Modern Jackass

So the hubby and I were listening to the npr about a year ago and even though he dislikes Ira Glass very much, we were listening to This American Life. The show was entitled "A little bit of knowledge" and was about the Modern Jackass. Modern Jackass is basically what you are when you begin speaking authoritatively about a subject of which you have very limited, and sometimes inaccurate knowledge. One part of this program was about how child-like ideas get stuck in our heads and carry over into adulthood. Such as the woman who was conviced that unicorns are on the endangered species list and actually asked in a conversation whether they were still on the list or had they become extinct. Or the woman who thought that crossing signs (you know, PED XING) were "zing" signs and that "zing" meant you just needed to look out for these things (peds, ducks, etc.). The reason I'm telling you this is that I have my own little Modern Jackass story to tell.

This story has to do with the spelling of a word. It's a word that you see and say all the time. For quite some time, I thought one could spell the word "congratulations" two ways. One way is the way I just spelled it, and the other way is spelled with a "d" instead of a "t": congradulations. What is so modern jackass about this is the reason why I held onto this misconception. In June, around "grads and dads" time, you see posters, banners, balloons, and cards that say "Congrats Grad!!" In my twisted mind, this became "Congrads!!" Therefore, I can spell it with a "d" if I want to...and I did...on several occasions. So if you ever received a card from me that said "Congradulations!!" I'm sorry.