Concerted Effort

I heard someone use this today and I had a princess bride moment.

“You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”

My father used to say this all the time. He usually got it right by saying “All you kids need to make a concerted effort”. The problem is that most people use it in the context of a single person. “He is making a concerted effort”. A single person cannot make a concerted effort, because you cannot work in concert with yourself.
Style Nazi Link

I JUST passed most of my English classes when I was in school. It wasn’t until I was a sophomore or junior that I started to read and pay attention to this stuff. So when the hell did I learn this and at what point did it become something that I would even remember?

Somewhere along the line I changed from not being able to finish a Hardy Boys book to WANTING to read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest for the third time.

My guess is that it was all the books around the house. We had tons of books around when we were kids. There were 2 sets of encyclopedias and a HUGE Websters dictionary that seemed to weigh 100 pounds. All the kids had books in their rooms. My father always had books on his night stand. My sister Liz gave me William Burroughs to read when I was barely out of junior high school.

Now I read 4 books at once. I am never at a loss for something to read.