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Article: How to fall ; Through the cracks, not between them; The Word
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- October 11, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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MORE OFTEN THAN not, the only thing a language maven can honestly
say about a new usage is, "might as well get used to it." Look at "I
could care less," which has vexed literal-minded listeners for
decades. In his column at Visual Thesaurus last week, Ben Zimmer
showed that the phrase has been gaining on its virtuous twin, "I
couldn't care less," ever since the two expressions surfaced in the
mid-20th century.
But resistance is not always futile. For several years, I've been
hearing "it fell through the cracks" far more often than its much-
disparaged alternative, "it fell between the cracks." So when Dan
Everett of Arlington wrote last week objecting to an appearance of
"through the ...