Their

Their is one of those words that's often confused with others, namely "there" or "they're". I do this myself sometimes, not because I don't know the correct words, but because these sort of words tend to mix themselves up of their own accord, especially when your brain is working faster than your fingers.

This word is considered to be a plural possessive pronoun, but it has been used in the singular sense since the 14th century, especially by such notable writers as Shakespeare, Chaucer & Spenser. Even the King James Bible uses it and so does the Oxford English Dictionary. However, from the late 18th century onwards, pedantic grammarians started to complain about this usage, although this didn't stop Jane Austen sprinkling it all over her novels. Not just in characterisation, either. She also uses it in narration, which suggests that she herself used it in speech.

Heaven On Their Minds (Carl Anderson)
(from Jesus Christ Superstar)

Other well-known writers who have used the singular "their" are: Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Frances Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Fielding, Maria Edgeworth, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, William Makepeace Thackeray, Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans], Charles Dickens, Mrs. Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, John Ruskin, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walt Whitman, George Bernard Shaw, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, W. H. Auden, Lord Dunsany, George Orwell, and C. S. Lewis. Quite a few well-respected names in that list!

The simple fact is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using "their" in the singular sense. The reason the 18th/19th century grammarians complained about it was based on a kind of pseudo-logic deduced from Latin which in actual fact has nothing whatsoever to do with English. The alternative, which is what was used before the late 1300's, would be the word "his", as in "Everybody loves his own mother" as opposed to "Everyone loves their mother". Totally ignoring the sexist flavour of the former, the latter is far easier to say and far less cumbersome to hear.

In conclusion, therefore, I would say that when it comes to the use of the singular "their", everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Next Word: Moment

Someone

I seem to be devoid of anything to say about this word. So, I will simply say that I hope everyone has someone special in their lives and that they feel they are someone special too.

This song is dedicated to my father and my paternal grandmother, both of whom I know watch over me when I need them to.

SOMEONE'S WATCHING OVER ME (Hilary Duff)

Next Word: Their

MUCH

I'm not sure there's much I can say about the word much, but I will give it a go. I could start by saying it's an anagram of CHUM, but that doesn't really mean anything.

Having said that, I do use the word rather a lot. "I'm not having much luck with this" is one of my favourite sayings, as are "I've not really thought about it much" and "Not much". I also say "I don't know very much about it" rather a lot, too.

I have now totally run out of things to say about this word. This posting was Much Ado About Nothing, really.

Let's have a song ...

THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH (Shania Twain)

Next Word: Someone

WEEKEND

Although it's now Monday, when I chose this word it was actually Friday, so it was actually rather relevant at the time.

I have a sort of ambivalent relationship with weekends. Sometimes I think I like them, sometimes I think I don't. Overall, I probably prefer weekdays. This is because I prefer to be on my own and not have kids under my feet all the time and that tends to happen more often at weekends. Friday is probably my favourite day insofar as I have more time to myself and also I don't have to worry about sorting out school uniforms and the rest of it. Sunday evenings are my least favourite time as then I do have to worry about sorting out school uniforms and the rest of it. I'm always glad when it's Monday - I happen to like Mondays. My favourite Monday was probably 13th November last year, but that's another story.

Suggested Song: FRIDAY ON MY MIND (The Easybeats)

Sometimes I think people set too much store by weekends. There's no real reason why they should be better than weekdays, but most people seem to think that if anything good is going to happen, it's more likely to happen at the weekend. Personally, if I was going to go for a day out somewhere, I'd rather go on a Wednesday or something, not on a Sunday when the roads are chock-a-block with traffic and it takes twice as long to get where you're going, if you ever get there at all. Not to mention the fact that when you do get there, you can't move for other people who have also got there. Prices tend to go up at weekends, too. Touristy places stick extra on everything and even flowers cost more at weekends.

Looking back, I can't really think of a single weekend that I would call memorable, although four of my five children were born during the weekend, three on a Saturday and one on a Friday (the other was born on a Wednesday, in case anyone's even remotely interested). I do remember the birth of my third child quite vividly as it was also Wimbledon final weekend and I do enjoy a spot of the old Wimbers, so maybe I will plump for that one. It was quite amusing actually, sitting there in the TV room watching the final with midwives flying in and out shouting "Who's winning?" every ten minutes or so.

It was also the first year the days of the final changed from Friday & Saturday to Saturday & Sunday, resulting in my son being born on the women's final day instead of the men's. I remember at the time wondering if there was any significance in that (I'm heavily into that sort of thing), but it turned out there wasn't.. He's about as heterosexual as it's possible to get.

Opinions vary as to when the weekend officially starts, but 6pm seems to be the most popular. That's when the phone companies start charging weekend rates anyway, so that's what I go by. Then again, they don't stop charging weekend rates until 8 am on Monday and I don't consider midnight-8am on Monday to be the weekend.

Well, that's all I can think of to say with regard to weekends. As I said, I'm not really very keen on them when all's said and done. Thank goodness it's Monday.

Next Word: Much

FELL

This is our very first word and it offers a fair bit of scope for discussion. For a start, it can relate to a past occurrence of falling over, something we all do at various times. I fall over more than most because I am extremely clumsy and have lousy eyesight, so I tend not to see things like cats lying across doorways or on stairs and things like that. My grandmother was the same and she fell over so many times she was covered in bruises half the time. On one of his many visits, her doctor suggested that she just spent the rest of her life sat in her armchair, considering that everytime she got out of it she fell over something.

Suggested Song: IF I FELL (Beatles)

We then have fells. In England, we have quite a few fells, mainly in the North, although nowadays the term tends to relate mainly to the Lake District, which has a lot of fells. Here is a picture of Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, which is also a fell. I think the name fell is rather apt considering I am sure many people have fallen off fells. I'm sure I would if I tried to walk on one.

We can also fell trees, cities fall in wars and lambs are said to have fallen when they are born (as in a lamb fell today). Then, of course, we often talk about how we fell for a joke and I am always getting wound-up by people and falling for it. The word fell can also relate to falling for temptation, falling for excuses and falling into traps.

Fell also means shooting someone or knocking them about and it also relates to sewing, something to do with sewing a seam down flat. Nasty things are described by this word too, such as fell poison and fell disease, whatever they may be. Fell is also an alternative name for the skin or hide of an animal, as in a pelt. Hair falls, such as her hair fell down her back, faces fall (their faces fell when they heard the news), eyes fall (his eyes fell on her face), voices fall (her voice fell to a whisper), light falls (the light fell on my book) ... air pressure falls, stocks fall, dates fall ... the list is endless, it seems.

I fell in love recently. This is no mean feat for someone of my age and it has affected me in all sorts of strange ways. I'm surprised I didn't fall over when it dawned on me. Oddly enough, there is a sort of indirect connection with the Lake District here, although in a very oblique sort of way. Personally, I like this version best of all, but that's because I'm a soppy, romantic fool.

Next Word: Weekend