The reason your Thanksgiving turkey was waiting for you without an advance order? Because of the economic concepts of “spontaneous order,” “self-interest,” and the “invisible hand” of the free market. In fact, a Thanksgiving meal can be ordered and delivered in some cities through Amazon Prime. Everything you need is waiting for you at the supermarket in the size and quantity you need it. He notes that you don’t have to call ahead to the grocery store or go down to the farm to order your bird. In a separate piece on how lucky we may want to consider ourselves, Perry notes that the average time spent is not only a matter of hours worked but convenience. Compared to 1986 when the average American would have worked 3.21 hours to earn the income necessary to purchase the turkey dinner for 10, the “time cost” for a worker today (2.29 hours) is nearly 29 percent lower. Measured in time worked at the average hourly wage for all private production workers of $21.72 in October 2016, the “time cost” of this year’s classic turkey dinner is only 2.29 hours, down by 3 percent from 2.37 hours last year and at the lowest level since 2010. Perry notes the savings not only in dollars but in time. That may be only a few dimes lower than last year, but at the same time, overall consumer prices and hourly earnings both rose in the past year. Looking at a traditional basket of 12 food items served on Thanksgiving, the AFBF notes that for 10 people to eat to their heart’s content and have leftovers, the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year is $49.87. Pumpkin and milk prices also fell this year due to improvements in production. That’s about $1.42 per pound, or 2 cents less per pound than in 2015. And the “time cost” used to prepare the traditional meal is also more affordable.Īccording to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a 16-pound turkey costs an average of $22.74 this year. Mark Perry of the Carpe Diem blog notes that in real dollars the cost of a Thanksgiving turkey in 2016 is 1.7 percent less than last year, and 20 percent less than in 1986. Here’s another “aha” moment to remind us why we may want to be giving thanks this Thanksgiving to economic liberalism as well as the grocery store.
Whether you’re perfect or not, enjoy Perry’s list on National Grammar Day, and if you need help, you can call the Grammar Hotline at University of West Florida.ĭo you have a meme with an obvious error in English? Share it (or not) and let us all learn from our mistakes. Perry, whose Carpe Diem blog regularly serves as a keeper of the language, points out several other fun grammatical errors in celebration of National Grammar Day. Yet for all the harassment handed down when a high-profile person makes an error, social media memes earn extra guffaws when they include common grammar mistakes while the creator tries to project how smart he is. President Trump wrote “Hearby” rather than “Hereby” on a tweet on Friday before correcting it. What’s the difference between a homonym and a homograph? Answer: Whether you get a headache thinking about it (ba-dum-tsss – an onomatopoeia).Īmerica spends a fortune trying to educate its citizens, but even someone as lofty and educated as the president gets it wrong from time to time. “tear” – a rip, or “tear” – liquid falling from your eye). “Heteronyms” are words that are spelled the same, but don’t sound alike and have different meetings (ex.“fair” – the county kind, and “fair” – equal treatment). “Homographs” are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings (ex.“led” – to have been in charge of an event, like a meeting and “lead” – a metal). “Homophones” are two or more words that sound alike but have different meanings and also different spellings (ex.
“lie” – to rest one’s body, and “lie” – to not tell the truth). “Homonyms” are words that sound alike but have different meanings.That’s probably why there’s a National Grammar Day, which happens to be on Saturday.Įnglish is considered a very difficult language for some who learn it as a second language (or even as a first), and it’s no surprise. In English literary custom, the rules of the English road leave many scratching their heads.
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