Althouse: "When I do my Twitter now, I’m always super happy, fake-friendly, nice. Initially, I didn’t know what it was for..."

May 21, 2019

"When I do my Twitter now, I’m always super happy, fake-friendly, nice. Initially, I didn’t know what it was for..."

"... so I just called everyone a whore, and then I got two defamation suits that cost me, like, $780,000," said Courtney Love (to Howard Stern, quoted in his big book of interviews).

ADDED: "When I do my Twitter now"... there's that geriatric possessive again — my Twitter. (She's 54.)

40 comments:

BarrySanders20 said...: "do my Twitter" is an interesting phrase; 5/21/19, 8:41 AM
gilbar said...: so I just called everyone a whore...
under the category of: Takes one, to Know one?; 5/21/19, 8:44 AM
Tom T. said...: This sounds more like a story about antidepressants than social media.; 5/21/19, 8:45 AM
rhhardin said...: I don't see how there's defamation. It's a cliche and represents an opinion.; 5/21/19, 8:47 AM
rhhardin said...: Slut is worse than whore. So loose that you don't even ask for money.; 5/21/19, 8:48 AM
rhhardin said...: Also taking whore as defamation is sexist.; 5/21/19, 8:49 AM
Ann Althouse said...: ""do my Twitter" is an interesting phrase"

That's the geriatric possessive I've been talking about.; 5/21/19, 8:49 AM
Kate Danaher said...: @BarrySanders20 "do my Twitter". Are you suggesting this is an early sign of the geriatric possessive? Love is in her mid-50s now...

cf https://althouse.blogspot.com/2019/05/i-dont-even-walk-my-dog-without-putting.html; 5/21/19, 8:51 AM
Kate Danaher said...: Oh fudge Ann. I posted right as you did!; 5/21/19, 8:51 AM
Kate Danaher said...: So here's Arnold Schwartznegger talking about "my snapchat" from a couple of days ago
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2019/05/high-quality-trash-talk-from.html; 5/21/19, 8:55 AM
Jake said...: I don’t think that’s an example of geriatric possessive. What if someone said, “when I do my taxes ...” would that count? Doubt it. It’s her Twitter feed. She’s not taking possession of the tweets external to her feed or intended for others. Or not. Who cares anyway.; 5/21/19, 8:55 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Calls everyone a whore. Hey - that's my shtick; 5/21/19, 9:00 AM
stevew said...: I've been paying close attention to the way my wife and I use, or don't, the geriatric possessive. Good news is that we don't do it, yet. Maybe early 60's (I'm 61, wife will turn 60 shortly) is too early?; 5/21/19, 9:05 AM
Wilbur said...: Beavis and Butthead called her "Hole".; 5/21/19, 9:08 AM
Craig said...: While Courtney Love is only 54, I'd expect she's an "old" 54, hence the geriatric possessive. That woman has been through a lot of stuff.; 5/21/19, 9:08 AM
tim maguire said...: rhhardin said...I don't see how there's defamation. It's a cliche and represents an opinion

Without doing a drop of research:
1) Traditionally, accusing someone of sexual deviance is per se defamatory.
2) But, if she calls everyone a whore, then it loses it's power to defame--seems like a strong defense.
3) But, $780,000 might be her lawyer bills, not the judgment.; 5/21/19, 9:19 AM
tim maguire said...: "Do my twitter" is odd phrasing and is, arguably, the geriatric possessive. It seems much more normal to say "I was on twitter" or "When I tweeted." "Twitter" is not a verb. Yet.; 5/21/19, 9:22 AM
Nonapod said...: So when kids today are old and grey will they say things like "Playing my Fortnite"?; 5/21/19, 9:22 AM
PJ said...: Do geriatrics do second- and third-person possessives too, or just first? Do geriatrics say “Go do your Twitter, Courtney” and “Courtney did her Twitter”?; 5/21/19, 9:38 AM
PJ said...: Interesting that in this case the onset of geriatric possessive usage appears to be related to mileage rather than numerical age.; 5/21/19, 9:41 AM
rehajm said...: We are mildly amused...; 5/21/19, 9:43 AM
Infinite Monkeys said...: So when kids today are old and grey will they say things like "Playing my Fortnite"?

My Minecraft.; 5/21/19, 9:45 AM
Saint Croix said...: I got two defamation suits that cost me, like, $780,000

Millionaires who forget they are millionaires crack me up.; 5/21/19, 9:45 AM
Saint Croix said...: "You're a whore."

"Pay me $300,000."

"Damn it! You're a fucking whore."

"Pay me $480,000."

"Damn it!"; 5/21/19, 9:45 AM
Christy said...: I imagine she was forced to take responsibility for/ possession of her Twitter feed by those lawsuits. Would not her lawyers have drummed this into her?

I've been geriatric my entire life, I figure. I've always been possessive of my mechanic, my GYN, my Fluid Dynamics professor, my cat....; 5/21/19, 9:55 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: My Sharona.

I am Laslo.; 5/21/19, 10:12 AM
Bill Peschel said...: More than 700K? Damn, some people have too much money.

I feel like a former co-worker who was Jewish, wondering when he was going to get his check from the conspiracy ruling the world.; 5/21/19, 10:15 AM
Curious George said...: "That woman has been through a lot of stuff."

And a lot of stuff has been through that woman.; 5/21/19, 10:21 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Beavis and Butthead called her "Hole".

She hyphenates now-- It's Courtney Love-Hole, you whores!!!; 5/21/19, 10:25 AM
Anthony said...: Two observations:

-- I still adore Courtney. She's just so raw. Also, Celebrity Skin is really a superb album.

-- For the first time in my life yesterday, someone gave me a senior discount. Without even asking for it! So this morning at the gym, I told (read: lamented at) someone about it and the first thing I said to go along with the joke of my being an official Senior Citizen was "I think I need to go take MY nap now."

And I never say "my" anything in that sort of context.

Thus, I believe, al this "my" stuff is kind of a deliberate in-joke among the elderly crowd.

Which I am apparently now a part of.; 5/21/19, 10:25 AM
mccullough said...: Master the Art of Friendly; 5/21/19, 10:26 AM
Danno said...: I'm surprised there was no Youtube video attached to this post.; 5/21/19, 10:28 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Oh fudge Ann. I posted right as you did!"

But that's great! I want us all to be seeing that. If that happens, you won't be able to have the honor of owning the observation, but the idea will be rooted and there to be instantly seen. That's valuable, so I like seeing that's working.

I myself didn't think of it while writing the post, but only after BarrySanders20 said "'do my Twitter' is an interesting phrase."; 5/21/19, 10:29 AM
rehajm said...: Initially, I didn't know what it was for so I just called everyone a whore

Actually you knew exactly what it was for.; 5/21/19, 10:30 AM
Fernandinande said...: I don’t think that’s an example of geriatric possessive.

It's an example of confirmation bias.

"My Twitter is pretty much complete nonsense at this point"

Yo, my name is Brian Schultz and this is my Twitter. I’m a student attending Dover High School in New Hampshire. Hope you have a great day!; 5/21/19, 11:04 AM
Wince said...: Is "Do my Twitter" is the new "'Situation' down there"?; 5/21/19, 11:37 AM
TerriW said...: My favorite geriatric-speak was the (apocryphal?) Strom Thurmond quote, asking someone to "speak into the machine."

(AKA the microphone.); 5/21/19, 12:48 PM
Leland said...: I'm with Jake. I think this possessive relates to her account as it represents her, thus the defamation suits against her. As opposed to others posting on her feed that others are whores.; 5/21/19, 2:45 PM
donald said...: Hole was a helluva band. It just was.; 5/21/19, 3:11 PM
Saint Croix said...: Hole was a helluva band. It just was.

Miss World; 5/21/19, 8:18 PM