Fun

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:45 AM -0700 8/3/02, Anne Gilbert wrote:
>Matthew:
>
>>  From _The Onion_ (reprised on my calendar for last month):
>>
>>  William Safire Orders Two Whoppers Junior
>>
>>  NEW YORK - Stopping for lunch at a Manhattan Burger King, _New York
>>  Times_ 'On Language' columnist William Safire ordered two "Whoppers
>>  Junior" Thursday. "Most Burger King patrons operate under the fallacious
>>  assumption that the plural is 'Whopper Juniors,'" Safire told a woman
>>  standing in line behind him. "This, of course, is a grievous grammatical
>>  blunder, akin to saying 'passerbys' or, worse yet, the dreaded 'attorney
>>  generals.'" Last week, Safire patronized a midtown Taco Bell, ordering
>>  "two Big Beef Burritos Supreme."
>
>Did he really?

Not if it was in The Onion.

>In the case of Safire, "patronize" is about the right word,
>because "patronize" is about what he does w.regard to language usage(doesn't
>really understand usage at all).  As you can see, I have little use for
>Safire and his "language maven" pronouncements.
>Anne G
>