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November 27, 2005

Saddling up to the Bar?!

I'm no word freak. I found Bill Safire's old weekly column "On Language" usually unbearable. But I draw the line at malapropisms, especially in major newspapers. And this is the second one I've noticed in the NYT over the past month.

In today's "SundayStyles" section, Raya Kuzyk ("a writer living in Brooklyn"), had a creepy first-person story about how she used a Powerpoint presentation to break up with her boyfriend:

We met at the restaurant bar, saddled up and ordered our drinks. After my third scotch and soda I said it: "Let's end things now, tonight, while we're a little buzzed and in good moods."

He paled, straightened, slumped. "Why?"

I reached into my bag and, nodding somberly, pulled out my laptop, resting it on the bar in front of us.

For the next 20 minutes Nick sat lighted by the screen's glow. Because I wasn't responsible for voicing the presentation myself, I started freely on my fourth drink while using my other hand to prompt each slide.

Leaving aside the question of why this piece of appalling behavior is deemed to be newsworthy, surely the NYT has people on its editorial staff who know the difference between "saddling up" and "sidling up." (Here's a hint, if there is no horse involved, go with sidle.)

But maybe it's a Gen X thing. Perhaps all the young people are using this fractured phrase these days. Some quick Googling showed that no, only the illiterate young people were doing so. For example:

  • From a George Washington University student newspaper (and not even the official student paper), came this brilliant sentence from a recent bar review: "After saddling up to the bar and ordering a Magic Hat #9, we opted not to stay at the loud very overcrowded downstairs bar."

  • This one is from another bar review found on VirtualTourist.com: "The people inside were nice, and we were too tipsy to really care, so we saddled up and let the bartender make us all kinds of new drinks. Decor and ambiance is very cool at this place." (In case you're curious, the author ends her review with the following comment: "Whatever, I wore jean shorts, tank top.")

  • Finally, from the aptly named "Stupid children answers the personals" comes this attempt at humor: "Saddling up to the bar and getting “Mountain Juice” as they call it, is just part of growing up in the south."

If the Times isn't willing to take the trouble to use standard American English for the sake of curmudgeonly ex-subscribers like me, please, please, do it for the children.

November 27, 2005 at 12:31 PM | Permalink

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Comments

I grant you that 'saddling up' to a bar is an incorrect usage. But in a more general sense, 'saddling up' just means 'to get ready', so Kruzyk very likely could have meant it in that sense. At least, it's grammatically possible. They were getting ready to drink, as it were.

Posted by: Jeremy | Nov 29, 2005 4:20:52 PM

Dear Jeremy:

I don't mean to quibble, but I don't think that's what she meant. If they were hanging around somewhere, it would be correct usage to say, "let's saddle up and go to the bar" or even "saddle up for the bar." But when you are already in the place, you sidle, not saddle.

As I'm sure you know, NYC health code regulations strictly forbid bringing horses inside establishments serving foor or drinks.

Posted by: Spartacus | Nov 29, 2005 5:46:50 PM

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