Waiting for Vanita

It was originally Vanita's idea to archive uses of the word, after I mentioned to her how much it had been bothering me to hear the word abused all the time. She sent me, via snail mail, a NYT clipping with a note that said in part: "I can't help it: now I want to start an archive."

Here's the full article she sent. I still don't know if I think this is proper usage or not. But I think maybe so: "Even during the years Latin American governments were indifferent to the subject, human rights groups kept plugging away, building cases against offenders who they were sure had literally gotten away with murder."

Depends on how literal you wanna be. In some ways it sounds like the dish running away with the spoon.

Vanita was always supposed to co-host this little blog, but right now we're having technical difficulties. Stay tuned.

Oh, and Vanita used to report for the San Antonio Express-News. Her articles were typo- and error-free.