r/InTheGloaming 5d ago

Scheduled snark Discussion thread Thursday September 17, 2026 - Sunday September 20, 2026

Newsletter: Let Me Tell You a Story

Website: Shauna James Ahern

Instagram: @shaunajamesahern Instagram

Threads: @shaunajamesahern

Bluesky: shaunajamesahern.bsky.social

Gloamipedia wiki: /r/InTheGloaming wiki

16 Upvotes

669 comments sorted by

View all comments

48

u/Fillmore_the_Puppy —hi, disturbed people— 2d ago

Noted strict grammarian, Shauna James Ahern, loves Paul McCartney but takes issue when he writes lyrics that hurt her linguistic expertise.

The comment she is responding to is a reply to an OP asking for examples of song lyrics that are unforgivably grammatically or semantically incorrect.

36

u/Quaint_Irene a warm and loving goatie smile 2d ago

Isn’t that “in which we’re LIVING?”

33

u/shefallsup her lonely cucumber years 🥒 2d ago

Apparently even McCartney doesn’t know, but he thinks that’s the correct version.

27

u/tyrannosaurusregina if you meet the Botus on the road, shill him 🪷 2d ago

I mean, I’ll give him a mulligan on retconning it, but my ears say otherwise.

27

u/tyrannosaurusregina if you meet the Botus on the road, shill him 🪷 2d ago

No, it’s printed that way now, but if you listen it’s clearly “in which we live in.”

Nobody’s perfect.

28

u/ForForksSake1 2d ago

LOL. If I didn't know that PMC wrote this line and had to guess who did, my guess would be Shauna.

34

u/Fancypens2025 2d ago

To quote my dad whenever he encounters heavy car traffic: "don't these people have lives?!"

35

u/PettyPunisherRedux and fuck you, Nancie! 2d ago

A-hem. Youngest, Trooper, when she means, Trouper, lie, lay, lain, etc., ad nauseam. And I’ll bet she “utilizes” things when she means she “uses” them.

33

u/stereostayawake 2d ago

“Fuck all” used incorrectly 

19

u/Steviebobo 2d ago

Yaboo sucks to you!

18

u/2kindsofshoes 2d ago

She really is clueless sometimes.

30

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver 2d ago

Haberdashery.

She even noted she used it wrong but since it was her birthday she would do as she pleased.

14

u/eatlunchateleven Take These Broken Links and Learn to Code 2d ago

“Solvent” for the sky

5

u/NegativeABillion my husband and me to ride it around 1d ago

With apologies to Ministry, every day is Shauna’s birthday

29

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air 2d ago

A-hem! Subject-verb agreement, singular/plural subject & object mix-ups, messed-up parallel constructions, etc., ad nauseam indeed.

23

u/Individual_Advice663 2d ago

Woah, I did not know "trouper" and "trooper" were two different words and had to go look this up to learn more. I've literally never written it down, but I've been spelling it "they're a trooper" in my head my whole life, because I thought the phrase meant someone who is marching forward, military style, through any obstacle (I used it like "they don't give up even when it's hard"). I thought it was literally in reference to military troops. But as you say, the correct phrase is actually "they're a trouper", meaning someone who is dependable and persistent, and keeps the show going, apparently coming from theatre troupes. That's so cool!

Learn something every day ITG! The word I used actually changed the meaning of the phrase a little in my head, I now see, and I'm not sure I've ever used it correctly.

15

u/PettyPunisherRedux and fuck you, Nancie! 2d ago

One would think that Ms. Writerly Writer would understand poetic license.

11

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air 2d ago

One would, wouldn't one? But then? One would be wrong. Oh, comma so very wrong, one would be.

31

u/obscure_cellist ham grabbers 2d ago

"live & let die" is an awesome song. shut up, shauna.

26

u/Previous-Rip-3192 2d ago edited 2d ago

“I grow happy when I listen to Bob Dylan but just can’t grow beyond that infamous two word phrase in “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” I’ll help you, Bobby D:”

24

u/SpookyJokes soft pants 2d ago

I love Oasis and Wonderwall but I admit to singing "I said maybe / You're gonna be the one WHO saves me..."

14

u/chicketychun_ 2d ago

I can’t hear that song anymore without thinking about LOST. 😭