Friday, September 25, 2026

Splitting hairs

Technically,

a tomato is a fruit

not a vegetable.


And a banana is a berry

as are cucumbers, avocados,

and pumpkins.


Raspberries and

blackberries are not.

They’re aggregates.


Prawns and crabs aren’t fish.

Koalas and pandas aren’t bears.

Sweet potatoes aren’t potatoes.


Velveeta ain’t real cheese

and once upon a time

five states required margarine


to be dyed pink, so you would

never have to declare

I can’t believe it’s not butter.


Should I go farther,

or is that further? Don’t pop

the cork on that champagne


unless it’s from France.

The same varietals from California

have to labeled as sparkling wine.


I have my own pet bugaboos,

like referring to the Sierra Nevada

as the Sierras. The word is Sierra.


And the way the British mangle

Spanish or Italian words like

the ugly way they say pasta.


And what’s with the grammatical

clunker of using were instead

was when the subject is singular?


Charles Dickens didn’t write

“It were the best of times,

it were the worst of times”…


Lest I get too much further

(farther?) on my high hoarse

and wreck more havoc,


and leave you dear ones, bemused

I would be wise to remember

Raiph Waldo Emerson’s words:


“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin

of little minds, little statesmen,

philosophers and divines.”


But honestly I could care less,

or should that be I couldn’t care less?

My head is literally exploding.

No comments:

Post a Comment