I have been watching the local news in the mornings since the weather has been so sporatic. One day I have to scrape ice off my car and the next day I’m wearing shorts and blowing bubbles with the kids in the front yard. I like to know what to expect from the weather before I get dressed as well as knowing how to dress NikkiZ. Of course, it doesn’t do any good to tell LilZ what to expect because he’ll still wear shorts when it’s snowing and a sweater when it’s 70 degrees outside. He’s at that age where looking good is way more important, you know, not freezing your ass off.
(Zoot’s Dad: Like mother, like son Little Miss Thinks That Tights Under Shorts Is The Same As Pants.)
This morning I noticed something that I’m sure always happens but I didn’t notice because it’s considered normal in my brain. The weather guy on this channel? Uses the word/phrase “heckuva” all the time. For example, he said we should expect, “A heckuva warm-up today.” As in the contraction for “Heck of a” which isn’t even that great of a phrase to use in it’s complete form, so why would you use the contraction if you were in the media? Wouldn’t that rank up there with “ain’t” or “fixin’ to” or other such words that I’m sure are on a List of Words Not To Use somewhere. But not this guy, he really likes to use it and used it three times this morning alone.
I don’t know what concerns me more, that he used it three times in this morning’s newscast. Or - that he’s probably been doing it all along and I just now noticed.
At least he didn’t say helluva. ~.^
Our news people say weird stuff like that all the time, including ain’t. It makes it more interesting, that’s for sure!
tights under shorts????
My daughter absolutely refuses to wear tights in place of knee high socks with her uniform skirt. Even when it is below zero with a wind chill of negative below zero. My son hasn’t worn a real winter jacket to school at all - only a sweatshirt or windbreaker. I’m surprised they’re still alive.
ain’t makes me cringe….almost as much as using SEEN without a helping verb….I SEEN HER LAST NIGHT …ack!
I used to work at a TV station and our weather gal grew up in Northern Minnesota, right by Canada. She used to always say “Boy, I tell you what!” during her weather segments. It cracked me up because a Canadian accent really came out when she said that. But the best was when you used it multiple times and in different variations:
“Boy, I tell you what!”
“Boy, I’m telling you what!”
“Boy, I told you what!”
Most people in TV try to lose their “local” dialects or phrases, but weather is harder because they’re not reading a script, it’s all just ad-libbing based on their research and the maps/graphs they’re using.
One of our anchors on our local news channel always says the same thing at the end of each show. “Have a good morning……………………………………………………and a good day.” There is a good 10 second pause in there before he completes his second. Everyday I watch and wait to see if he’s going to have time to say it before they cut to commercial. He’s never missed it yet.
You are too funny!
Zoot, you’re one heckuva girl.
It sounds like you may be watching channel 31’s weather. I don’t remember Dan Satterfield on 19 saying ‘heckuva’.
However, unlike Satterfield, I’ve not seen the channel 31 people (Adrian GIbson or Garry Dobbs) act like they invented the National Weather Service when there’s a storm around either.
{sigh} I miss my hometown…. But not enough to move back. ;o)
Oh Zoot,
Unlike ‘ain’t', fixing to is perfectly correct English, if dialectical. To fix means to prepare, as well as to repair. Therefore, you fix dinner. Fixing to means to prepare to do something. Don’t let anyone, not even snotty people from Arizona, tell you that fixing to is bad.
Scott