I mean, if he wants to assign the original human trafficking that was known as "marriage" in man's early days to religion, he's more than welcome.

I know right? Marriage was a political and economic contract.

Someone didn't tell the IRS that this is a purely religious institution.

I can see believing a 13 year old is 15 - I certainly can't pinpoint how old anyone under about 25 actually is. Also, I hung out at the playground when I was in my late teens because swings are fun shutup so that's not necessarily an indicator of age either. But if you're a grown adult and you're like, "Hmm this kid…

It's funny, in Carlin's voice, this is comedic genius. But reading it, it sounds like just so much worthless nitpicking.

Many people(myself included) were taught to define the word fact to mean a statement "that could be proven true or false." That seems to be an uncommon definition, but it is still frequently used that way in many science and engineering circles.

Some of the grammar hall monitors need to accept the fact that the use of "literally" in that context is an expression - it's rhetorical hyperboly. When someone says "cool" do you ask them if they literally mean they're cold or your cold or something? No, because you're used to the expression.

I can see an argument for "boarding process." It at least communicates that boarding will take a while, and people are awfully impatient about it.

I often use the term "I believe..." because I am not certain but I'd most likely accurate. I can take the time and effort to verify the facts if necessary.

I am trying to use "in my opinion" (or some variant of it) when writing (online especially) when what I'm writing could easily be mistaken for me presenting a fact. For example—a dumbed-down example, certainly—if it's an article about a movie I don't like, it's easy for me to write "That movie sucked." Of course,…

Are you absolutely certain? I get that you may think you are certain, but absolutes are so rare and convictions so wavering that I often need further guarantees.

Agreed. To me, this is essential in problem solving. "That said" is often used when people are thinking out loud and realizing that there are additional things to consider or maybe a new course of action that could be considered. Now, when you use it in email, I'd consider that relatively poor form. Emails are…

Most of time, 'use' is more appropriate than 'utilize'; they don't, however, have "exactly the same meaning."

The others gave good points. I think what you're talking about is someone stating "in my personal opinion" when it's obvious that they are not giving some sort of professional opinion. Like two ladies getting dressed and one asks, "should i wear the red dress or the blue one." And one responds, "In my personal…

Not an empty phrase if you start with the conclusion of an event to peak interest in what took place. It's all about storytelling. Which this article has never heard of.

I disagree. Look at the end result or final outcome as the result of many individual intermediate results. I agree it can be misused, but the distinction is sometimes important and necessary for clarity.

Nope. There are (thankfully) still fields where being precise is important, and you've hit on three examples that aren't useless, but extremely specific. In many industries, "advanced planning" is specifically linked to particular projects or long-term activities (in comparison with day-to-day planning). "End…

Funny, on the flip side, I actually use those especially for text and e-mails. Although you're correct in your personal feeling about how confident you are in your words, part of my worry is how others would receive my words and interpret what they mean.

My English teacher would have disagreed with this one.

Kind of, I think, basically, and similar words