Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Safely and Soundly

“....and sliding in safely is Trot Nixon.” – Cindy Brunson, ESPN, reporting on a Boston Red Sox / Oakland A’s game, 26 July 2006

Cindy should have said: “...and sliding in safe is Trot Nixon.”

Why?
Nixon slid into the base and was called safe by the umpire. That’s what Cindy was reporting.

She was not reporting that Nixon had slid in a safe manner. If she had been, “safely” would have been appropriate.

3 comments:

Carlos said...

Tricky, yet somehow so simple :-)

A few months ago, one of the private universities here in town had a HUGE banner facing a highway that read:

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME SAFELY .

That tweaked by tiny brain for a moment, but I ultimately decided it was incorrect and should have been:

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME SAFE

Sure, we want whatever conveyance providing the troops with transportation home to do it safely, but conventional wisdom calls for the adjective form of safe, don’t you agree?

I forgot all about that sign until now. I suppose that calls for a blog entry ;-)

The_Gator said...

Dont you just love our well educated educators?

gator

Carlos said...

Gator: Imagine the next generation of educators! They will be further diluted and maybe even a little deluded. Either way you slice it we're doomed to become a society of illiterates, unless someone decides that teaching the citizenry how to use their country's "official language" might be a good idea.

Jules Baby Yes my dear. You have been a supreme non-contributor. Let’s put it all behind us now and you get your tush out there and find some material! :-)