Ewww Grammar

Don't get me wrong, I hate grammar and all of it's little tricks and rules. However, it is a necessary evil. The whole point of this blog is for me to learn something new every day so I feel that a grammar lesson is appropriate.

I learned today that I have been incorrectly using 'their' to avoid saying "his/her." For example, instead of saying:


A dentist is responsible for the teeth of his/her patients.

---I would say:---

A dentist is responsible for the teeth of their patients.


I'm sure that many people use 'their' to avoid 'his/her' and to still remain politically correct. However, as I was reminded today, 'their' is plural and doesn't make sense because 'dentist' is singular.

The easy solution is to just change the noun to plural:

Dentists are responsible for the teeth of their patients.

Stupid stupid grammar, but a lesson learned.

Cops Arresting Other Cops?

I came across a website today called Cops Writing Cops.

http://www.copswritingcops.com/home.html

It's basically a place for cops to bitch about getting tickets from other cops. There are all sorts of stories about how off-duty officers get pulled over and receive NO special treatment.

I had always assumed that cops were "off the hook" unless they did something blatantly against the law. This website proves otherwise.

In a way, it's nice to be reminded that cops aren't above the law. At the same time, it seems like cops should respect and acknowledge every other cop they encounter.

What do you think?

Rack Jobbing?

I came across this term, "rack jobbing" while reading a book about Music Business.

Rack jobbers are people who lease floor space from stores and put in racks of merchandise.

"Although it looks like Wal-Mart and Target are selling you records, in fact they only turn the space over to someone who decides what products to carry, delivers it to the racks, pays rent to the store, and keeps the profits."

This is certainly something I hadn't considered when walking through a department store, but it makes a lot of sense.

Source:
"All You Need To Know About The Music Business" by Donald S. Passman