Not Amused

Girl's feet severed on ride at Six Flags in Kentucky

(CNN) Louisville, Kentucky-- A girl's feet were cut off Thursday when a free-fall thrill ride malfunctioned at the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Amusement Park, police said. [more ...]

Again, the real tragedy has to do with the English language and its veritable amputation as it is given voice by the world's largest English speaking medium.

"I seen the car go up. Then, like, the cable broke, I heard 'pwchh' and I heard a lot of people screaming," Chris Stinnett, who was at a ride next to the Superman Tower of Power, told WDRB/WMYO.

"The cable went under the car -- and I seen it pull up and hit a lot of people -- and I seen them bring their legs up," Stinnett said.

'nuff said.

General Pet Peeve

For the record, regarding positions like the Surgeon General, the latter part of the title is not a rank. The Attorney General for example isn't somebody who has been promoted from Attorney Colonel. Thus the correcter plural form is "attorneys general," although thanks to good old fashioned American democracy, the alternate form "attorney generals" is now acceptable according to some standard dictionaries.

Nevertheless, a big red raspberry goes out this morning to Senator Kennedy. He usually sounds so erudite with his New English accent (some even claim the Kennedys have evolved their own dialect) , but he tarnished his lingua familia when he began his opening remarks in the Alberto Gonzales hearings with the greeting, "Good morning, General." A poor bit of usage from one of this country's senators major.