THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110633
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 53 lines
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Stanley L. Morrison writes to set the record straight on two abuses of the English language.
He is irked at the misuse by television commentators of the phrase ``fighter jet'' as opposed to ``jet fighter.''
So am I, now that he has pointed it out.
There is ample precedence for the latter, he writes: jet airliner, jet transport, jet bomber, jet age . . .
``Seems to me the adjective `jet' describes the type of aircraft, in this case a fighter, just as it describes other types of aircraft,'' he notes. ``This is a small irritant, but why do people persist in calling these magnificent machines fighter jets?
``Don't believe I've ever seen a fighter jet in the pure sense of the word.''
Our military expert, Jack Dorsey, agrees that Morrison has a good point. These days, it is simply ``fighters,'' when all but a very few are jets.
Morrison also is displeased with the reference by TV commentators, newpaper reporters and even the presidential candidates in speeches to the year 2000 as the beginning of the 21st century or the beginning of a millennium.
``Webster's Dictionary defines a century as a period of 100 years,'' he writes. ``By my calculations, the year 2000 marks the final (100th) year of the 20th century. The 21st century begins midnight, Dec. 31, 2000 - not 1999, as so many folks seem to think.''
Morrison, a Chesapeake resident who teaches at Fort Monroe, joins me in my admiration of retrievers.
He has a golden Lab named Pokie. He's 13, going on 2, and a great pet.
``Pokie is fine as long as we remember that he lets us live with him,'' he notes.
Yes, most dogs - all of `em I've ever seen - have a way of inching into supreme command of the house and your heart.
From Richmond, Sanford T. Terry writes, ``A dear old grade-school teacher offered handy memory crutches to help us keep our verb straight.''
In reference to the column of Aug. 23 concerning usage of lie and lay, he notes: ``Her crutch was: `Hens lay, people lie.' ''
That brings to mind the child's prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep/ I pray the Lord my soul to keep/ and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Random House Dictionary decrees: If ``place'' or ``put'' can be substituted in a sentence, a form of lay is called for: Lay the folders on the desk.
The use of lay in the prayer lies in sense with which you place yourself in the protection of the Lord.
As a child, I had no trouble with the verb lay, but, privately, I was dubious about that line of dying before one wakes and wished somebody would explain it. by CNB