- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK by Dr. Verbos Metikulos
HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT: Most of the staff of the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired gather in the Fowler Lounge to enjoy another season of American Idol. Some of us favor the early auditions and marvel at the delusional people who can't sing; some of us, the later shows and marvel at the artistry.
We unite in one hatred, however: Randy Jackson seems not to understand that "percent" means "out of 100." That's why a penny is called one cent: It's one hundredth of a dollar. A century has 100 years; no more, no fewer.
When Randy votes "two hundred percent yes," or "a billion percent yes," the lounge erupts in enraged comments denigrating Mr. Jackson's intelligence. And that's too bad, because Jackson is a very intelligent man and an expert in his field. But his field is not proper English.
As it is, we have more than we can do treating ex-athletes whose coaches asked for a hundred and ten percent. Very few of us have the guts and dedication to give a hundred percent of ourselves. To expect more is less a colorful figure of speech than a dangerous fantasy.
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