With three words, with three fuckin’ words, Chase Utley became a Philadelphian. He uttered the unspeakable that spoke for us all. “World fuckin’ Champions.” He said it on live TV in front of — oh, I don’t know, a billion people? — and he said it as deliberately and magnificently as his fellow Californicatin’ Phillie said it. At the victory celebration in 1980 at JFK Stadium at the end of the biggest parade in this city that anyone had ever seen, Tug McGraw shouted, “New York can take this World Championship and stick it!” And we cheered each of them immediately — Tug and Chase — passionately and forever. Their blood has become our blood.

Utley spoke for us all when he dropped the F bomb to describe the indescribable, a feeling that comes once in a lifetime. Twice if you chose the right century to be born. World fuckin’ champions. God, that feels good. All the local stations were running live feeds of the victory ceremony at Citizens Bank Park when Utley dropped the big one, and you could actually hear NBC10 anchor Tim Lake laugh before coming on the air to apologize for the profanity that just went out over the airwaves. Perhaps the most unnecessary and insincere apology ever uttered.

What is it about Philadelphia that brings out the rude and inappropriate? Could it be about coming from a city that speaks its mind? Fuck you, King George. Bring on your lobsterback army. Fuck you New York. Bring on your money. Fuck you Washington. Bring on your power. Fuck you L.A. Bring on your Hollywood fame. And while you’re at it, fuck you in general. I’m from fuckin’ Philadelphia. The one thing I cannot stand, the one thing that drives me crazy, is to be looked down upon. Why? Because I’m from Philadelphia, you jit.

I’m from Phila-fuckin’-del-phia. I don’t have to explain my city to you. I can barely explain it to myself. But I carry in my genetic code a pride you cannot imagine. I’m from the City of Brotherly Love where we will beat your ass as happily as opening Christmas presents. Try us. I’m from Philadelphia. And so is Chase Utley

Tags: language & grammar, sports by Clark DeLeon
1 Comment »

The best typo I have ever seen in my line of work was “[a] coyote’s plaintiff whaling.” But the book I’m cleaning up now — without naming any names or titles or major publishers — has some pretty good ones.

[After tipping a cauldron of boiling tar over the enemy,] “he turned away from the sight of the massive pile of writing flaming demons…”

[The Dwarf King] “patted the legendary harmer at his side.”

“With the death of the Queen’s closets advisor since the time of her father…”

On the scale of one to plaintiff whaling, I’d give these 7, 8, and 9, respectively.

Tags: all work, language & grammar by Olga Gardner Galvin
1 Comment »

Ok, I couldn’t leave this one alone.

As reported on cnn.com, a McCain aide says Sarah Palin is “going rogue.”

Is that really a surprise? I mean, come on, people, she’s a maverick.

Wikipedia says: A maverick is a person who thinks independently; a lone dissenter; a non-conformist or rebel; it can also mean an unbranded range animal, especially a motherless calf.

My F12 popup dictionary widget says a rogue is primarily “a dishonest or unprincipled man,” but its 2nd ranking definition is “a person whose behavior one disapproves of but who is nonetheless likable or attractive (often used as a playful term of reproof): Cenzo, you old rogue!” [Read more →]

Tags: language & grammar, politics & government by Andrew Turner
1 Comment »

I was at an enormous Asian supermarket called Super H today and I saw, among all the shelves of miso, tofu, and kim chee, a new kind of iced coffee from Japan called “Let’s Be Bitter.”  (There’s a companion brand called “Let’s Be Mild.”)  Although I resisted the impulse to buy either variety, I was inspired by the names to dig up some old files of strange and astonishing “Janglish” I collected the last time I was in Japan.   All of the following are real, as hard as some of them may be to believe:  [Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd, language & grammar by Michael Antman
1 Comment »