 |
| Courtesy Pixabay |
Crowl or Crawl
In
one of those idle moments when the brain is parked in a lay-by, I typed my
surname into the search engine on Blogger.com. I shouldn’t have been
surprised that a number of people had typed ‘crowl’ instead of ‘crawl’ and had
never noticed (who apart from me proof-reads their blog scribblings?), but
seeing my name leap out from some of the most random writing on the planet was
disconcerting.
It
even turns up in foreign language texts. Is it a slang word that crosses
borders? Many
blog writers don’t have too cosy a relationship with grammar and
spelling. We can excuse those for whom English is a second language:
“I want to know does search engines crowl websites without
submission. Should website important to submit to Search engines. I
have some website for promotion so I want to know that Search engine will not
crowl without submission.”
At least I hope this is a writer for whom
English is a second language.
The
next writer, however, has style: “I'm detached. I don't want to do
anything with this ugly politics anymore. If I'm lucky I'll find a hole in
some quiet corner of the world and crowl there and continue my research on
Machine Translation and live my own life and don't care a bit about anything
that happens anywhere. If I see a needy, I'll help. But I'll forget dying
African kids, and greedy thiefs of higher society... Let them do anything they
want.”
Perhaps
the next writer was too troubled by his angst to notice where his fingers were
flying: “I woke up and I looked into the mirror and standing there was someone
else...Not me. I have to say that I really didn't like what I
saw. What happened with the VERY confident guy that used to stare back at
me and say: "Today will be a great day!!"??? I really
don't know...What I saw there, in the mirror, was a fraction of what I used to
see...My walk has fallen into a crowl...I didn’t want to fall straight into a
halt... If that happens I might as well just curl and die...I have never been
so close to His will and then everything just piled up trying to tumble me to my
knees and admit defeat... But I think I've got some news for ya...I won't give
up and I will be at the centre of His will! God...I know things won't be
easy... Help me...I think I might be losing my mind...”
Of
course, losing your mind, let alone feeling you’ve fallen out with God, may
well be the result of falling into a crowl.
And
more on the religious life of the teenager: “Today—Monday, July 10, 2006—was a
day of relaxation. We slept in and had pancakes for breakfast and then had
morning worship and Pray the Bible. After lunch we had Salvationism class
(which was really eye-opening to what we need to change in the world). The
girls got into an in-depth discussion on today’s RevoDevos of Exodus 19 and 20
and the Ten Commandments and the Articles of War. After dinner we had a
Salvationist Missionary/Teacher visit us and talk to us about her 10 month
adventure in China. It was extremely inspiring to get out there and do
missions. Last night the girls decided to go to Starbucks and then have a
“discussion” and because of that the boys decided they wanted a “boy’s night
out” as well. As soon as the boys left campus we girls went to Cozy’s for our
second dinner. Side note: Thai food is good.”
I
began to wonder if many people pronounce ‘crawl’ as ‘crowl’ and have a mistaken
view of its spelling. “It seems like my blog has been forgotten again. But
in the past 2.5 weeks I was glad if I had the energy to crowl into bed when I
got home.”
Or: “I don't dispute her
assessment. It's pretty evident that the forces that brought Summers down
were not monolithic and many people found themselves in a firm opposition to
him due to a variety of reasons. But still, it doesn't dispel the gloom
that comes from the realization that if even such a powerful man as Larry
Summers had to crowl acquiescently, rather than stood by his remarks, and was
still brought down, the perspectives of simple mortals are that
bleak.”
You have to wonder how a person who uses words like ‘monolithic’
and ‘acquiescently’ appears to have no idea about tense.
Someone
who may be teaching dressmaking writes the following: “At the top that blob
like thing would be a pinned on flower of some sort. At the bottom, the sides
would be runched up and have ties. The effect given is kind of like a crowl
neck, only at the bottom. More of that crowl neck effect, but just
a little tighter, so it wouldn’t be overly exaggerated. Split
sleeves. A sheer see-through material overtop the bottom material, adding
a bit of extra length.” I’ve always had a ‘crowl neck’ of course, but
it’s usually at the top, rather than the bottom.
Here’s
someone on the history of swimming: “The first literatures about swimming are
dated since the 2000 B.C. However it wasn't since the 1800 the first
competitions started taking place in Europe. Back then the most popular style
was the breaststroke. The most popular and fast style, the front crowl, was
first introduced in the so called civilized world, by John Arthur Trudgen, in 1878
who saw it from the natives Americans.”
Oh, communication, wherefore
art thou?
And
finally a person who hasn’t yet discovered the shift key: “what an amazing
moment. i tripped and fell today. i ripped my jeans, skinned my
knees and killed my toe...it hurts real bad. everyone looked at me,
good thing kate was with me, its always more sad when someone is alone and they
fall. but i owned it and it was pretty much amazing. it almost made
me late to crowl the warrior king's final. that wouldnt have been good. he
was wearing jeans today and it was pretty awkward. but you dont know him
so you probably dont really care. well sara knows him. im sure she
will agree that its awkward.”
I’m
sure she will….and not just the falling over.
Footnote:
All these are unedited extracts from blogs. My thanks to the people who unwittingly offered their writings...
No comments:
Post a Comment