- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK SMART TALK by Dr. Parley Speake
FIRST MET: At the Center for English as a First Language, we regard first met and first started as symptoms of Temporal Retentive Disorder. Temporal Retentives feel the need to use time-related redundancies, such as plan ahead and prerequisite.
We try to act patient and polite with these patients, because they’ve never thought about what they’re saying. A gentle awakening usually works better than getting snarky. But oh, the temptation.
So many of their stories begin with “When we first met…” Just how is that clearer than “When we met?” First met and first started are appropriate only if the story leads to a second meeting or start. It hardly ever does. The listener is let down virtually every time.
We’re proud of our former patients. After treatment, they say “I met Chowderhead here in 1980, and we’ve been together ever since,” or “I started pole dancing for a movie role, honest.”
Fine citizens all.
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