occurance for it incorporates the root of the latin word for year (Anno).
Occasionally I hear young couples (always YOUNG) refer to their “two month anniversary” or some such nonsensical statement. I guess we can allow them that, but when we begin to give journalists (whom we presume are professionals who have gone to college and don’t wish to mangle the english language) a pass on such usage, we know that we are truly slipping!
If we want to speak about the number of months that have passed since some big occurance, maybe we can simply say “ten months [to the day] after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina” or, if that is too clunky, we can make up a word like “monthiversary” and begin disseminating it.
I know this is not that big a deal, but it gets under my skin and from time to time, one needs to vent.
Jeff,
This has to be in the top ten headlines for your blog. Thanks for the laugh.
Great story.
Ack! Your headline made my heart skip a beat for a while.
Hey Jeff, how about President Bush gives pro-lifers the finger! ? I think that would be pretty accurate!