Educational television may be an oxymoron, but that doesn't mean popular TV programs can't be used to illustrate points of grammar and usage. Take Richard Castle lecturing on your and you're, Abby Sciuto defending neologisms, or Shawn Spencer distinguishing between literally and figuratively. As this sampler demonstrates, now and then you can learn about language with the television on.
To discover a bit more about the lexical items in these dialogues, turn off the TV and follow the links to our Index of Commonly Confused Words and Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms.
- Dr. House's Euphemisms
Dr. House: I'm busy.
Thirteen: We need you to . . .
Dr. House: Actually, as you can see, I'm not busy. It's just a euphemism for "get the hell out of here."
(Hugh Laurie and Olivia Wilde in the episode "Dying Changes Everything." House, M.D., 2008) - Shawn Spencer on Literally and Figuratively
Juliet O'Hara: Detective Lassiter is literally on fire.
Shawn Spencer: What kind of fire are we talking about? Michael Jackson in the Pepsi commercial fire or misusing the word literally fire?
(Maggie Lawson and James Roday in "65 Million Miles Off." Psych, 2007) - Tony Soprano's Malapropisms: Anecdote and Antidote
That's another thing. I don't want to hear anymore how it was in your day. From now on, keep your antidotes to local color, like Dynoflow or the McGuire Sisters.
(Tony Soprano to "Feech" La Manna in "All Happy Families." The Sopranos, 2004) - Abby's Neologisms
McGee: What are we looking for?
Abby: Just anything that's hinky.
McGee: Why do you use that word?
Abby: What word?
McGee: Hinky. It's a made-up word.
Abby: All words are made-up words.
(Sean Murray and Pauley Perrette, "A Weak Link." NCIS, 2004) - Onomatopoeia in The West Wing
Russian Negotiator: Why must every American president bound out of an automobile like he's at a yacht club while in comparison our leader looks like . . . I don't even know what word is.
Sam Seaborn: Frumpy?
Russian Negotiator: I don't know what frumpy is, but onomatopoetically sounds right.
Sam Seaborn: It's hard not to like a guy who doesn't know frumpy but knows onomatopoeia.
(Ian McShane and Rob Lowe in "Enemies Foreign and Domestic." The West Wing, 2002) - Larry David on Passed and Past
The scene opens with a shot of Larry David, his cousin Andy, and Larry's father, Nat David, standing in front of Adele David's tombstone, which reads:Born
Larry: "Past away"? P-a-s-t? Dad, you spelled passed wrong. It's not spelled p-a-s-t. "Passed away": p-a-s-s-e-d.
Sept 18, 1920
Past Away
Oct 21, 2001
Nat: I know how to spell it. It's $50 a letter.
Larry: You spelled it wrong on purpose to save $100?
Nat: Yes. Why not? It's the same meaning. Everyone knows what it means.
Andy: It's not the same meaning.
Larry: You saved $100? Well, I would have paid for it.
("The Black Swan." Curb Your Enthusiasm, 2009) - Jerry Seinfeld's Prefixes
I don't trust the guy. I think he regifted, then he degifted, and now he's using an upstairs invite as a springboard to a Super Bowl sex romp.
(Jerry Seinfeld, "The Label Maker." Seinfeld, 1995) - Homer Simpson's Suffixes
Good things don't end in -eum; they end in -mania or -teria.
(Homer Simpson, "Life on the Fast Lane." The Simpsons, 1990) - Lisa Simpson's Synonyms
Relax? I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or . . .. Only two synonyms? Oh my! I'm losing my perspicacity!
(Lisa Simpson, "The PTA Disbands." The Simpsons, 1995) - Judge Phelan on Than and Then
Look here, Jimmy. You misspelled culpable. And you're confusing then and than. T-h-e-n is an adverb used to divide and measure time. "Detective McNulty makes a mess, and then he has to clean it up." Not to be confused with t-h-a-n, which is most commonly used after a comparative adjective or adverb, as in, "Rhonda is smarter than Jimmy."
(Judge Daniel Phelan to Detective Jimmy McNulty in the episode "The Wire." The Wire, 2002) - Tony and Ducky on Who and Whom
Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo: Hired by who?
Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard: Whom, Tony. Who is the nominative case. Whom always follows a preposition.
(Michael Weatherly and David McCallum in "Love and War." NCIS, 2007) - Richard Castle on Your and You're
Beckett: [reading] "Psycho the rapist your out of time"?
Lanie Parish: Looks like a patient lost their patience.
Castle: Also his command of grammar. Your should be You-apostrophe-r-e, as in "you are." That's not even a tough one, not like when to use who or whom."
Beckett: You really think that's the take-away here, Castle?
Castle: I'm just saying--whoever killed her also murdered the English language.
("The Double Down," Castle, 2009)
