Thursday, February 02, 2006

Groundhog Day. Again.

Spoiling sport as only a copy editor would, I am compelled to suggest that the idea of repeatedly reliving the same events is not inherent in Groundhog Day, but rather traceable directly to the Bill Murray movie of that name. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

This fact may or may not spoil whatever cute allusions a writer might come up with, but copy editors should at least keep it in mind, lest "Groundhog Day" become as widely misused as "deja vu."

5 comments:

Bill said...

I agree, which is why I said it may or may not affect the message. But it is a weaker link; there are plenty of people who know what Groundhog Day is but have never seen the movie or heard about its plot.

Bill said...

I'm no longer speaking to Cher.

Randee said...

What is the misuse of deja vu that so often appears?

Bill said...

Deja vu is the eerie sense that you've experienced something before when in fact you haven't.

It was funny the first couple of times (I believe Robin Williams was a pioneer) people used it to refer to a regular old recurrence ("McEnroe's arguing with an umpire! Deja vu!"), but no more.

Blork said...

Bill, I've felt like I've been living a Bill Murrayesque "Groundhog Day" for the past few weeks when I come to your blog because I keep seeing the same post over and over. Sir, you are falling behind!