Resisting the pull of cynicism since 1969.

Monday, March 12, 2007

You say tomato, I say tar sands

I apologize for blogging being so light lately. But if you head over to this odd little article in today's Globe and Mail, you might just catch a glimpse of someone you all know and love tolerate, hangin' out in her work clothes.

5 comments:

skdadl said...

Nice distinction, IP. Interesting article, too. Thanks.

West End Bob said...

Love the work clothes, and I'm betting she uses the "tar" sands terminology . . . .

Idealistic Pragmatist said...

west end bound,

Actually, I've been thinking about this, and I think I tend to take the lead from whomever I'm talking to--I let them use the term first and then adopt that one for the duration of the conversation. But then again, I've always been a bit of a linguistic chameleon.

Wild English Rose said...

I was interested in the comparison with Northern Ireland. Incidentally republicans often refer to the 'six counties' referring to the 6 counties of the old Irish province of Ulster that form Northern Ireland. If you want to avoid upsetting people 'the North' is generally considered to be a fairly neutral expression.... Perhaps 'the Sands' could be adopted in Alberta?

Idealistic Pragmatist said...

bridgegeek,

Actually, that's precisely the phrase I've been using all week! Maybe it'll catch on...