As the inauguration approaches, every TV station is playing clips of Obama's current or recent comments. Yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial, he once again talked about "the enormity of the task ahead of us." Today I saw a clip in which he said that we need to help the automakers, but that the help should be contingent "upon them making changes."
If Obama were not a former editor of the Harvard Law Review, I wouldn't bother to mention his English. He is, after all, an inspiring orator, and he expresses himself much more clearly than his predecessor. But Obama has had plenty of opportunity to learn these niceties, and he is surrounded by people who could clue him in.
Unfair as this fact may be, people all around the world, some of whom speak English as a second language, will pick up on Obama's gaffes and will -- however briefly -- think a little less of him.
Obama can argue, as the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary does, that "enormity" expresses "a considerable departure from the expected or normal." If that's what he means -- rather than simply a synonym for immensity -- I'll give him that one. I don't see, however, how he can wriggle out of "them making changes." He clearly means that he doesn't want to give them the money unless they agree to make changes. The way to say that is "contingent on their making changes."
1 comment:
It could be his intention to speak "like everyone else." Many of us slip into that when it seems less jarring for the audience.
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