It would have been great if people who predict the end of the world had been a wee bit more accurate. Even though the prediction of the coming rapture was a few ticks off, it certainly drew a lot of attention.<\/p>\n
Presbyterian Pastor Randy Campbell, for one, opened his Sunday sermon by announcing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Doubtless many others said the same thing.<\/p>\n
The gentleman who predicted that on May 21, a fifth of a billion Christians would be taken to heaven, California preacher Harold Camping, also said that those of us left behind, would suffer a living hell on earth.<\/p>\n
Camping, whose independent ministry runs Family Radio International, admits he felt terrible that the prophecy didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come true. It was an expensive \u00e2\u20ac\u201d well into the millions \u00e2\u20ac\u201d venture, mainly through 5,000 billboards around the country.<\/p>\n
The prognosticating man of the cloth ought to do his homework better. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t his first such miscalculation. Remember back in 1994 when what Camping called a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mathematical error\u00e2\u20ac\u009d prevented the Apocalypse? Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there an expression, about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153once burnt, twice wary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beginning to resemble the story of the boy who cried wolf. He did it so often that when a real wolf was about to pounce, nobody paid attention to the kid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cries. In Camping\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, how can we believe it this time?<\/p>\n
Can those who were around w-a-y back in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc40s remember the threats and promises of the end of the world? As a member of the super-malleable, super-gullible crowd in fourth or fifth grade at Immaculate Conception School, I did what I could to prepare for the final days. At that time, the A-Bomb put the fear into us.<\/p>\n
And that fear would be compounded by a guest lecturer, a Christian brother, who came in to present a series of lectures on Armageddon. Some of us boys became entranced by his lectures, delivered wide-eyed to punctuate his points.<\/p>\n
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get together after school to give impromptu reactions to what Brother Mike had said. And though we assured one another that the end of the world couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen in little Las Vegas, as we fanned out in different directions, I suspect, we each wondered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
And end-of-the-world thoughts permeated the consciousness of many during the cold war of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc60s. Our nemesis then was the U.S.S.R.<\/p>\n
A USA Today article on the predicting preacher mentions that the overwhelming majority of Christians reject the notion of the end of the world in our lifetimes, especially in light of the futility of predicting an exact day.<\/p>\n
And yet, an army of Camping supporters appeared crestfallen when the big event failed to materialize.<\/p>\n
I wonder if the preacher is familiar with the words in Matthew 24:36: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But about that day or hour, no one knows.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Camping\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Family Radio empire recently reported $18.3 million in donations, plus another $34 million in other assets. One would think that with that kind of capital, Camping and his followers could be a bit more precise. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll need to prepare, to charge up our laptops and iPhones.<\/p>\n
Well, maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll happen next time. But for now, Armageddon tired of this topic.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve all ready spoiled it for all of us. The way they spell is all together outrageous.<\/p>\n
Let me explain:<\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a school, National American University, located in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho and in a dozen states. Maybe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll set up a branch near here and make it an extension of Tecolote Tech University. But lest I appear to offend the wonderful people just south of Las Vegas, let me point out that we heard of TTU five or six decades ago, and we used it as an affectionate term for any school located in a small town.<\/p>\n
But back to the spoilage. NAU runs a TV spot in which a little ditty says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Set yourself free … National American University.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And another spot, which I just recently watched, contains the tuneful words, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One day, one night, Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alright … National American University.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
May be those of us who love the language and accordingly would like to protect it ought to cave in and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best you can do, you may spell \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcall right\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 anyway you wish, even \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcalright.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Afterall, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re only a university; proper spelling is merely a suggestion; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alright with us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Words with slightly different meanings and similar spellings often give people trouble. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alright\u00e2\u20ac\u009d often are interchanged, as are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153already\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all ready\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all together\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153altogether.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Now, except for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alright,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist except in the minds of texters and ad copy designers for NAU, the others are real words.<\/p>\n
In brief, then, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alright\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a word, even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the lyrics of a Rolling Stones hit and even if \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and this point is quite difficult to concede \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a Webster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s New World release calls it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disputed spelling\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all right.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Altogether,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153totally,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all together,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all in one place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d certainly are part of the lexicon; so are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153already,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153before\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153by now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all ready,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prepared\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153entirely ready.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that word \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alright\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that ages language cops.<\/p>\n
We can expect the good folks at National American University to accelerate the acceptance of previously loathed spellings. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not forget: NAU is only a university.<\/p>\n
And cell-phone texters will also do their share to dumb-down the language. It might come soon. But I hope it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen before Oct. 21, for that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really the day the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to end, according to Camping.<\/p>\n
And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alright with me.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
This column has a number of what my English teacher would call \u00e2\u20ac\u0153glaringly egregious errors,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d particularly regarding the all ready\/already and alright\/all right matter. I do know the difference. Just wanted to get into the spirit of NAU-type language usage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It would have been great if people who predict the end of the world had been a wee bit more accurate. Even though the prediction of the coming rapture was a few ticks off, it certainly drew a lot of attention. Presbyterian Pastor Randy Campbell, for one, opened his Sunday sermon by announcing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":764,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}