Words and all that

Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (who recently resigned in disgrace) was one of the Republicans who campaigned to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to define marriage as the the union between a man and a woman. Then she was found to be in "an inappropriate relationship" with someone other than her husband. That resulted in this "apology"from "the gay and lesbian community of Minnesota":

I'm afraid The Associated Press has irritated my inner nitpicky word curmudgeon to life:

DETROIT — Workers at three Indiana facilities comprising Chrysler's largest United Auto Workers local have voted in favor of a new four-year contract, a sign that the deal will be approved when voting ends next week.

Somebody is unclear on the concept:

Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White wanted to make the point that public schools have it tougher than private schools because they have to take all comers. He's now taking heat for the way he put it:

Advocacy groups are asking for an apology from the superintendent of the state's largest school district after he referred to children as "blind, crippled, crazy."

Hey, all you bloggers out there, be careful when you're tempted to get creative with well-known apothegms. On this story about next month's closing of two Hammond library branches, they put this headline:

The Library in the Coal Mine?

Here it is, the proof we've been waiting for of a further economic downturn, from a "courtesan" in Las Vegas:

It seemed like the beginning of this year was looking up. I was doing better than the previous start of last year, and people seemed happier with their quality of life and earnings. Customers seemed more like they were before the recession really hit, and it made me less stressed and enjoy my job even more. However, this summer seems to have taken a complete nosedive.

See, it was all well and good to stop calling people bums and tramps and winos and use the much more sensitive term "homeless." But you know what happens when we try to change reality by changing perception. The new, better word starts being used the same way the old one was. Be honest, when you hear "homeless," you think "bum." So we new an even newer, more sensitive term than homeless. Oh, wait, here's one:

Ever feel like your head is so full of facts you have to get rid of one old one for every new one you learn? Dictionaries can be like that:

Fair is fair. Conservatives are always complaining (usually with justification) about having their words twisted or misinterpreted to make it sould like they're calling for violence or being inappropriately insensitve toward something or other. (The flap over Sarah Palin's call for "targeting" of disliked public officials comes to mind.) So conservatives should be careful not to commit the same sin:

Vice President Joe Biden, on the importance of brevity:

"And so language, the ability not only to master the ability to put your ideas into words succinctly on a platform to communicate ideas to your own people, it is even more impressive when you have the capacity to do that and communicate your ideas, especially as future business and political and moral leaders of the world in the language of the people to whom you are speaking."