"It's not that big of a deal"

It’s been nearly two months since Almostalady Jr upped sticks and moved out to Philly to change the world with some mysterious branch of high-energy Physics. Reports of progress (which seems to be made mostly in local cocktail bars) are good, although I have yet to see any real commitment to online communication. Where, pray tell, is the blog? Where the Twitter feed? Surely a new ex-pat in the land of the free has some worthwhile news to share with friends and family at home, especially one week before an election that has the world waiting with baited breath?

Still, we make do with email and MSN, and even with this periodic communication I've become aware of a rather worrying situation. After only eight weeks away from the motherland, it appears my scholarly Cambridge-educated sister is losing her grip on the English language. The biggest sins so far? “That’s hella awesome” followed swiftly by “It’s not that big of a deal”.

It's not that big of a deal? Really? Dear lord, save us from the mangling of the English language by lazy Physicists. I can’t think of any way of curing her except by tying her to a chair over Christmas and reading her “Eats Shoots and Leaves” til her head explodes.

Speaking of which... happy Hallowe'en!