“Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.”
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
“Hell is empty
And all the devils are here.”
William Shakespeare, The Tempest
I have heard it said that students no longer are exposed to Shakespeare in High School or College…and not to mention grammar, Western Civilization, US History, and Geography. I know a 27 year old lady (High School Graduate) that did not know that New Mexico was a state and thought it was another country or that it boarders Mexico and Texas…go figure. Sadly she has high native intelligence with little knowledge other than how to game the system. I am sure that Mrs. Fouraker, my 7th grade English teacher, would be appalled that diagramming sentences is no longer tolerated or that snuck rather than sneaked is common usage. Also, we had to memorize irregular verbs like hear, heard, heard…now its hear heared, heared…argh. Then there is the Russian studies that indicate that grammar/language is a basic component of DNA in that strands of DNA when exposed to audio of improper grammar shrivel up and when exposed to proper grammar relax and appear healthy. Of course who can believe in any Russian scientific study. But then, ignorance is bliss…right? And I am not a well versed epidemiologist…I mean etymologist.
What about horses?
Boarders, borders… What’s the difference? 🙂
“Life…is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” — Shakespeare
My bad. I guess that puts me in the glass house throwing stones.