GrammarBlog

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

Random Factor (like a tractor)

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I've previously documented my dislike of the current trend for misusing the word 'random'. I was pleased, therefore, to hear Matt Forde vent on this topic on the Jon Richardson Podcast.

I thought I was alone in cringing at sentences such as the following.

OMG you are like so RANDOM today, look at your random hat!!!

No, no, no! You are allowed to call my hat choice random only if I arranged to have 1000 hats dropped on my position and I emerged wearing said hat. Otherwise it's a deliberate, non-random hat choice. And while we're discoursing on the topic of clothing choice, can I suggest that you take off those massive furry boots? They look silly. And when will you learn that leggings and a long cardigan aren't enough to hide the fact that you haven't got any trousers on? And take your stupid rat-dog out of your handbag before I punt it into the river.

I feel better after that rant. I'm fine now.

Tangentially, can anyone identify what the title of this post refers to? There are shiny GrammarBlog points up for grabs.

Labels: BBC, Jon Richardson, Matt Forde, random, rants, video

posted by Gez at 3:25 pm 290 Comments

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