Who knew?
Who knew Neil Gaiman, darling of my friends' list, darling of BookCrossers everywhere, whose books I still haven't read but was about to pick one up (Graveyard) after a friend read parts to me yesterday, was, well ... a little bitchy?
The story (keeping in mind a character limit of 140 for each Twitter post)>>
He tweets (a post on Twitter):
RT seeing I haven't blogged it yet @implify: 'PBS Parents' just posted ths blog abt the Newbury Awards Banquet. http://tinyurl.com/nf9ohh
(The "RT" means he's re-tweeting something someone else said. Basically, since he hadn't blogged about [something] yet, he's re-tweeting something that a user named "implify" already tweeted)
I tweet:
@neilhimself re your last tweet - why "seeing" or "being that" (NYC) instead of "since"? Seems more and more prevalent lately. ick-poo
His reply:
@Antof9 criticising twitter word choices seems like a strange way to spend time you could have spent doing anything else in the world.
Wow. Really? Seriously, after reading his surprisingly snarky reply to my comment, I thought of many replies.
The most obvious:
Um ... have you ever BEEN on Twitter?
The next most obvious:
Criticising people for criticising Twitter word choices seems like a strange way to spend time you could have spent doing anything else in the world.
Or I could have gone with:
Do you truly believe someone using "ick-poo" is being serious?
Or just:
Ad hominem much?
Instead I went with the spineless but truthful:
@neilhimself sorry - genuinely curious. Because you're a lover of words, I thought you'd have a good answer.
The thought process was: I've noticed in the last several years a whole lotta "being that" or seeing that in place of "since" (or "as"). Sure, mostly on the East Coast of the U.S., but I've seen/heard it elsewhere as well. And since I was taught "since", and Ms. Wilma Counts always said there was no reason to use more words when fewer would do, I think I'm right. And really, doesn't everyone think what they were taught is right? Of course! So I see a notable wordsmith using the "seeing" option (granted, he didn't opt for the "that", but still), and I wonder. Thinking a fellow lover of language might have an interesting discussion on words with me (or that my tweet will drop into oblivion), I make my comment. Thinking it's obvious I'm being funny (and yes, expressing my opinion, albeit harmlessly), I never expected that kind of reply.
And while it's possible he was having as craptacular a day as I was and that after he read my tweet, he burst into tears too; I doubt it. But I do want to give him the benefit of the doubt because frankly, I've been enjoying following his Twitter feed. And really, unfollowing him would have been just too cliché...
He did reply once more:
@Antof9 it's a different construction. You're allowed them, and many more, like "given that" or just "as". "Since" is fine too. (Shrugs.)
Ah well. How many people can say they have been chastised in a public forum by Neil Gaiman?
(it did make me feel better that 5 different people DMd me, and ALL used the word "bitchy" to describe his comment ... maybe I should just ascribe it to a bad day for him ...)
The story (keeping in mind a character limit of 140 for each Twitter post)>>
He tweets (a post on Twitter):
RT seeing I haven't blogged it yet @implify: 'PBS Parents' just posted ths blog abt the Newbury Awards Banquet. http://tinyurl.com/nf9ohh
(The "RT" means he's re-tweeting something someone else said. Basically, since he hadn't blogged about [something] yet, he's re-tweeting something that a user named "implify" already tweeted)
I tweet:
@neilhimself re your last tweet - why "seeing" or "being that" (NYC) instead of "since"? Seems more and more prevalent lately. ick-poo
His reply:
@Antof9 criticising twitter word choices seems like a strange way to spend time you could have spent doing anything else in the world.
Wow. Really? Seriously, after reading his surprisingly snarky reply to my comment, I thought of many replies.
The most obvious:
Um ... have you ever BEEN on Twitter?
The next most obvious:
Criticising people for criticising Twitter word choices seems like a strange way to spend time you could have spent doing anything else in the world.
Or I could have gone with:
Do you truly believe someone using "ick-poo" is being serious?
Or just:
Ad hominem much?
Instead I went with the spineless but truthful:
@neilhimself sorry - genuinely curious. Because you're a lover of words, I thought you'd have a good answer.
The thought process was: I've noticed in the last several years a whole lotta "being that" or seeing that in place of "since" (or "as"). Sure, mostly on the East Coast of the U.S., but I've seen/heard it elsewhere as well. And since I was taught "since", and Ms. Wilma Counts always said there was no reason to use more words when fewer would do, I think I'm right. And really, doesn't everyone think what they were taught is right? Of course! So I see a notable wordsmith using the "seeing" option (granted, he didn't opt for the "that", but still), and I wonder. Thinking a fellow lover of language might have an interesting discussion on words with me (or that my tweet will drop into oblivion), I make my comment. Thinking it's obvious I'm being funny (and yes, expressing my opinion, albeit harmlessly), I never expected that kind of reply.
And while it's possible he was having as craptacular a day as I was and that after he read my tweet, he burst into tears too; I doubt it. But I do want to give him the benefit of the doubt because frankly, I've been enjoying following his Twitter feed. And really, unfollowing him would have been just too cliché...
He did reply once more:
@Antof9 it's a different construction. You're allowed them, and many more, like "given that" or just "as". "Since" is fine too. (Shrugs.)
Ah well. How many people can say they have been chastised in a public forum by Neil Gaiman?
(it did make me feel better that 5 different people DMd me, and ALL used the word "bitchy" to describe his comment ... maybe I should just ascribe it to a bad day for him ...)