Weird Al tackles on some pet peeves in his recent parody “Word Crimes.” The music video is set to the tune of Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. (See the parody video and accompanying lyrics below) We broke down the video into bits so that YOU may benefit from the word crime tips outlined in the video. Words from the Video are in red, (obviously, since red reminds us of teacher mark ups in elementary school). Note: Please excuse any grammar errors in this blog post. We didn’t run a spelling/grammar check.
Specific Tips from the Video
1. Less vs Fewer (mass nouns such as water and money vs count nouns)
You can have less money or less water than someone (not fewer). Alternatively you have fewer bottles not less bottles.
2. People say “I could care less.”
But that means you DO care. They really mean to say “I couldn’t care less.” Though some may call it simply an idiomatic variant.
3. Don’t be a moran! Spell it right, moron.
4. Using an apostrophe when you shouldn’t. *It’s* the contraction vs the possessive *its.* Do not write “Every dog has it’s day.” Use its.
5. It’s spelled espresso, not expresso.
6. Be, See, Are & You are words not letters, BCRU
7. Use Spell Checker. Valid point.
8. Never WR1T3 WORD5 as NUMB3RS
9. Learn your homophones (lightening vs lightning) (walk vs wok) (heal vs heal) etc
10. Always say “to whom.” Don’t ever say “to who.”
11. Never use quotation marks for “emphasis.” Use bold or italic or both.
12. You are doing well if someone asks. (Not doing good unless you are talking about volunteering or being a super hero or other good things).
13. Irony is not coincidence. The video shows a firetruck on fire for irony. And rain on your wedding day is not ironic despite what Alanis Morissette says. It is a coincidence.
14. Figurative vs. literal People use literally incorrectly quite often. (note that we didn’t say it is used incorrectly “all the time”) As in “I’m literally asleep right now.” No you are not.
Generic Quips from the Video
1. You don’t know how to conjugate
2. Time *2* *lern* some *grammer*
3. Use the right pronoun
4. What’s a contraction? (the irony)
5. You really need a full-time proofreader
6. Your grammar’s errant
7. Go back to preschool
Word Crimes
The lyrics for word crimes as well:
Well done, Weird Al. Word Crimes is TheWordFinder approved. Sure some may find it too offensive and picky, but just looking at it as an entertainment piece keeps it light and fun. Check out some more fun facts about #wordcrimes from the director, such as “The dictionary pages at the beginning of the movie are from the “A” section. The pages used in the middle of the movie are from the “L” section. A-L spells “Al””. Not everyone is a fan though
