SIR: A friend remarked that his father had not admitted to having made a mistake since the age of 9. He added that he didn't know what the mistake was, but that it must have been a "doozie." He wondered from what "doozie" derived, speculating that it came from the Duesenberg automobile. Can you shed some light? - P.D.
ANSWER: That was sharp speculation. Many authorities won't hazard a guess on this one, but at least one says positively that it's from the famous luxury car produced in the '20s and '30s. If you owned a Duesie, you and it were the most, the best, the fastest, the finest and the greatest. Your friend's father, in short, must have made a whale of a mistake.SIR: The biggest thing you can do is to keep harping on the correct use of "I" and "me" in compound subjects and objects. Somehow people have to be made to understand. - Edgar L.
ANSWER: Well, I do try. But let's try again. John and I went to town; he asked John and me if we had gone to town; between you and me, you and I must settle this once and for all. It's hard, though. I once heard a president of the United States say somebody had invited "my wife and I" to something. What can we expect from lesser mortals?
SIR: I almost gagged when I read in an elementary school notice to parents that there would be no school on Monday because of "parent conferencing." Am I overreacting? - Mary Jane B.
ANSWER: Not in my book. This sort of thing smacks of phony erudition. When you have a perfectly useful noun ("conferences"), why in the world would you twist it out of shape to make a verbal form?
SIR: A television weatherman said, "There will be less clouds today than yesterday." Shouldn't it have been "fewer?" - Mrs. I.C.S.
ANSWER: You're right. "Less" should refer to quantities and "fewer" to numbers. There will be fewer clouds today, and less chance of rain.
- EXCESS ZEAL of the week, noted and reported by Lynda P.:
"On a recent visit to a cemetery, I noticed a sign that said, `Cars on grass will be prosecuted.' Gee, no wonder the jails are overcrowded!"