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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009Obscenity at the inauguration?
Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, 'tis of thee ...") at the Obama inauguration. Just as I remembered from hearing it live, she took a long luftpause between the first and second syllables of the second word. I've seen it transcribed "My coun--try," but that's not how I heard it. Whom should the Federal Communications Commission fine?  SignatureBob Lieblich Enquiring mind On 25 Jan 2009, Robert Lieblich wrote > Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first > few seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Whom should the Federal Communications Commission fine? The rural members of the legislature, of course: "I'm a country member." "Oh, we remember." SignatureCheers, Harvey CanEng and BrEng, indiscriminately mixed >Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few >seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Whom should the Federal Communications Commission fine? The hat may have been a job for the Fashion Police, but the FCC have no case. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > >Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few > >seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > The hat may have been a job for the Fashion Police, but the FCC have > no case. Someone on a PBS talk show on Friday was saying, in all seriousness, that the hat should be in the Smithsonian, it was that wonderful. SignatureJohn Varela Trade OLD lamps for NEW for email >> >Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few >> >seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Someone on a PBS talk show on Friday was saying, in all seriousness, >that the hat should be in the Smithsonian, it was that wonderful. In a secure showcase with an armed guard to prevent it escaping? SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>> >Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few >>> >seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > In a secure showcase with an armed guard to prevent it escaping? It wouldn't do any good: I heard a report that knock-offs are available for purchase. I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to add, with the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such a hat! SignatureRoland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. > I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to add, with > the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such a hat! The person who wanted the hat in the Smithsonian was comparing it to the hats that black women wear (or used to wear) to church on Sunday, elaborate creations that competed with one another. He sincerely felt--I'm sure he was black himself--that she was honoring a cultural tradition with that hat. ObAUE: What punctuation belongs after "Sunday" above? Comma, semicolon, or colon? And should it be followed with "compete" or "competed"? "Competed" is how it naturally flowed for me. SignatureJohn Varela Trade OLD lamps for NEW for email >> I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to >> add, with the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > semicolon, or colon? And should it be followed with "compete" or > "competed"? "Competed" is how it naturally flowed for me. I opt for the comma that you have, or else go for a dash. I understood that semicolons had to be used to link independent clauses, and at times are involved in phrases in a series when commas can get confusing. I reserve colons for lists that don't have comma links--bulleted or numbered items, for example. But by now you know that I am recalling lessons from more than 50 years ago. Times may have changed. Indeed, if I find myself spending too much trying to work out a style I vaguely remember, I close my eyes and leap. >> I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to >> add, with the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > ObAUE: What punctuation belongs after "Sunday" above? Comma, > semicolon, or colon? It'd be a dash, for me. > And should it be followed with "compete" or > "competed"? "Competed" is how it naturally flowed for me. I'd have gone with "compete". Why? I don't know. SignatureSkitt (AmE) > >> I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to > >> add, with the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > -- > Skitt (AmE) In many churches (of a particular denomination with a congregation of a particular subgroup), wonderful hats are still worn. Without registering, I can't get to the article about it in The Anniston Star (May 5, 2008), but here is the bit of the article that Google shows in the list of links: "The women had come to Haven to celebrate the Sunday morning hats that make up a distinct part of the black experience in America..." The "(or used to wear)" should have been left out; the hats still compete with each other. >>>> I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to >>>> add, with the caveat that not just anyone can wear such a hat. Such [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > experience in America..." The "(or used to wear)" should have been > left out; the hats still compete with each other. I have a neighbor who walks like a queen. At 60 years of age, though she has had both knees replaced, she has a majestic stride, and manages 3-inch heels the whole winter through. Anyway, she and her daughter are participants in an African Methodist Episcopal congregation, and are now trying to set up their own church. Mama has crocheted a number of startling hats for herself that don't fall much short of being crowns. Lovely. And she doesn't just wear them to church. Oh, no. > On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:07:58 UTC, Roland Hutchinson > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > sincerely felt--I'm sure he was black himself--that she was honoring > a cultural tradition with that hat. Here's a blog post adding a suggestion that the hat specifically honored the one Mahalia Jackson wore when she sang at the March on Washington in 1963 (scene of the "I have a dream speech"). So much for my knowledge of American iconography. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1404953/will_aretha_franklins_inaugural _hat.html Here's Mahalia: http://www.ipl.org/images/black_hist.jpg The only similarity I see between the hats is the oversizedness, but maybe that's enough for a fashion allusion. > ObAUE: What punctuation belongs after "Sunday" above? Comma, > semicolon, or colon? My first choice would be a comma; second, a dash. I don't really like either a semicolon or colon there. > And should it be followed with "compete" or > "competed"? "Competed" is how it naturally flowed for me. Is "compete (or competed)" too pedantic? -- Jerry Friedman >> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:07:58 UTC, Roland Hutchinson >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Washington in 1963 (scene of the "I have a dream speech"). So much > for my knowledge of American iconography. Interesting: I saw that the writer referred to the "I've got a dream" speech, which I'd never seen before. I checked to see if the writer was from England but he isn't (born in Canada, and raised in LA). Fran >> I think it was a fine hat for the occasion -- though, I hasten to add, >> with [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > sincerely felt--I'm sure he was black himself--that she was honoring > a cultural tradition with that hat. I was also quite sure that she was doing just that -- well, not perhaps so much _honoring_ the tradition per se as _participating_ in it: of course one who wears a Sunday hat to church will also wear a Sunday hat to sing a hymn for the President of the United States. If the tradition is dying out, it's going to be a long time a-dying. Hats have remained very much in evidence in every black congregation that I've ever visited. > ObAUE: What punctuation belongs after "Sunday" above? Comma, > semicolon, or colon? And should it be followed with "compete" or > "competed"? "Competed" is how it naturally flowed for me. Comma (to set of the phrase that is an appositive to "hats"). I'd have to come down on the side of "competed", as you did, both because my ear tells me so and because the rule tells me so: the disjunction counts even though it's in parentheses, so the nearest verb ("used to wear") determines the sequence of tenses. SignatureRoland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap [at] verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam. If your message looks like spam I may not see it. > Chris Matthews (on his eponymous TV show) just reran the first few > seconds of Aretha Franklin singing the song "America" ("My country, [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Whom should the Federal Communications Commission fine? Well, Shakespeare wrote about 'country matters' centuries ago so it is now in the public domain. |
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