
 |
|
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Feb. 20, 2009
/ 26 Shevat 5769
Worthless words
By
Greg Crosby
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Loyal readers of this space know that periodically I will go off the deep end on the use, or rather the misuse, of words and phrases in our "enlightened" society. One of the most bothersome phrases to my ears in recent years has been the "I was like" phrase, which started with young inarticulate teens, but has now been embraced by all age groups and education levels throughout the world, it appears. The phrase, "was like" seems to be a replacement for the words "said" or "thought" and is used most often when relating an event or telling a story. For example… "He wanted me to get back into the car and I was like are you kidding me? And he was like, no I'm serious. And I was like, hello?"
Imagine what Shakespare would have sounded like if it had been performed in that style.
Romeo and Juliet: "Juliet was like, O Romeo, Romeo! Where's Romeo? You know?"
Or Hamlet: "And I'm like, to sleep perchance to dream. Whoa, that's the rub."
Can you imagine how that famous scene in Gone with the Wind would be described by people of today? "Scarlet was like, so where are you gonna go? So what are you gonna do, dude? And he is like, I am so not into you, my dear."
Speaking of the movies, there are typical movie expressions that bother me. In the movies you hear certain expressions in dialogue that no one in real life ever says. Have you ever, in real life, heard anyone say in total seriousness, "let's high-tail it out of here?" Or "I think I'll rustle up some grub?" Unless you were the dialogue coach for Gabby Hayes you probably never did. Or what about, "Darling, don't be facetious." Have you ever heard a real person say that in normal conversation? I don't think even Bette Davis talked that way in her real life.
Then there is what I call Bogart-speak. That's when you say lines like, "I stick my neck out for nobody." And "I wash my hands of the whole business." And "You thought you'd put one over on me, but I fooled you at every turn." "Nobody makes a monkey out of me and gets away with it." Sentences like those definitely qualify as Bogart-speak.
Of course these are all expressions commonly used in the old movies, but new movies are just as phony in their own way. Like the frequent use of vulgarity in everyday speech. This may come as a shock to many Hollywood screenwriters, but the vast majority of the population for the most part still manages to speak in sentences that don't rely on the "f" word being inserted at every opportunity. But, sad to say - if Hollywood hammers it home often enough it won't be long before everyone will be talking like that on a regular basis.
There are some slang terms that are an actual improvement, believe it or not. For instance, hardboiled detective slang. Nothing is as on-the-nose graphic as the way the hoods and dicks spoke in the old dime novel pulps from the 20's and the gangster movies from the 30's. Miskatonic University Press published a glossary of these hardboiled terms that are a pure delight. It features sentences like:
"I jammed the roscoe in his button and said, 'Close your yap, bo, or I squirt metal.'"
"The flim-flammer jumped in the flivver and faded."
"You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles before I stuff that mud-pipe down your mush--and tell your moll to hand over the mazuma."
"The sucker with the schnozzle poured a slug but before he could scram out two shamuses showed him the shiv and said they could send him over."
See? Now THAT"S what I call slang with style! Sentences that are descriptive, hard-edged, and have plenty of attitude, and not a dirty word in any of them. I contend that a statement like "Shut your stinkin' pie hole" has more edge to it than using four letter words to say the same thing.
It's also more fun to say. It certainly is more fun to say, "The bruno turned the heat up, gave me the buzz and nailed me" as oppossed to "I was like, HELLO?"
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.
Greg Crosby Archives
© 2008, Greg Crosby
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Michael Barone
Dave Barry
Tony Blankley
Andy Borowitz
David Broder
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
John Fund
Frank J. Gaffney
Lloyd Garver
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Lewis Grossberger
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Laura Ingraham
Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Dick Morris
Bill O'Reilly
Jim Mullen
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Jonathan Rauch
Celia Rivenbark
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Culture Shlock
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
Gary Brookins
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holber
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Ranan R. Lurie
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

How 2
Lori Borgman
The Savvy Consumer
Elder matters
Fixit
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Tech Maven
Every Monday Matters
Nutrition Myths
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
How Stuff Works
|