Unfortunate Usage vs. Good Grammar
Daisy Jones & The Six, Bigalora, Smokey Robinson, Joe Kapp and Denny Crum, Red Chair Fade Away
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This issue features an essay on English, a Fleetwood Mac-like fictional band, a pretty pizza, a smooth singer, a physical football player, a Final Four coaching giant, and a chair whose time had run out. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 32: Unfortunate Usage vs. Good Grammar. Made-up Memories (Daisy Jones & The Six), Popular Pizzeria (Bigalora), Motown Master (Smokey Robinson), Cal Coach (Joe Kapp) and Louisville Legend (Denny Crum), and Timely Trash (Red Chair Fade Away).
I hereby offer a dozen reminders on using English correctly when writing and speaking. These are based on what I have read in newspaper articles and heard on podcasts and television shows.
Humbled: The Cambridge Dictionary defines “humbled” as “to make someone understand that they are not as important or special as they thought” and offers two examples: “He was humbled by the child's generosity” and “The world champion was humbled (unexpectedly defeated) by an unknown outsider in last night's race.” It is now common to hear people use this word when they mean “grateful,” as in “I am humbled to receive this award.” This is the opposite of the actual meaning, so you should instead say, “I am grateful to receive this award.” An example from this week’s book: “I am truly humbled at how much you all have my back.” This should be “I am truly grateful for how much you all have my back.”
I instead of me or my: I regularly hear statements such as “David took Ann and I to the library. Ann got Joan and I some books.” Less frequent but quite jolting to hear: “We put the books in David and I’s car. “I” is not the correct form of pronoun to use as the object of a preposition or as a possessive. The correct forms are “David took Ann and me to the library. Ann got Joan and me some books. We put the books in David’s and my car.” This error is easy to prevent; just take out the first word in the compound object and see how it sounds to use “I” by itself. “Mom took I,” and “She got some books for I,” and “We put the books in I’s car” sound ridiculous, so don’t use “I” just because it is the second of two objects. On the other hand, “David and I went to El Cholo” is correct, not “Me and David went to the El Cholo.” Another example from this week’s book: “You’ll see a lot of pictures of Daisy and I” should be “You’ll see a lot of pictures of Daisy and me.”
Ironic: The Cambridge Dictionary gives two meanings for “ironic”: 1) interesting, strange, or funny because of being very different from what you would usually expect 2) showing that you really mean the opposite of what you are saying. It does not mean “coincidental” or “unfortunate.” It’s ironic that rain on your wedding day is not ironic. That is, unless you had made a special effort to choose a wedding date with the lowest probability of rain.
Underestimate: I hear people say, “You can’t underestimate the heart of this team.” Well, of course you can. The intended meaning is the opposite: “You can’t overestimate the heart of this team,” meaning that the team has a great deal of heart. This is a modern equivalent of “I could care less” which morphed from “I couldn’t care less” which had the intended meaning of “I don’t care.”
Unique: People like to add modifiers such as “very unique” and “extremely unique.” There is no need, as “unique” means one of a kind, and there are not different variations of being one of a kind. Substitute “unusual” and then it can be modified however you like.
Versus: This word has two syllables and is pronounced that way: ver-sus. Many younger people pronounce this word as verse. Even when abbreviated as “vs.” (note the presence of the period), it is still pronounced using two syllables.
Feeling bad: If you feel badly, then you are using your fingers to feel objects poorly. If you are not well, then you should say that you feel bad. “Badly” as an adverb modifies the verb “feel” and applies to the action of feeling. “Bad” as an adjective applies to the subject of the sentence and describes that person’s condition.
People’s: The word “people” is already plural, so to form its possessive, add an apostrophe and an “s.” I often see peoples’ which is almost always wrong. “Peoples” is only used in cases when it is necessary to distinguish between ethnic groups within the same geographical or cultural context, e.g., the peoples of Africa practice a wide variety of religions.
S apostrophe: The only time an apostrophe should end a word is if it is a plural ending in “s” and you are forming the possessive, e.g., the players’ equipment was loaded on the bus. Do not use it after other words that happen to end in “s.” So “the circus’s animals” is correct, and “the circus’ animals” is not. This also applies to names, so “Bill Gates’s house” is correct. And you never form a plural by adding an apostrophe.
Totally honest: This takes multiple forms, including “to be honest with you,” “if I’m being honest,” and “to be totally honest.” The problem with this expression is that it implies that your other statements may not be totally honest. Avoid this expression and just tell the truth as much as possible. If you need to emphasize a point, you can say “I really feel” or a similar expression.
Complimentary and complementary: It seems that most of the time writers guess incorrectly and use one spelling when what they really mean is the other. “Complimentary” has two meanings 1) praising 2) given free of charge. Complementary means “goes along with and serves to make something better or complete, e.g., complementary colors.”
Improper verb forms: I hear sports announcers say, “He should have went” and “She should have ran” and other cringeworthy expressions. Even as I am typing these, Word is trying to correct “went” to “gone” and “ran” to “run.”
As a member of the grammar police, I feel bad when I make mistakes. Misspelling words in an essay on proper usage is ironic. I have been humbled when readers point these out. I used several online dictionaries’ definitions in this essay. I am very complimentary of those who endeavor to spell correctly, and I offer them complimentary copies of my Word Usage Document and my complementary set of articles.
I did not hear any English usage errors during King Charles’s coronation; you can’t overestimate the quality of the royal preparation. This event did not appeal to my friends and me, but other people’s views were different. The king’s sons’ treatment differed widely; I read about the involvement of William versus the disengagement of Harry. Harry’s relationship with the royal family is unique; I really feel that he should not have gone home without connecting with his brother.
If you liked this essay, you might also enjoy:
Book Best Bet
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
We watched the TV series based on this book and liked it a lot. I decided to order the book and just finished it today. I loved it and was moved to tears at the end.
The band in the book is based loosely on Fleetwood Mac and the story makes sense for the time period in which it is set, the late 70s. I wasn’t sure if I would like the format, which is based on interviews with the principal characters. But it worked very well, and I had a hard time putting it down each day.
From Amazon: A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup.
One of the best books of the year: NPR, The Washington Post, Esquire, Glamour, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Parade, Paste, Shelf Awareness, and BookRiot.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Taylor Jenkins Reid
From Wikipedia: Taylor Jenkins Reid (born December 20, 1983 in Maryland) is an American author most known for her novels The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, One True Loves and Malibu Rising.
Reid graduated from Emerson College in Boston and majored in media studies. She began her career in film production. After graduating from college, she moved to Los Angeles and worked as a casting assistant. Reid also worked at a high school before she got a book deal. She signed with her first literary agent at age 24.
Reid published Carrie Soto Is Back in 2022. It is the fourth and presumed final book of Reid's "famous women quartet," following The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, and Malibu Rising. Reid stated that she intends to take an extended break before beginning her next literary project.
In 1977, Daisy Jones & The Six were on top of the world. Fronted by two heat seeking missiles in Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, the band had risen from obscurity to fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago's Soldier Field, they called it quits. Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers.
Look At Us Now (Honeycomb)
Aurora (the album created for the TV series)
Who Sang and Wrote Every Aurora Song - Yes, that’s really Riley Keough and Sam Claflin’s voices, but the soundtrack features some jaw-dropping songwriters, too.
Restaurant Recommendation
Bigalora Wood Fired Cucina 29110 Franklin Rd, Southfield, MI 48034
I met three of my local knowledge management colleagues for lunch last month. We decided to meet at Bigalora in Southfield (they have three other Michigan locations: Ann Arbor, Plymouth, and Royal Oak).
I ordered the Bacco Sausage pizza: house blend mozzarella, roasted onion, hot peppers, house made sausage. It was pretty to look at and delicious to eat.
From the restaurant: At Bigalora, we feed you like family. The food that we serve reflects our passion for making healthy, high-quality food, the kind that we feed to our own family. We are truly a scratch kitchen, making virtually everything that we serve in house. It’s not always easy, but we know that working harder means better, healthier food. There is a comfort in this.
Our traditions: The start of a delicious meal. Our kitchens spring to life early every morning when our skilled bakers arrive to begin mixing the dough and feed the biga – a ritual they have performed daily since 2010. As the dough is resting, more cooks arrive to begin slow braising meats for our pasta sauces and chopping and roasting vegetables for pizza toppings. Our healthy food philosophy extends to our entire menu of small plates, soups, salads, pastas, and desserts including our house made gelato and sorbetto.
Our sourdough pizza is better for you. At Bigalora, we are all about the pizza! And great pizza starts with great dough.
The “biga” great taste: Bigalora is Michigan’s first naturally fermented sourdough pizza. The word “biga” in Italian means sourdough starter. Every dough ball that we make begins with a biga – no commercial yeast or sugar – and a 72-hour fermentation, before being charred to perfection for 90 seconds in our 900-degree ovens. The long, slow fermentation creates a crust that is light and airy, with a satisfying flavor and just a hint of tang from the sourdough.
Pizza that is actually good for you. Sourdough is one of the original slow foods, and the fermentation process yields a number of health benefits. The slow fermentation improves the bioavailability of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are naturally found in wheat flour, making them easier for the body to absorb. And the long fermentation breaks down gluten, making the dough easier to digest. We also feature a number of vegetarian and vegan pizza options that follow a more Mediterranean style of eating, which has been shown to have a number of long-term health benefits.
Why Bigalora is different:
Unbromated flour: We only use unbromated flour for our pizza and focaccia. Potassium bromate is a common dough conditioner that has been banned in Europe, Canada and even China for its links to cancer, but unfortunately is still widely used in the United States in many breads and baked goods.
Sourdough starter - no sugar: We maintain the sourdough starter for our pizza dough which is more flavorful and better for digestion than a commercially yeasted pizza. And we do not use any sugar in our pizza or focaccia dough.
Slow roasted tomatoes: We slow roast our oven roasted tomatoes – it’s a labor of love to make these from scratch, a 12-hour process that beings with 7 pounds of fresh Roma tomatoes to yield just one pound of roasted tomatoes. But this process not only creates better flavor than commercially roasted tomatoes, it is also preservative free.
Scratch sauces: Our pasta sauces are made from scratch in-house.
Shred our own cheese: We shred our cheese in-house rather than buy pre-shredded mozzarella, which includes anti-caking agents made from wood pulp. Gross.
Slow braised meatballs: Our meatballs are house-made with slow braised beef.
More homemade stuff: We make all our own gelato and sorbetto in house – we even make our own coffee reduction to flavor the espresso gelato, so it’s made with real coffee and no artificial flavoring. Our own hazelnut spread is used for our dessert pizza. We don’t go through a lot of it in a week and it would be an easy item to buy, but it just tastes better when it’s made from scratch.
Outside ingredients share our philosophy: We seek out ingredient sources and purveyors who share our same food philosophy, including:
King Arthur Flour
Zoe’s meats and pepperoni, with no added nitrates
Hot Haus Farm tomatoes (Canton, Michigan)
Buf Creamery fresh mozzarella
Marvelous Musician
Smokey recently released his first new album of new material in 14 years. I first heard the hits "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage," "More Love," and "I Second That Emotion" in 1967. After I heard Johnny Rivers's cover of "The Tracks of My Tears," I discovered the original 1964 classic version. Many consider Smokey to be one of the greatest songwriters and poets of all time.
My brother David has written, arranged, produced, and recorded with Smokey. I really like their collaboration on "One Like You," originally written for George Benson. Their recording, with Michael McDonald and David Sanborn, is on David's albums Jammin' - Outside the Box and Vox Outside the Box. He produced the title song on Smokey’s new album.
David’s interview with Smokey
One Like You (Teaser)
Temptations and Smokey Robinson link back up for first song in years
“Is It Gonna Be Yes or No” wasn’t merely written and produced by Robinson. It also features him as a vocal guest alongside Williams — the lone surviving member from the group’s “classic five” days — and current Tempts Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Willie Greene and Mario Corbino.
It’s the first time Robinson and the Temptations have sung together on a Tempts release, and just the second time they’ve done it at all.
From Wikipedia: William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940 in Detroit) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. He led the group from its 1955 origins as "the Five Chimes" until 1972, when he announced his retirement from the group to focus on his role as Motown's vice president. However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. Robinson left Motown Records in 1990, following the sale of the company two years earlier.
Between 1962 and 1966, Smokey was also one of the major songwriters and producers for Motown, penning many hit singles such as "Two Lovers," "The One Who Really Loves You," "You Beat Me to the Punch," and "My Guy" for Mary Wells; "The Way You Do The Things You Do," "My Girl," "Since I Lost My Baby," and "Get Ready" for the Temptations; "Stillwater" for the Four Tops; "When I'm Gone" and "Operator" for Brenda Holloway; "Don't Mess With Bill", "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game," and "My Baby Must Be a Magician" for the Marvelettes; and "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar" for Marvin Gaye.
Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and was awarded the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music. In 2022, he was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
My Uncle Claude was my favorite uncle, he was also my godfather. He and I were really, really close. He used to take me to see cowboy movies all the time when I was a little boy because I loved cowboy movies. He got a cowboy name for me, which was Smokey Joe. So from the time I was three years old if people asked me what my name was I didn't tell them my name was William, I told them my name was Smokey Joe. That's what everyone called me until I was about 12 and then I dropped the Joe part. — Smokey Robinson
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups in pop, rock and roll, soul and R&B music history. Formed in 1955 by Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, and Ronnie White, the group started off as the Five Chimes, changing their name to the Matadors two years later. The group then settled on the Miracles after the inclusion of Claudette Robinson in 1958. The most notable Miracles line-up included the Robinsons, Moore, White, Bobby Rogers and Marv Tarplin.
Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", the Miracles recorded over 50 Chart Hits, including 26 Top 40 Pop hits, sixteen of which reached the Billboard Top 20, seven top 10 singles, and a number one single ("The Tears of a Clown").
You Really Got a Hold on Me
The Tracks of My Tears
My Playlist
Sports Stars
Joe died on May 8, 2023 at the age of 85. I remember him as the hard-nosed quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings who led them to a Super Bowl in 1970.
From Wikipedia:
Joseph Robert Kapp (born March 19, 1938 in Santa Fe, New Mexico; died May 8, 2023 in San Jose, California) was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback for the California Golden Bears. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions and then in the National Football League (NFL) with the Minnesota Vikings and the Boston Patriots. Kapp returned to his alma mater as head coach of the Golden Bears from 1982 to 1986. He was the general manager and president of the BC Lions in 1990.
Kapp is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Lions Wall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame, and the University of California Athletic Hall of Fame. Kapp's #22 jersey is one of eight numbers retired by the Lions. In November 2006, Kapp was voted to the Honor Roll of the CFL's top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. Sports Illustrated once called him "The Toughest Chicano." Kapp is the only player to play quarterback in the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, and the Grey Cup.
Denny Crum, Joe Kapp honored their L.A. roots - From the high school class of 1955, two local standouts passed away this week after distinguished lives in the sports world.
Kapp is best known as the 1959 Rose Bowl and 1970 Super Bowl quarterback for Cal and the Minnesota Vikings and coach at Cal.
Crum will be remembered mostly as a John Wooden protege who coached the University of Louisville to the 1980 and 1986 NCAA championships.
They’re so identified with other parts of the country that it’s easy for many fans to lose sight of the fact both are L.A.-area products, Crum a star player at San Fernando High and Pierce College (Woodland Hills) before playing and coaching at UCLA under Wooden, Kapp a multi-sport star at Hart High (Santa Clarita) before going to Cal.
Denny died on May 9, 2023 at 86. He was an outstanding coach who followed successfully in the footsteps of his mentor, John Wooden, by turning down the UCLA job to establish his own legendary career at Louisville.
From Wikipedia: Denzel Edwin Crum (born March 2, 1937 in San Fernando, California; died May 9, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky) was an American men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a 675–295 (.696) record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and six Final Fours. Honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1994, Crum was one of the major figures in the history of sports in Kentucky and in college basketball.
Crum played college ball for the UCLA Bruins under head coach John Wooden. He was later an assistant under Wooden, and the Bruins won a national championship in each of his three seasons on the staff. As the head coach at Louisville, Crum was widely credited with pioneering the now-common strategy of scheduling tough non-conference matchups early in the season in order to prepare his teams for March's NCAA tournament, where one defeat ends the season. Crum's prolific post-season play and calm demeanor earned him the monikers "Mr. March" and his most well-known nickname, "Cool Hand Luke."
After graduating in 1959, Crum served as the freshman basketball coach at UCLA. In 1961, he returned to Pierce College as an assistant coach and served as their head coach from 1964 through 1968. Crum was then rehired by Wooden as a top assistant coach and chief recruiter. The Bruins won national titles in each of his three seasons. His recruits included Bill Walton, one of the greatest college basketball players ever.
Crum led Louisville to six Final Fours (1972, 1975 1980, 1982, 1983, and 1986). Only five other coaches have reached more Final Fours than Crum: John Wooden, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Tom Izzo.
Picture Pun
It’s time to get a new chair.
