All My Little Words

A cursory look at Newseum's front page gallery on Monday showed 36 pages that featured the phrase "Giant upset" in the Super Bowl coverage. And that was from looking only at the thumbnails.

If only I had counted one more, putting the total at 37.

"Try not to write any headlines on the way to the parking lot."

I Will Never Be Your Wife
This weekend, proponents of an amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida succeeded in getting the measure on the November ballot. I shouldn't be surprised. Nor should I be surprised at how many news outlets referred to it as a "gay marriage" amendment.

"Gay marriage" totally fits in headline specs in ways that "same-sex marriage" wouldn't fit. I take issue with "gay marriage," though:
1) "Gay" sometimes means men only, and I think women who want to marry other women would want to be included
2) We have no way of knowing if the people seeking same-sex marriages are indeed "gay"
3) Bisexuals should be included
4) I don't think the people at city hall would make you confirm that you are indeed gay
5) Gay men and lesbians can marry each other, but what is not permitted is same-sex marriage

My passion on this issue comes partly from my defense of bisexuality. I've noticed a tendency to label same-sex couples as gay couples, and that bothers me. If I get married to a woman, it won't be a straight marriage, and if I get married to a man, it won't be a gay marriage. A person's sexual identity should come from their own terms rather than the gender of the people whom they date.

Beyond that, I'm a stickler about language in general. "Baptist" and "Southern Baptist" are not the same designation, just as "Anglican Catholic" carries different weight than simply saying "Catholic." The name Dannals is not the same as Daniels and should not be pronounced as such. Granted, this splitting of hairs says nothing of a person's values. You won't necessarily lose points with me for saying these things. But if you start to say it and then correct yourself mid-sentence, you will most definitely gain points.

And I probably tick people off by starting sentences with "but" and "and," and they have every right to be ticked. I should probably rewrite some of these sentences. But not now.

Survey question
Which misuse of a word or phrase ticks you off more than any other?

Besides "gay marriage," "moot" gets to me. I blame Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" for legitimizing the use of "moot" to mean "not up for debate. Really, the word meant that something was up for debate and not settled. Dictionaries will now honor both definitions, so I shouldn't be too bitter. But I am.