Once, Twice, Three Times and Awhile

Have you also noticed people saying “once and a while” a lot lately? I always thought the phrase was “once in awhile,” meaning that within a long period of time, something only happened once.

There is a (very nice) song by the band The Killers, and about halfway through the song, the singer says, “every once and a little while” very dramatically. It has always bothered me. I listened to it ten times just now to verify and he very clearly says it. What I find really interesting is that I also did a search for the lyrics on a bunch of those lyrics websites and every single one of them corrected it and used “in” instead of “and”. Apparently, lyrics enthusiasts are also fans of grammar!

There, their

It has been a few days (weeks, months) since I last posted on my snooty grammar blog. I used the word “their” incorrectly and I have been hiding out from the world ever since. I felt that I did not deserve to have a snooty grammar blog. I even took a hiatus from my ridiculous cat blog.

But the other day, I found myself using the words “ostensibly” and “mercurial” in a sentence and I thought, Snooty Word Lady is back, baby! I mean, it was two SAT-ready words IN ONE SENTENCE, people! I think I am allowed to come back to complaining about other people’s grammar mistakes. And maybe I’ll go take some ridiculous cat pictures while I’m at it.

Happy Wednesday! I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Ostensibly. I have a reputation for being mercurial about these things.

SEE?? I’m back!