I was taken to task by a member of the Anonymoti, as Commenter Gary calls them, or the Anonymice? Here’s the story.

I was casually reading through the comments on Rex’s blog yesterday when I came across one that used the phrase “the gig is up.” As you know, I’m sure, that contains an error. The correct phrase is the “jig” is up. So I wrote: I think you mean the “jig” is up, no?

A friendly correction, IMO.

Anonymous wrote: Is that correction necessary? Don’t be that guy. Nobody likes that guy. You know what he meant.

Of course I knew what he meant. Everybody did. But to save him from embarrassing himself with that error in the future, I alerted him to it. Now I learn that nobody likes me?

A little further down someone else took my side and wrote:

“The world could do with more fraternal correction. Maybe then we wouldn’t hear ‘hone’ in, or ‘begs’ the question when ‘raised’ the question is needed. This is a blog which is fundamentally based on words. I don’t see much wrong with gently pointing out an error. Especially when it’s as simple as a single word.”

My attacker jumped on him too! There were typos in my defender’s note, so he wrote: Maybe proofread before you hit “Publish”? (just a “fraternal correction”) [also online correction of others’ grammar / diction is 💯% a dick move]

So now I’m a dick too! With no room to wriggle away: 100%!

Pretty snarky.

A third person chimed in right after that with “Nah,” which I took to be on my side.

But I needed to respond, it seemed to me. The thing is, I understand the criticism. It can be obnoxious to correct someone. But if I’m bumbling my way through life making an embarrassing error, I would be thankful if someone took me aside gently and filled me in. I used to think the phrase was “for all intensive purposes” instead of “for all intents and purposes.” I am glad that I no longer do. (Thanks Don!) In my corrective note, I was employing the Golden Rule: do unto others. . . But I kept my response short and am pleased with it. It turned out to be the last word.

I wrote:

If the error had been mine, I would appreciate the correction.

How much do we love these Irish babes? We married one! Hi Doll!

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Growing up, I noticed that beautiful French women came in two flavors: blonde and other. Bardot was the classic example of the former, and you could do worse than Claudine Longet for the latter. She was gorgeous, especially her eyes, and was married to popular crooner Andy Williams from 1961 to 1975. They had three kids, the youngest named Bobby after Bobby Kennedy, a close friend. Williams died in 2012. He was 84 and had bladder cancer.

After splitting amicably with Williams, Longet hooked up with Olympic skier Spider Sabich, murdered him, and got away with it.

Wait, what!!??

Yeah, you heard me. She was arrested for shooting and killing Spider. She said he was showing her his pistol when it went off accidentally. But a ballistics expert said the gun was fired from four to six feet from Mr. Sabich, who was in the bathroom, a scenario inconsistent with an accidental shooting. [Ya think?] Much of the evidence was mishandled and she was only convicted of a minor charge, and served only 30 days, mostly on weekends, with meals brought in from outside. So, lesson for the prosecution, never underestimate the effect of a beautiful Frenchwoman with gorgeous eyes on a jury.

Longet died at age 84 this week. Rest in peace, Claudine, if you can.

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Yesterday’s puzzle raised an issue on cats. The clue for CAT was “Stereotypically antisocial pets.” Cat-lover Rex could not let that pass:

“This clue is dumb. Just because cats are not needy and will occasionally or frequently spurn your affection does not mean that they are not social. Just tonight, Ida came into the room where we were having cocktails and flopped herself down on the floor between us. She didn’t want to play or even interact, really. She just wanted to be where we were. That is typical. And that is social. Also, cats sit on their owners, sleep with their owners, climb on their owner’s shoulders … purr, purr, purr, social, social, social.”

He attached two pics, the first of himself and the second of his wife (who seems miffed?), with, you know, their cats, Ida and Alfie, respectively.

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We enjoyed a terrific NJ Symphony concert Saturday night in Newark. Joshua Bell conducted for the entire program, which featured him soloing on the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3. It was an arduous piece for the soloist and when it ended he was perspiring and looked at the concertmaster as if to say “Phew.” Our seats are in the second row. Quite neat.

Bell is from Indiana, is 58, and has three sons from his former partner. He married opera singer Larisa Martinez in 2019. Former NYT columnist David Brooks performed the ceremony. Bell’s dad was Scottish and his mom was of Russian-Jewish descent. I didn’t know he was a brutha.

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Here’s a “three couples” joke I’ve always liked:

On a honeymoon cruise, three new husbands met in a lounge and started talking about marriage. One says he read an article saying you have to lay down the law early in the marriage: let the wife know you’re the king and what you expect from her. They decided to try that out and meet after a year to compare notes. The year passed and they got together again.

The first husband reported: Well, right after we got back from the cruise, I sat my wife down and explained that I was the king of the castle and I expected a home-cooked meal every night — no excuses, and that it was her role to keep the house spotless. “And how did it go?,” the others asked. He said, “Well, my wife is from Kansas and very sweet. For the first few days, I didn’t see any progress, but by the end of the week I started getting some pretty good meals and the house is in decent shape. So, overall, I’d have to say, I’m pretty pleased.”

The second husband reported next. “I laid it all out on the line: the meals, the housekeeping, everything I expected of her.” “And?” they asked. “Well, my wife is from Nebraska. I also didn’t see anything at first, but things started to improve pretty quickly and now our house is in great shape and I enjoy home-cooked meals on a regular basis.” “Excellent,” the others said.

“And how did it go with you?, they ask the third. “I took the same approach,” he said. “As soon as we got home from the cruise I sat her down and made the king of the castle speech and told her my expectations.” “And how’d it go?” they asked. “Well, my wife is from the Bronx. I didn’t see anything at first. But after a few days the swelling went down, and I could make out shapes.”

So I shared it with the gang since it related to something in the puzzle and got two responses, from two different Anonymice:

“So unfunny. Not even a little.”

“That’s mean, but true. The “joke” is Sexist in the extreme as well as unfunny. And longer than the whole write-up, why?! There should be character limits on comments.”

Ouch! Sexist in the extreme. With a capital S! They got my number, that’s for sure. Probably best not to respond.

Two hours later this appeared from a third Mouse:

I am a woman from the Bronx and I think it’s very funny. Lighten up people.

Indeed.

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See you tomorrow, Chatterheads. Keep your cool.