Apparently, airline workers in Chicago say they have seen a UFO. Now it's a news story. How does this continue to be newsworthy?
UFO literally means "Unidentified Flying Object". Seems simple enough to me. You see something flying, you can't indentify it, this makes it a UFO. It doesn't mean that it came from outer space filled with little green men dying to impregnate our women and take over the planet. ET has not landed. Martians are not about to eat your livestock.
If people want me to believe that they saw something that could not possibly have come from this planet, which I believe could be possible, then they need to come up with a different name for it. As it stands, whenever I hear someone say, "I saw a UFO." all I think is, "Well join the club, you wouldn't believe how many things I've seen miles above the earth and thought, 'Well what the hell is that?"
( Moving off to a HUGE side tangent: Would someone please look up the proper use of "a" and "an" in front of words and make sure that UFO isn't one of those weird exceptions to the rule about usage in front of words beginning with a vowel? "An UFO" just sounds weird and wrong and makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but all my reference books are currently packed for the move....Thanks!!!!)
(EDIT:01/03/06 THANKS STEPHANIE!!!!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
As found in Random House Webster's Pocket Grammar, usage, and punctuation. (Best $5 I've ever spent.)
"a/an In both spoken and written English, an is used before words beginning in a vowel sound: He carried an umbrella. The Nobel prize is an honor, and when the consonants f,h,l,m,n,r,s,and x are pronounced by name: The renovations created an L-shaped room. Miles received an F in physics. Use a before words beginning with a consonant sound: What a fish! I bought a computer, and words that start with vowels but are pronounced as consonants: A union can be dissolved. They live in a one-room apartment. Also use a with words that start with consonant letters not listed above and with the vowel u: She earned a C in French. He made a U-turn."
And then a bunch of stuff about words that begin with h. I think this answers your question though.
Post a Comment