On Monday, August 4, 2014 12:09:54 PM UTC-4, Kalmia wrote:
>
> Would you use it adjectivally in a sentence, please?

Here's how Carlin used it:

The English word forte, meaning "specialty" or "strong point," is not pronounced "for-tay." Got that? It is pronounced "fort." The Italian word forte, used in music notation, is pronounced "for-tay," and it instructs the musician to play loud: "She plays the skin flute, and her forte [fort] is playing forte [for-tay]." Look it up. And don't give me that whiny shit, "For-tay is listed as the second preference." There's a reason it's second: because it's not first!

(A lot more here):

http://sense.net//~blaine/funstuff/carlin.html

It's from his 1990s book, "Brain Droppings."


>
> I bet you cringe at what some of the news-anchors are saying.


I certainly do, usually regarding their grammar. See Carlin's first paragraph at the link.

My TV hasn't been working lately, and it makes me realize more than ever just how much of viewers' time gets wasted on so-called news when they could read newspapers - IMO, a significant percentage of TV news, these days, is....kitten videos. Or stuff like that. If I had a kid, I'd put REAL limits on screen time, as my cousins do with their incredibly adorable, bright, well-read, and polite preteen kids - they even have an attention span!!

It disgusts me the way some print journalists, who should know better, sometimes say stuff like "things have just changed in child-rearing and there's nothing parents can do about it." No, they could. If they weren't such cowards. There is NO reason to put a TV or videogames in the kid's BEDROOM if you care about their reading skills at all. When they cry, just say: "Think how happy you'll be when, unlike your classmates, you'll actually be able to write and spell by the time you're 8. Maybe you'll even get an A or two."

Lenona.