Thursday, June 24, 2010

She'll Be Funeralized: What?

This morning, yet another TV reporter sent shivers down my spine when he announced that the victim of a murder would "be funeralized." He quickly stepped on his own toe and stammered, "Sh- she'll be... A funeral will take place tomorrow."

"Oh, no," I exclaimed. "Funeralize?"

Lazy me immediately checked Dictionary.com. Okay, yes, "funeralize" is an old word--1600's--meaning to conduct a funeral. But, can it be used in the passive?

I hoped not. Why not? After all, one can be eulogized, one can be buried, interred, entombed, lowered into the ground. One is dead. The only non-passive action of a dead person is to decompose.

Okay, fine, I'll get up and check my OE:

Yup. According to my bible, the OED, to funeralize means to conduct a funeral; it also means to make sad or melancholy.

Oh, you naughty TV reporters. It's not your fault. But, now that you've landed the job, could you please do your homework? Your language skills just funeralizes the hell out of me.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Cyndi Lauper Feels Bad, and That's Correct

Donald Trump, you're wrong. Cyndi Lauper, you're right.

It's "I feel bad."

That's because "feel" is a linking, or connecting, verb. As its name indicates, a linking verb connects the subject with the adjective.

"I feel badly" means I'm very bad at feeling things. I run my fingers across the class and do a terrible job of it.

"I feel bad" means just that--I'm upset, sad, disappointed.

But, don't feel bad; lots of people get this one wrong.