Althouse: "I met a guy yesterday, 7 feet tall… I figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn’t in sport!"

June 14, 2012

"I met a guy yesterday, 7 feet tall… I figured he had to be in sport, but he wasn’t in sport!"

Pssssssssssst. Romney! You've got to add the "s."

33 comments:

Andy said...: Time to update Romney's use interface software.

P.S. Link seems to be busted, so I'm not sure if this joke actually make any sense in the context of your post. But since it's weird how Romney has this affect where he's trying to act like how he thinks humans act, I figured I would comment on that.; 6/14/12, 4:33 PM
Hagar said...: But how would you know?; 6/14/12, 4:36 PM
Balfegor said...: Re: Andy R.

Time to update Romney's use interface software

I think it's in regional and language settings, switch UK English to US English.; 6/14/12, 4:38 PM
Andy said...: There is speculation online that it's something he might have picked up in France. Oh, the delicious irony.; 6/14/12, 4:41 PM
Carol said...: yeah cause we hate those frenchies, ya know..; 6/14/12, 4:44 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I will have to change my vote to Obama who knows all the really important stuff like how to fill out a NCAA bracket.; 6/14/12, 4:48 PM
rhhardin said...: English has secret rules so that you always know who the foreigners are.; 6/14/12, 4:51 PM
rehajm said...: English has secret rules so that you always know who the foreigners are.

Canadians are the trickiest to flush out; 6/14/12, 5:02 PM
Bender said...: I guess the French aren't human?

But, yes, that was the first and most logical explanation that comes to mind, given that it sounds like a European convention, much like going to university, etc.

Romney shares more than a few attributes with John F. Kerry (who served in Vietnam) in this respect.; 6/14/12, 5:05 PM
Darcy said...: Awkward. But I'm happy to hold off judgment to see how the first pitch goes.; 6/14/12, 5:14 PM
edutcher said...: Sport is what happens when it is done for the pure enjoyment of it.

Most people haven't seen anything like that since the 50s.

Andy R. said...

Time to update Romney's use interface software.

No, time to update Hatman's intellect.; 6/14/12, 5:40 PM
Paddy O said...: Maybe Romney is just a hipster, taking on the singular noun used for a plural affect. We'll know for sure if he shows up to campaign events with a new mustache.; 6/14/12, 5:42 PM
Hazy Dave said...: "Sport, sport, masculine sport,
Equips a young man for Society,
Yes, sport turns out a jolly good sort,
It's an Odd Boy who doesn't like sport."; 6/14/12, 5:42 PM
Quaestor said...: Here's a website that uses sport all over the place, everywhere that the good ole boy rednecks like askewhatguy (aka Andy R) would employ sports, and it hails from that well-known bastion of francophone culture, Australia.; 6/14/12, 6:08 PM
Michael K said...: I was in Australia some years ago and a 7 foot tall black guy came out of an elevator in the Sydney hotel where we were. My Australian friend's son, who was 13 at the time, got all excited. I figured the tall guy must be a basketball player.

Nope. He was a famous (there) cricket bowler.; 6/14/12, 6:31 PM
Synova said...: He wasn't dropping the "a" instead of the "s"?

As in "he wasn't in (silent a) sport."; 6/14/12, 6:57 PM
harrogate said...: "Sport is what happens when it is done for the pure enjoyment of it.

Most people haven't seen anything like that since the 50s."

I get what you are saying here and, to an extent, agree. But, might I suggest you take in a little league game or two this summer?

There are pockets of the kind of Sport you celebrate, in America today, even still. Just not being presided over by network television, by David Stern, Roger Goodell, etc.; 6/14/12, 7:13 PM
Michael said...: He should sling around some "motherfuckers" and get some street creds, this motherfucking motherfucker should.; 6/14/12, 7:18 PM
Astro said...: The (new) plural of sport is sport.
Football, baseball, basketball - these are all forms of sport.

You know, like the new plural of vinyl is vinyl.; 6/14/12, 7:27 PM
Michael K said...: As long as he doesn't use "golf" as a verb. It's a sport.; 6/14/12, 7:33 PM
Chip S. said...: Reporters are probably so accustomed to omitting Obama's "uhs" and "ums" from their transcriptions of his remarks that they reflexively dropped the "a" before "sport" here.; 6/14/12, 8:15 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: This will be the first link in the Professor's How Romney Lost Me post.; 6/14/12, 8:31 PM
Xmas said...: God, I hope he doesn't use the word "maths"...; 6/14/12, 8:33 PM
Quaestor said...: [He] should go to a sideshow where he pays to marvel at freaks.

We marvel at you all the time leslyn, and we don't pay a dime. You need to have a word with Mr. Barnum; 6/14/12, 8:37 PM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/14/12, 9:14 PM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/14/12, 9:16 PM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/14/12, 9:18 PM
sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/14/12, 9:21 PM
Paley Rene said...: buywindows7keys.com Maybe Mitt romney is just a hipster, dealing with the unique noun used for a dual impact. We'll know for sure if he reveals up to strategy activities with a new mustache.
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sakredkow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/14/12, 9:55 PM
yashu said...: Heh. I'm biased pro-Romney, so I find such idiosyncratic locutions kinda charming.

I suppose it does sound foreign (e.g. British), but it struck me as businessman speak-- the way businessmen (and businesswomen) talk about what they're "in," i.e. what business they're in.

What are you in? I'm in software; I'm in insurance; I'm in medical equipment; I'm in venture capital; I'm in retail; I'm in real estate; I'm in PR; I'm in oil; I'm in film. Sometimes you'd use the plural "s": I'm in sales; I'm in pharmaceuticals. But if you're just in the business of one sport (as opposed to someone involved in more than one sport), it does seem natural (following this business lingo pattern) to say "in sport." The generic noun "sport."

Just like another prepositional phrase, doing something "for sport."

But I agree it doesn't sound colloquially American, which prefers to use the plural "sports" as the generic noun.; 6/15/12, 12:06 AM
kcom said...: "I will have to change my vote to Obama who knows all the really important stuff like how to fill out a NCAA bracket."

Where did he put the Nittaly Lions? They play in Cominskey Field, don't they?; 6/15/12, 1:20 AM
Jaq said...: We say "sports," they say "sport"
We say "Math" they say "Maths"
Let's call the whole thing off.

Maybe he thought the final 's' was silent, as opposed to the 'p' in "corpsman."; 6/15/12, 6:33 AM