Today I saw something that was "precious." I realize this is the second post in a row where I've used "scare quotes," which I consider the most despicable of all punctuation since they allow you to be "subtle" without being subtle. I find them condescending, almost like trying to explain a punch line. If you're being subtle, the effect is lost if you are blatant. Personal pet peeve right up there with the figurative use of the word literal. But obviously I have no problem with starting a sentence with a conjunction. Inconsistent, but you don't have to read this post if leading conjunctions bother you as much as scare quotes bother me. But I digress. (Another conjunction. Maybe that bothers me, too. Is it okay to engage in your own pet peeves? A topic for another day.)
Today for the first time in my expansive military career I saw a husband and wife reenlist together in a war zone. He was in a unit on the FOB, and she is in one of our more remote companies. As reenlistment is a big deal, the Army or Navy will often go out of their way to reenlist you where you want so that you get a nice photo out of it. I've seen people do it in Babylon or on the bridge of the sub or even hanging from a helicopter. So the Army let this soldier (I almost said "gal", but that would have hinted at sexist tendencies in a way "guy" wouldn't have. Go figure. And those aren't scare quotes. But that's two sentences that start with conjunctions.) catch a flight up here to reenlist with her husband. They have both been deployed for eight months, and because of something or the other, they could not even take their mid-deployment leave together so this was the first time they had seen each other since October. They also have a year-old son who is living with the grandparents.
I want to respect their patriotism, and I do think there is a level of ephemeral cuteness about the whole thing. On the other hand, "You may kiss your bride," (once again, legitimate quotation marks) even said any other way is an odd way to end a military ceremony in a war zone. The only thing that would have made this family war zone moment more complete and modern would have been if their son could have flown out to join them.
1 comment:
shipmate!
yes, i did indeed just shipmate you, which means you're goofing up somehow... here's how:
what you call scare quotes (the commonly accepted nomeclature these days--air quotes if you're using your fingers to accentuate speech) are actually employed to indicate ironic use, the use of a term in any manner other than its actual meaning, or for coining a new term (though i prefer italics for that). they have nothing to do with subtlety.
so was the scene precious, or not? if it was, no quotes are needed. if it was not: quotes. you seem to feel that is was indeed precious, though in a perverse sense. so, no need for the quotes.
also, you weren't coining the term scare quotes, so no need there, either.
ironically, the only correct use in this post is when you scare quoted subtle. nicely done!
i do, however, applaud you for your otherwise humorous and schooled post...
shipmate.
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