Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Pups. Young Little Pups.

Cruising the blogs today there was an interest piece in a journal called "Inside Higher Ed". See, the year is 2006 and the average college freshman is 18 years old. That means the average college freshman was born in 1988!

In case you are wondering what these college freshman have lived, Higher Ed has compiled a list and I've highlighted some of my favorites:

34. They have always known that “In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups.”

Hard to believe that when I became obsessed with Law & Order one summer it was 8 years ago! And the show had already been on for 8 years! I don't think I've watched an episode of "Ol' Skool Law & Order" in about 5 years.

67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.

I remember my mom putting in her "hard lenses" and freaking out! Glass on your eye, mom? Come to learn about a year ago that one of my former friends still wears hard lenses! Damn!

69. Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.

I got two copies when I graduated from college 6 years ago.

75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

My favorite joke when I left the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center two years ago was that I was ending my career as a professional gay and "going back to amateur status so I can compete at the Olympics." While not really "laugh out loud", or rather LOL, funny, it pains me to know that today's college freshman may not even get the joke.

Finally, I need some help from my Grammar Warrior friends. (Shout out to Ms. Granfors!). Number 39 is listed below but I am concerned that the "Inside Higher Ed" people might need some grammar help:

39. “So” as in “Sooooo New York,” has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.

If I am describing something as "Soooo New York" then New York is an adejective, making Soooooo an adverb. Right? Or am I wrong here?

2 comments:

Damian said...

Arguably "New York" in this sentence acts as a subject compliment. See here. So it can still be considered a noun.

But... "soooo" is not precisely modifying "New York" itself. The sentence literally means, "That guy is soooo (archtypical of the type of person who lives in) New York." Or, "These Hot Dogs are soooo (evocative of the type of hot dogs you'd see in) New York." "Soooo" modifies the unstated adjective.

Anonymous said...

My name is Elena and I fabricated this entire blog to try to hurt a man I dated named Brian. I cannot get him out of my mind for even a second and so...I'm going a bit nuts.

Forgive me Brian. I love you and will do absolutely anything to get you back. I'm begging you Brian.

Love always, Elena