I like Grammar Girl (aka Mignon Fogerty). It was one of the first podcasts I discovered. And I’ve followed her on Twitter for some time. She’s funny, articulate, and insightful. Today, she posted a picture of a Dairy Queen advertisement with a comment about how some people don’t believe “gift” is actually used as a verb. It’s a pet peeve of mine, particularly at this time of year when everyone is talking about “gifting” things for the holidays. Drives me nuts.
When I saw her tweet, I “retweeted” it (posted it again) and then, in a separate comment, noted how that usage annoys me. I was soon accused of “taking pot shots” at my “brothers,” and posting “disparaging shots at [my] StL brothers.” At first, I wasn’t even sure what was being referenced. It dawned on me when my interlocutor used the phrase “gift rejected,” and I recalled that a professor at St. Louis used the phrase “gift received” often. I’ve never studied under this professor or even heard him lecture, although I’ve read a few of his published works. Apparently, using “gift” as a verb is popular among his former students. (As a former Scaerismatic/Scaeretic, I get wanting to emulate a dynamic professor. But the world of the St. Louis Seminary (and, for that matter, that of my own alma mater more than a decade after leaving) is quite foreign to me. I used to get the “Q” jokes at CTSFW, but I wouldn’t even know how to mock the professors there today, much less the St. Louis “guys who do theology a certain way” (whatever that is).)
Apparently, my tweet was taken as an insult to an entire seminary and their “way of doing theology.” I clarified, repeatedly, that I intended no such reference, and was talking about the common holiday usage, spurred by the Grammar Girl tweet. By following the “@” threads, it turns out I’m also accused of “breaking the Eighth Commandment,” “throwing stones,” and the like. And then, failing to “repent.”
And this brings me to a significant change that I’ve been contemplating for awhile. Twitter (and Facebook) is a massive time-waster. It makes me unproductive.
That’s bad enough. But there is something else: Anything you say can and will be taken in the worst possible light. Your accusers presume to know what is in your heart, and take it on themselves to call you to “repentance” before the cyber-world. There is something about Twitter (and Facebook) that brings out the worst in people (myself included). I greatly enjoy certain aspects of it. But in the end, it’s a massive time-waster, and the logomachy makes my life miserable.
Maybe now I’ll have time to read Grammar Girl’s coming email newsletter on the topic of “Gifting.”
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