Nearly every week I get an email message from a colleague that uses the word ‘below’ as an adjective, such as the example below:
Your leaders received the below message a few days ago. Please amplify in your departments and units.
Or a sentence on a web page that began “The below map includes …
I’ve noticed that this makes me uneasy. I don’t like it. Below should come after, not before. Using below as an adjective is not wrong, though, according to this Grammarphobia post. Used to be rare, but still acceptable, and clearly rising in use.
Then, this morning, I read the latest issue of Ruhlman’s Newsletter and saw, beneath a photo of delicious-looking beans, this:
Beans! It’s fun to shout! BEANS! They’re good for the heart! I have a bowl of them beside me as I type these words, leftovers from the above dish, about which more below.
I’ve known Michael for 30 years. I’ve looked up to him and found inspiration and joy and learning from his books and articles and blog posts and newsletters. So if Michael is using these words in ways that feel uncomfortable to me, I oughta up give.
Seriously, I know language changes and evolves. Even that Grammarphobia post mentions how linguists change their minds.
I’ve been changing, too. I’ve been giving more attention to emotions and so have been mindful to how little changes—in my body’s temperature, for example—affect my nervous system and well-being. I’m better attuned, and more relaxed.
So, now I know how to skip over the above pet peeve.
On another note, Michael’s newsletter is entertaining and informative as ever, with a focus on beans and also a confession to “two epic kitchen failures.” What a coincidence! Earlier this week, I cooked a pot of Flageolet beans but I added too much salt and completely ruined the beans.
Lessons learned.
© Anton Zuiker