It’s time to revisit a couple of issues.
(1) I was listening to ESPN Radio today and a guy named Chip Brown, representing Horns Digest was discussing the likelihood that the Texas Longhorns will soon be in search of a new head coach. Mr. Brown said that Texas was “on unchartered ground.” I was going to let it go because speakers should not be held to the same grammatical and linguistic standards as writers.
But then he said it a second time. Not only is the “unchartered” part wrong (as previously discussed), but he has taken the idiom from its rightful place in the water and brought it to dry land. I have never heard that usage before. Stop it! The term is “uncharted waters.” You can be in them or on them, but they are “uncharted,” not “unchartered.” And they most emphatically are wet.
(2) In an alarmingly distressful development (please assume sarcasm), I have determined that I have had a barely discernible impact on the internet. I just searched for “uncharted waters” through 38 Google pages (that was all of them), and there was no entry from notesfromnokomis. Then in a fit of overzealous commitment, I searched for “unchartered waters” through 45 Google pages. Again, that was all of them, and again, nothing. Then I searched for “unchartered” and “nokomis,” and came up as the first entry. With apologies to Descartes, my blog shows up on Google (after a very specific search request), therefore I am.
(3) In an unexpected development, Oklahoma State keeps winning. They are now tenth in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. They were 11th in last week’s College Football Playoff Rankings, which will be updated tomorrow night. These rankings are based on their current record of 8-2, which should be 9-1. Recall that they lost on an untimed play after the game clock had struck zero that by rule should not have been allowed. At 9-1, they would likely be ranked no lower than 7th and would have a decent chance to make the playoffs. Instead, Central Michigan continues to cling to a win it does not deserve, severely handicapping Ok State’s championship aspirations.
(4) I am thrilled that Hillary Clinton will not be our next President. The only way I could be happier is if Donald Trump was (also) not to be our next President. Alas, one of them winning was inevitable, and thus it came to pass. I have had an aversion to Donald Trump since his hucksterism first crossed my consciousness. Still, I believe we should grant him a blank slate. I will only judge him based on his actions as President, though some of his appointments are troubling. Maybe he will rise to the occasion, stranger things have happened.
(5) Mosquitos may be the most dangerous animal in the world, but bears have always frightened me more. This despite being assured, as a child growing up in Maine, that bears were likely to be as afraid of me as I was of them. I begged to differ, but never had good evidence to the contrary. According to the Bangor Daily News, there have been only six reported attacks of humans by bears in Maine in the last 24 years, and four of those were by wounded bears attacking their hunter. (Maine has a black bear population of approximately 30,000, roughly one for every 44 Mainers.) My fears have largely subsided, partly because I now live in suburban Ohio. Then came news last week that a 60 plus year old woman had been attacked by a black bear in her back yard in Maryland. The woman survived, as did all of the Mainers who were attacked, but I’m back on high alert.
(6) Congratulations to the Cubs. They ended a long drought and they did it in style, winning three elimination games in a row, including game seven in extra-innings. They are relatively young, the field players are the 5th youngest of the MLB’s 30 teams. But you might be surprised to learn that their pitchers are not young, they were the 2nd oldest in the league according to baseball-reference.com. Though I expressed concern that their regular season schedule was a bit soft, their winning percentage in the playoffs (against three good teams) was .647, higher than their regular season winning percentage of .640. I stand corrected, for neither the first nor the last time.
(7) Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks, as always. Nice to know I can always find you somewhere in my inbox even if I can’t find you utilizing Google. I wish I could think of a clever play on words using the alphabet or Alphabet, but alas. BTW, http://nescac.com/landing/index
Animals that cause most deaths in North America:
1) flying insects (58 deaths per year)
2) miscellaneous mammals including deer, horses, and pigs (52 deaths per year)
3) dogs (28)
4) cows (20)
This means that cows cause 2 0 times the human fatalities as sharks, alligators, and bears which are perceived as the most ferocious animals but only claim a victim a year each.
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/06/17/which-animals-kill-the-most-humans-in-the-us/21197705/
Rats, there goes my next post. Back to the drawing board.
Top 13 Most Dangerous Animals in North America
1. Bears
We’re not talking about honey-eating cartoon characters or cuddly stuffed animals. We’re talking about the grizzly bear, the American black bear and the polar bear — bears that tower over you and can easily crush you to death.
http://ipfactly.com/top-13-dangerous-animals-north-america/
“Unchartered” is definitely wrong, but land as well as water can be unmapped.
uncharted
un·chart·ed (ŭn-chär′tĭd)
adj.
1. Not charted or recorded on a map or plan: uncharted waterways; the uncharted desert.
2. Unknown: The nation’s geopolitical strategy is yet uncharted.
American Heritage® Dictionary
uncharted (ʌnˈtʃɑːtɪd)
adj
(Physical Geography) (of a physical or nonphysical region or area) not yet mapped, surveyed, or investigated: uncharted waters; the uncharted depths of the mind.
Collins English Dictionary
un•chart•ed (ʌnˈtʃɑr tɪd)
adj.
not shown or located on a map; unexplored.
Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary
Well of course land can be uncharted, Lewis and Clark didn’t have many useful maps once they were west of the Mississippi. But the idiom has always been “uncharted waters.”
One may wish to extend a little patience to Mr. Brown, who I know nothing about except that you have explained that he appeared on ESPN and puts out ‘Horns Digest’ was it? Hm.
However, any association with a sports channel earns him a fair assumption that he knows something about sports, and sport teams. And sport teams do in deed cross land via chartered transportation, i.e. a chartered bus.
It could be that the Texas Longhorns rely on their head coach to make such travel arrangements for his team, and as he is leaving perhaps the team will be walking to their next away game.
Looking for the best is a good quality. I mentioned that he said it twice. I didn’t mention that while I was typing that paragraph, another commentator used “unchartered waters” while talking on a radio sports talk show.