Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Just So We're Clear

This is not me:

The Other Brendan Keefe

(click pic to enlarge)


This is my Googlegänger, and I'm past ready for him to change his name.

Yeah, yeah, I know. People who set up Google Alerts on their own names get what they deserve.

Posted by bjkeefe at 5:12 PM
Labels: ,

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A long time ago I googled your name and I came across this other Brendan. What's funny about it is that one of the articles citing him was about him and another journalist who happens to be a friend of mine's ex husband.

Go ahead and correct my grammar. I wrote the last part of my sentence about three times, and still don't know whether this is the right spelling...

5:53 PM, December 24, 2008
bjkeefe said...

I know what you mean about the uneasiness caused by friend of mine's. I don't think your construction is wrong, or if it is, what the specific error would be. Maybe there is some rule about possessive forms and proper attachment to the thing (Subject? Object? Never learned.) that does the possessing or something like that. (Paging TC and Dan Weston.)

This is one where I always punt if I'm writing something where the colloquial voice would be inappropriate. What I do is rearrange: ... and another journalist who happens to be the ex-husband of a friend of mine.

A little clunky, and certainly not the way I'd say it out loud in normal conversation, but I think that's the way I'd go if I weren't writing informally.

7:13 PM, December 24, 2008
bjkeefe said...

BTW, there is certainly no spelling error, unless the rule says that mine can never be made into a possessive.

Well, to be picking, I think the hyphen is required in ex-husband.

7:17 PM, December 24, 2008
Anonymous said...

Thanks!

8:58 PM, December 24, 2008
Jinnet said...

I'll stop by WCPO and tell this guy he needs to change his name. (Actually, I know one of the audio engineers there. Hmm...)

9:01 PM, December 24, 2008
bjkeefe said...

Yeah, get on that, will you, Jinnet? Tell him he should have changed his name when he changed jobs, but better late than never.

;^)

10:42 AM, December 25, 2008
bjkeefe said...

Dan weighs in on the grammar question, and other points of style, via email:

"A long time ago I googled your name and I came across this other Brendan. What's funny about it is that one of the articles citing him was about him and another journalist who happens to be a friend of mine's ex husband."

1) Don't bury the lede. Put the funny thing up front, unadorned. Rework the second sentence to get the emphasis right. What's funny is the unexpected relationship, not the journalistness. Throw in a "so". Also, happens sounds too static. You want to emphasize the dynamic change as the surprise hits you. Go with "(as) it turns out" for a more abrupt transition. Leaving out the "as" gives it a bit more kick, signaling that you really didn't expect it to really turn out this way.

2) mine's is never right. The whole construction is grotesque. And "mine" is anyway pronominal for a plural, "friends". It would be easier in Italian: "una amica mia".

3) "to be about" is weak and wordy. Put some punch in there that reads more parallel with the active voice "citing".

I go with:

"A long time ago I googled your name and I came across this other Brendan. The funny thing is that one of the articles citing him also happened to cite/mention/someOtherActionVerb the ex-husband of a friend of mine."

10:44 AM, December 25, 2008
Anonymous said...

My high speed cable went to zero the other day and I've been off line. Just catching up to see I'm being paged. In my view, Dan has it exactly correct. All I can do is applaud.

Years ago I was walking in the Black section of Oakland, California and saw this graffiti scribbled on a wall: (I don't remember the girl's name anymore so let's say it was "Claudia".)
"Claudia, you is mines." The author did not use an apostrophe, but I'm sure he intended it as a possessive. LOL

1:42 PM, December 25, 2008
bjkeefe said...

"Claudia, you is mines."

Maybe the tagger meant that she was explosive. Or it was a pledge for him to avoid stepping on her.

;^)

I've heard people say "mineses" more than a few time; e.g., Doze are yours and dese are mineses.

Which, of course, makes me think of a related resonant phrase.

1:53 PM, December 25, 2008

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