Daylight Irony Time

It’s ironic that we say the days are shorter in the fall and winter. The days are still 24 hours long, but we get less sunshine. And is this ironic or paradoxical? If I plan to be a writer beyond blogs and radio commercials, I think I should relearn grammar.

Grammar changes, however. Take less and fewer, for example. Less sunshine, fewer hours of sunshine. Less time to do daylight activities, fewer hours. February has fewer days than October. After a trip to the mall, I have less money in my wallet – fewer dollars. It makes me crazy when someone says less hours, less days, less dollars. I don’t remember the grammatical terms for this, but I understand the difference between less and fewer and how each is used. But every day I hear another person misuse these two words. Eventually this misuse will become the norm.

I admit I do not know the difference between irony and paradox. Alanis Morissette’s song “Isn’t It Ironic” made perfect sense to me until I read some smart person’s take on her vocabulary. The situations presented in her song are paradox not irony. Who knew?


Isn’t it ironic that I received advanced placement in English in college? Or is it paradoxical? I skipped English 101 and started my completely mediocre college experience two weeks after high school by taking English 102. I got a C.

What I gained from that experience is a love of writing and reading. Clearly I did not learn the fine points of proper grammar. Or the need for complete sentences. I write like I talk. An old friend who is a blogger and an English teacher says my blog style is conversational. I’ll take that as a compliment.

The main thing I remember from that English class is that we were taught a pattern for writing essays: open; A, B, C; close. Use an opening sentence to set up the topic, write three paragraphs to support the topic and close with a summary paragraph that draws the reader to a conclusion.

That pattern works in some of my real-world situations. When I write a radio commercial, for example, I set up a problem, show how a product or service can solve the problem and end with a method for the listener to find the product or service. I get the job done in 30 seconds. Topic, support, summary.

I write a justification for a budget item with a setup of the situation, support for my request and a summary of how that money will address the situation.

When I write a blog post, I often start with a tease or a statement, weave in and out of the lane for awhile and end with an attempt at summary or humor. I opened this post with an observation about the return to Standard Time and a question about grammar. I then made three or more disconnected points. Now I’m about to close. I probably could have made more of a point with fewer words, but I have less time to do that this afternoon because today is shorter.

Isn’t that ironic? Or is it paradoxical?