Reversed in & out

[Joel S. Berson]

In her NY Times 'The TV Watch" column of yesterday (Oct. 19) on the
previous night's Republican candidates' debate, Alessandra Stanley
writes "Mr. Romney looked a little like a country club tennis player
dealing with a nonmenber guest who gauchely calls a ball in that was
obviously out."

When I remember playing tennis without line umpires at the country
club, it was the player whose side the ball landed on who was
supposed to call close shots.  A gauche nonmenber like myself (I mean
I was a nonmember, not a gauche) would therefore call a ball "out"
that was obviously in.  [Not yet corrected on-line by the chair umpire.]

Ms. Stanley perhaps needs to attend a Sports 101 semester (as well as
Creative Writing 153, "Overuse of Alliteration").  Later in her
article she writes that "The introduction to the Las Vegas debate --
with music, mountains, majesty and a montage of gambling images --
was a cheesy blend of Caesars* Palace and 'Sunday Night Football.'"

Surely the epitome of male sports-watching excess is "Monday Night Football."

Joel

* This at least is correct, as I did not know but am informed of by
Wikipedia.  Which says "It is called "Caesars" and not "Caesar's"
because every guest is a Caesar. [citation needed]".  Which of course
is wrong, both on Wikipedia's account and on Caesars's.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org