Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for July 19, 2013
Transcript:
Lemming 1: Okay, guys. I'ts the end of our little lemming lives... Bob, you start us off. Lemming 2: Alright, Fred! Lemming 1: Wait! Wait! You yelled "Alright" in that speech balloon! But that's not a word, Bob! It's "All Right." Two words... ask anyone! Lemming 2: Oh, crap... really? Lemming 1: It's a shame to go out on a grammatical error.
Bilan over 11 years ago
At least Alright, Fred would have been better last words than what he finally said.
BRI-NO-MITE!! Premium Member over 11 years ago
Alright Said Fred.
Templo S.U.D. over 11 years ago
I always seem to get “alright” and “all right” wrong when it comes to situations like that. But what ticks me off a little more is “alot” (it’s really “a lot” for crying out loud).
amyhre2001 over 11 years ago
Disrespect can be a verb. Many nouns can be turned into verbs in English. Disrespect is to show a lack of respect for someone or something. And vice versa, sometimes nouns can be derived from verbs.
Snoopy_Fan over 11 years ago
wcorvi over 11 years ago
ANY noun can be verbed.
orinoco womble over 11 years ago
Love the floating lemming! Cartoon physics rules OK!
Inkwell Files over 11 years ago
“Alright” as opposed to “all right” has always confused me. I’d like to know the origin of the error, because it sure is widespread.
Sisyphos over 11 years ago
Bon voyage, Bob, you ninny!Congratulations, Fred; you are an admirable, well-schooled lemming (but a suicidal jerk, nonetheless)!
doublepaw over 11 years ago
How about your/you’re and there/their…….
luvcmx over 11 years ago
And ‘loose’ for ‘lose’…
jmartin1955 over 11 years ago
Your welcome – LOL
JudyAz over 11 years ago
“capital” crimes. The only ones who commit “capitol” crimes are in Congress!
orinoco womble over 11 years ago
You’re/your etc. And yet when I write the word “it’s” and ask people what it means, they all know to say “it is!”
gilmccarthy over 11 years ago
Fred is seen jumping in the second panel. Somehow he gets back in the jumping line. Huh?
jessegooddoggy over 11 years ago
Weather-wise, money-wise, food-wise…..when did this form of speech become grammatically accepted at all levels?? It still makes me, like, cringe.
Carl Rennhack Premium Member over 11 years ago
When Pastis hands us lemmings, should we make lemming-ade?!?
puddlesplatt over 11 years ago
All Right, the end result is all the same.
Sportymonk over 11 years ago
What does it matter what your last words are? 5 seconds later it doesn’t matter what you said or what you saw or anything, its over.
Strod over 11 years ago
Dunno. Methinks the spelling “alright” is alright. So does the New Oxford American Dictionary (well, kinda): alright |ˈˌɔlˈraɪt|variant spelling of all right. usage: The merging of all and right to form the one-word spelling alright is first recorded toward the end of the 19th century (unlike other similar merged spellings such as altogether and already, which date from much earlier). There is no logical reason for insisting that all right be two words when other single-word forms such as altogether have long been accepted. Nevertheless, although found widely, alright remains nonstandard.
GoodQuestion Premium Member over 11 years ago
Could be worse, if a hyphen ate him . . . ☻
corzak over 11 years ago
Modern English is spoken by more that a billion people. Working knowledge of it is required in science, medicine, transportation, business, and diplomacy. All because of its flexibility and readiness to assimilate new words and concepts.Stop whining about grammar.
JohnFredC over 11 years ago
Ha ha. Maybe Mr. Pastis does read our comments after all.
js over 11 years ago
That bugs me alot!!!!!
gamer2k4 over 11 years ago
“Irregardless” is a word. It’s just a stupid word, because it means the exact same thing as “regardless.” Sort of like “flammable” and “inflammable.”
togo1960 over 11 years ago
“’Alright’ is all wrong.” Thanks, Maris St. Cyr, for a high school English tip that has lasted a lifetime!
hcr1985 over 11 years ago
Grammar Nazis…even unto the end!!
ncalifgirl58 over 11 years ago
I think those that feel they are the grammar police should jump off a cliff.
susan.e.a.c over 11 years ago
Alrighty, then.
ChessPirate over 11 years ago
This conversation is “literally” making my head explode! :)
HankTheSock over 11 years ago
I love these strips! xD
BRI-NO-MITE!! Premium Member over 11 years ago
Yes, a living language evolves.
Sherlock Watson over 11 years ago
Sing along with Sherlock::“I’m alright,
Nobody worry ’bout me,
Why you got to gimme a fight?
Can’t you just let it be?"
dbmeyer99 over 11 years ago
If irregardless is written, read, and spoken in English… doesn’t that make it a “real” English word? Not to be an ass but what exactly would an unreal English word be?
knight1192a over 11 years ago
Actually alright is a word and has been in Webster’s since 1887. That’s just 75 years after all right was re-introduced into dictionaries after being banned for 400 years.
Snoopy_Fan over 11 years ago
I suppose “alright” is alright, to distinguish it from “all right,” just as “altogether” is completely different than saying “all together.”
Bill Chapman over 11 years ago
Randolph Larrabee over 11 years ago
I love the satire. Someone is committing suicide and all the grammar Nazis’ can think of are language rules. It is pathetic.
Pelahnar over 11 years ago
While it’s great that language can be flexible and open to change, at the same time that doesn’t mean anything goes. Grammar rules that are enforced just because they always have been – rather than having a specific, logical reason – are ridiculous, but at the same time, if rules are changed just for the heck of it, they’re rendered useless and the language they’re supposed to regulate becomes incomprehensible..I think that as long as there are people fighting both for regulation and for flexibility in language, the change will be slow enough for people to understand, but not completely set in stone. (Personally, I am on the stricter side when it comes to language.)
TIMH over 11 years ago
Languages evolve or die. What constitutes improper English today, may become standard usage in the future.
Tyrnn over 11 years ago
It’s just a bad a crime to keep perpetuating the myth of Lemmings leaping to their death.
orinoco womble over 11 years ago
English grammar and spelling were not actually codified until the late 18th century, so the rules haven’t been around all that long.It’s my day job.
comicsnerd74 over 9 years ago
This is an actual complaint!!
comicsnerd74 over 9 years ago
Isn’t this a common complaint….?
comicsnerd74 over 9 years ago
Great way to turn those stupid Grammar Nazi e-mails into a productive strip.
Elaphe Gutatta over 9 years ago
Gasp! “Crap” on the comics page! Kids read this section!