THE MENDOZA LINE

This is Dayna Mendoza. She has nothing to do with the Mendoza Line which is a batting average of .200. When a hitter falls into the .100's, he's really in trouble. This Medoza is Miss Universe 2008. I don't know where she's from. Probably Brazil. They all seem to be from there. I was in Brazil once for 10 days. I didn't see any Miss Uni candidates.

But you know what? This entry is about a little grammar lesson and has nothing to with Dayna or baseball. But had I started it on the up and up, just think how you would have passed up this blog.

It's about bad and badly and the preferred usage. It's so simple to distinguish. And after this lesson, you will notice it everywhere. Maybe it will cause you to grit your teeth like me when I hear, "I feel so badly about what happened."

No they don't; they feel bad. "I feel so bad about what happened." You see quite simply feel can be an action verb which would take an adverb (bad-ly), but in that case, someone who has trouble feeling. That is, nerve endings in their fingertips wouldn't allow them to feel. On the other hand (no pun), if you feel bad, you're talking about your feelings, not how you feel.

So it's always, 100% of the time "I feel bad." Unless you have that feely/touchy problem. Don't let me catch you saying it the wrong way. Plus, feel free to pass this little lesson on. Tomorrow I explain who and whom. It's a little tougher, but never again will you have to wonder which to use. But if you still do after the next lesson, hey, don't feel badly. UGGGGGHHH.