PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TO ALOTT5MA FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO: Given
our past
discussions, I was grabbed by
a headline in this morning's New York Daily News:
New Yankees third baseman Kevin Youkilis says he’ll always be a Boston Red Sox
But then, when you read the article, you find the
Greek Hebrew God of Walks' actual quote, and ...
“To negate all the years I played for the Boston Red Sox and all the tradition, you look at all the stuff I have piled up at my house, to say I’d just throw it out the window, that’s not true,” Youkilis said. “I’ll always be a Red Sock.”
It's the latter, right?
I think the singular is still spelled "Red Sox" but pronounced "Red Sock." A heteronym.
ReplyDeleteI believe it's actually pronounced "Red Sawk."
ReplyDeleteAvoid the whole thing altogether:"I'll always be a member of the Red Sox." Done.
ReplyDeleteI definitely use the singular "Sock" when referring to a singular player.
ReplyDeleteRelated: some of my Yankees fan friends are very upset about what Youk said. To them I say simply, how could you negate your many years of being a member of a certain team when you came up in their organization and were involved in two World Series victories? I think it's clear to everyone that Youk will be thought of as a member of the Red Sox for history unless he does something absolutely patently absurd as a Yankee (of which the chances are small.) Is that so terrible? Pujols will probably always be thought of as a Cardinal, and I have no problems with that, either.
Worth mentioning that this is a problem created entirely by the idiotic decision to misspell "socks." People make fun of heavy metal bands and their umlauts, but nobody says boo about what an idiotic thing the "sox" spelling is.
ReplyDeleteRelated: the problem of the Red Sox ever being referred to as "The Sox." The Sox are the Chicago White Sox, using that name since 1901, seven years before the Red Sox.
ReplyDelete