Friday, November 07, 2008
The, The
A polite librarian should always insert a the before proper names of Internet name brands. Demonstrating your familiarity with the Google, the Facebook, or the Twitter, is a good way to establish some internet-cred with the kids.
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I love it. I have a tendency to put "the" in front of things. My parents were the parents, my husband is now the Josh. :-}
Bonus points if the service sounds like an old-time disease: "I've got a touch of The Google"
I got FB laughs with the construct "I'm a librarian; I know how to use the Google."
extra credit if you also make it plural. the twitterS.
I do this all the time! Mostly with the Google and the Facebook. Not so much when I'm working at the library though...
I was just at a library related workshop today where someone mentioned "Tweeter". The only way to improve that would be to slam a "The" on the front of it.
We've got a patron who regularly complains that "Googles" isn't working. Just wait until I tell him that it's "THE Googles" that doesn't work!
I love saying, "the googly," and then convincing people it has a long e sound like Tony Toni Tone.
Get the heck out, as they say. I blogged about that a while in proving our Dr. Campus Prez is as clueless as they come. He knows that you "can use THE Google to get to THE YouTube." And that is a direct quote from the speech he gave faculty and staff during convocation this year. I am so reassured our prez is at the cutting edge.
Thought you were as old as me for a second...
The The
Some of us remember when the web address for facebook WAS thefacebook.com. And some of us tend to continue to use this address, refusing to adapt to the shorter more efficient url...
I know someone who does this all the time with the phrase "the email" -- as in, "Time to check the email." I'm not sure if she's trying to be ironic (i.e. mimic "Time to make the donuts"), but she's a bit too consistent for it to be a joke. Either way, it's annoying.
oh i so love surfing the internets.
I do that. And i do it as a Librarian. The kids just think i'm weird.
I had a boss who used to do this, however only in conjuncture with the town groccery store!
Ha! Lots of staff at my library refer to our public PCs as "the internets".
I believe the expression should be "the interwebs" - really just a series of tubes.
Gee..."the interwebs?" I just couldn't find that term on "the wikipedias"...
'The' definite article. Almost pooped myself reading your 'definite' witticism. Brilliant delivery.
How about pronouncing URL as "earl"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interweb
preferably: teh interwebz, with a picture of a cat. as in
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/04/27/funny-pictures-2-go-bak-on-teh-interwebs/
see also http://loloogle.com/index.php
This just made me realize that, without meaning to, I've been spreading the misuse of proper web terminology by using slang such as "The Interwebs" in front of mostly-adult n00bs who haven't yet received the memo about Internet basics.
Epic, unwitting FAIL!
This is hilarious.
Be sure to tell them that you're on "the" email if they need further assistance...
I have a friend who uses the phrase "the rock & the roll" when she's trying to prove her hip-ness.
On 10/8/2004 in St. Louis at a Presidential debate George W. Bush said "I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." Subsequent use started as a way to make fun of that. Sorta describing the internet at "a series of tubes" as former Senator Ted Stevens [R-AK]
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