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FacebookThe lead story on tonight’s news was Nicole Kidman’s car accident. Nevermind it wasn’t much of an accident (caught on tape!). Forget that no one was hurt and the actress walked away fine, seconds after impact. Ignore that it really wasn’t spectacular; no cars rolled over and the damage was minimal. The real story here is that this is a story–a lead story for at least two major television networks (I caught the beginning of FOX’s and the CW’s news: when I saw what they were “covering” I opted to turn off the TV). And I only watched the two networks–it might’ve been the lead story for everyone else, too.
The media is a frequent target of my criticism: it’s stuff like this that makes it easy. Honestly, who gives a damn? Television could be such a powerful, educational, and informative media–and we’re talking about an insignificant actress’s on-set car accident. It’s awful.
I got some hairs cut today. Here’s something to chew one. Why is something like a person’s hair, referred to in a singular sense when there’s more than one? The plural of hair is hairs, not hair (i.e., ‘I found three hairs in the sink’). Yet whenever someone is talking about the mop on their head, they say hair. When you go to a stylist and ask for a haircut, does he cut a single hair or many hairs? It should be called a hairscut.
Meanwhile, something like a person brain–a single item–is often referred to in the plural sense (‘he has no brains in his head‘). A person can only have one brain–there isn’t a person on this planet with “brains in their head.” It’s impossible–unless you’re Steve Martin.
I think the reason for this phenomenon is the subconscious desire for self-improvement. Everyone wants more brains and everyone wants less hair (at least body hair). Without realizing what they’re doing, I think folks are altering the denomination of both of these body parts. But what do I know? I’m an idiot.