HuffPost Books
Poor, beleaguered Alanis Morissette has long borne the brunt
of our society’s pedantry about the word ironic. Sure, her song
“Ironic” notoriously misuses the word (around 10 times) and repeatedly insists
that rain on your wedding day is ironic rather than simply a bit of bad luck.
But while many of us have poked fun at Morissette’s poor diction, her use of ironic
to describe coincidences or annoying events is reflective of how many of us
casually misuse the term. Continue reading...
1 comment:
In a similar vein the song phrase, "I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair...", has educated a whole generation incorrectly. Now we have some mythical history of punk rockers looking like hippies... We have the word 'was' becoming a subjunctive mode, when the correct word to use in this case is 'were'as in "If I were a carpenter..." and "If I were a rich man..."
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