"I think (the comments) are very concerning. (You've) got a member of the Liberal caucus calling on the creation of a 'Bloc Newfoundland'," Kory Teneycke, Harper's spokesperson, said Wednesday.
Can anyone out there spot the two grammatical problems in the comments by the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson?
Young Mr. Teneycke misuses two words, if that is of help.
“Concerning” means “regarding” or “with respect to”. Thus Mr. Teneycke says that comments by Senator George Baker are ones that he “thinks are very with respect to.”
Does that make any sense?
Of course, it doesn’t.
“Concerning” is one of those words which has acquired an entirely new meaning through the misuse of a growing number of people. Irregardless, some of you might say; we all know what he meant. You may have even observed that Mr. Teneycke made his comments with such force that we know he was convicted of them.
Common misuse does not change the fact the word is being used incorrectly. We simply do not know what he meant since the person responsible for conveying to the rest of us what the Prime Minister thinks is evidently unfamiliar with the language he was speaking.
We can make this observation with some conviction since Mr. Teneycke then claims that the Senator was “calling on” the creation a separatist political party.
“To call on” means to pay a visit to or to appeal to someone for something. Is he saying that Senator baker paid the idea a visit? Did the idea offer the Senator some refreshments?
You see the inherent silliness in the words, as used.
There’s more than a bit of silliness in the Conservative indignation over Senator Baker’s musings on separatism, of course. They spent a couple of years cuddling up to their old friends now in the Bloc Quebecois in an effort to secure the majority government that has thus far eluded them. They should hardly find it bothersome that Senator Baker said he would encourage the formation of a separatist party in Newfoundland and Labrador.
If anything is of public concern in Mr. Teneyke’s comments, however, it is that this gentleman is so evidently unskilled in the language and yet remains as the person responsible for speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister.
If this is any sign of the incompetence in the administration the Prime Minister leads, perhaps the only person being called on here ought to be the Governor General so that she might issue the appropriate writs.
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