I Get My Affirmation from Strangers (And the Strangest Places).....

Like most people in the free world who have internet access, I read The Pioneer Woman's blog every day. I'm pretty sure she invented blogging. And cowboys. And butter.

Lately PW has allowed her husband, known affectionately to the whole world as Marlboro Man, to do some guest posts. They are incredibly well written, and I am pretty sure the voice is his, not something PW has written and passed off as being written by a man wearing Wranglers and chaps.

I rarely comment on PW's blog, because it's like sending a tweet to George Clooney or something. I'm pretty sure she doesn't bother with peons (did I spell that word correctly?) such as myself, and while she would love to respond personally to each and every comment, the fact that somewhere around a billion people read and comment on her posts (and that's not even counting when she has a contest or a giveaway) probably deters her from attempting it.

Yesterday Marlboro Man wrote a post about wild horses, and while I got lost in a lot of the details and the incredible photographs of the horses, the author's (correct - yay!) use of the word "exacerbating" caught my eye. (I used to love teaching that as a vocabulary word in the traditional school setting. It got giggles from ninth graders every. single. time.) I couldn't resist commenting on his use of the word.

And I'm not sure why, but something compelled me to go back and look at my own comment later. (I guess it's sort of like baking a beautiful cake and going back to the kitchen to look at it again. Did I mention I might have a tiny bit of an ego problem?)

What I found there made me smile.

Bragger On Monday, May 21 at 1:11 pm

Chaps aside, I have a soft spot in my heart for a man who uses the word “exacerbate” correctly. I know of a (now former) college gymnastics coach who said an athlete wouldn’t be doing a certain skill because it “exasperated” her injury.
And that exasperated me.
Good work, MM.
Signed,
Soon-to-be-retired-English-teacher-and-boy-aren’t-the-students-glad
Reply

Kath On Monday, May 21 at 5:03 pm

This is the funniest post I have seen in a while. My mother was an English teacher so I feel for your students. Have a happy retirement.

ann On Monday, May 21 at 5:34 pm

As a retired teacher and certified “word nerd” I got a big chuckle reading your post. I find myself constantly mentally correcting what I read and hear that butchers the English language.

 Perfect strangers, commenting on my comment, made my day. 


Headed off to my therapist (or another drink called a frozen buttery nipple, whichever comes first),


Bragger