The recent “everybody” threads reminded me of one of my favorite songs:
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Note that I quote it just because I like it, not because I think that it by itself is evidence that’s as strong as what I’ve pointed to earlier.
KevinM says:
The grammarians always tell us to avoid an awkward construction by recasting the sentence. Let’s see:
November 19, 2009, 1:22 pm“Everybody knows that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” What would Jane A. do?
(On the subject of popular song, it is also a truth universally acknowledged that baby’s got new clothes, and that this is nowhere.)
Cheers.
krs says:
As recent commercials tell us, “everybody” actually refers to 4 or 5 effeminate men who harbor misconceptions about the merits of Chevrolet automobiles, and who will surely wilt in the face of contrary arguments from Howie Long.
November 19, 2009, 1:23 pmBeandip says:
From Queens of the Stone Age:
“Everybody knows that you are insane”
November 19, 2009, 1:27 pmFedya says:
Everybody Everybody
I find it more upbeat than Leonard Cohen….
November 19, 2009, 1:48 pmRodger Lodger says:
Roll dice with fingers crossed? Got to see that.
November 19, 2009, 1:52 pmJoseph Slater says:
That’s a great song. I saw Leonard Cohen live some months ago, and it was truly a terrific concert.
November 19, 2009, 2:00 pmU.Va. Grad says:
I prefer the Concrete Blonde version. (Sacrilege!)
November 19, 2009, 2:14 pmLessinSF says:
The original Greedy Associates / current Lawtalkers long ago solved the singular gender pronoun problem with the adoption of the Spivak pronoun “em.”
November 19, 2009, 2:15 pmPreferred Customer says:
Pump Up the Volume is a significantly underrated film. As with many movies, though, some of the best gems on the actual movie soundtrack weren’t on the officially released CD. If It Be Your Will, for example, is just a fantastic song, but it was nowhere to be found on the movie’s soundtrack disc.
Looks like someone has already written a great deal on this subject, so I’ll just link to Wikipedia, and see if I can find my old Was (Not Was) disc…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_Up_the_Volume_(film)
November 19, 2009, 2:21 pmDennis N says:
That reminds me of one of my faves. I believe it is from Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love.
“Of course the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you — if you don’t play, you can’t win.”
November 19, 2009, 2:32 pmpaxloo says:
Elizabeth & the Catapult does an amazing cover..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7XPiGeY3Kk
November 19, 2009, 2:54 pmJeff Walden says:
Thursday Song Lyrics? :-)
November 19, 2009, 3:02 pmfishbane says:
Got to see Cohen a couple of weeks ago. The man is a genius, and a great performer. And the wind instrument player (can’t recall his name) is a total adorable geek.
November 19, 2009, 3:22 pmAllan Leedy says:
Isn’t the possessive pronoun redundant? Whose fingers would everybody cross if not their own?
November 19, 2009, 3:34 pmEV's Conscience says:
Eugene – Get back to work. You remember. It’s that thing you do to justify that obnoxiously high salary UCLA pays you.
[Arggh! Get away! I thought I had you locked nicely in that right bottom desk drawer. -EV]
November 19, 2009, 4:00 pmCornellian says:
One of the greatest lyricists in contemporary music, without a doubt.
See e.g., from “Closing Time”
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
It’s something in between I guess
It’s closing time
just one of many, many examples I could cite.
November 19, 2009, 4:17 pmMike says:
The Don Henley version (can’t find it online) is also excellent, from the 1995 “Tower of Song” album. Light as the Breeze (of that same album) is one of the great Cohen covers not done by Jennifer Warnes.
[I agree entirely about the Don Henley version, and there are some other excellent covers on Tower of Song as well. -EV]
November 19, 2009, 4:29 pmA. Zarkov says:
Now what exactly is the problem with using singular pronouns? Why should I change a lifetime of writing habits and end up with inelegant and less clear prose? It’s time to read 1984 again folks.
November 19, 2009, 5:22 pmOren says:
Yes, “Everybody rolls with fingers crossed” doesn’t have the right number of syllables.
November 19, 2009, 5:39 pmDavid McCourt says:
“England expects that every man will do his, er, their duty.”
So now he has to do, not only his own duty, but that of those other folks, too. So, with the death of the “spurious rule,” we’ve moved from Nelson’s world to that of Clement Atlee.
“Every dog hath his, er, their day.”
When will the poor fella get a day of his own?
November 19, 2009, 6:19 pmCousin Vinny says:
I like Don Henley’s version, too. His solo stuff is routinely outstanding.
November 19, 2009, 11:32 pmBrian G. says:
If it was for Pump Up the Volume, I wouldn’t even know the song.
November 20, 2009, 2:23 amFedya says:
For better or worse, every time I hear the phrase “pump up the volume”, I think of the 80s song — I’ve never seen the movie.
November 20, 2009, 9:15 amPreferred Customer says:
It’s no Heathers, but it’s worth renting. And now I have the MAARS band stuck in my head. Ironically, Pump Up The Volume the song was not in Pump Up The Volume the movie, though if I recall correctly it was in the movie version of Bright Lights Big City.
November 20, 2009, 9:37 am[insert here] delenda est says:
I love Leonard Cohen, and that song.
November 20, 2009, 9:37 amMarcW says:
Then Billy Markham, he takes the dice, and the dice feel as heavy as stones.
November 20, 2009, 10:20 am“They should, they should,” the Devil says, “’cause they’re carved from Jesus’ bones.”
And Billy Markham turns the dice and the dice, they have no spots.
“I’m sorry,” says the Devil, “but they’re the only dice I got.”
Sandy MacHoots says:
The best singular pronoun I’ve run across is the gender/human-neutral “s/h/it.”
November 20, 2009, 10:53 amThales says:
Re Tower of Song (the cover album): I wasn’t too enamored of the Henley version–not terrible, just not great–it seemed to lack both the gravitas and twisted humor of the original.
But the Tori Amos cover of Famous Blue Raincoat and the Suzanne Vega cover of Story of Isaac are both fantastic.
November 20, 2009, 4:44 pmmarkm says:
Admiral Nelson was not in any doubt as to the gender of his men.
November 21, 2009, 1:40 pm