Don't get me wrong. I love NPR. At my house, the radio is tuned to the local public radio station for several hours a day. NPR programming is stellar, offering loads of intelligent people able to explain the world and its compex news to anyone actually interested in them. NPR is also well-balanced and honest in its reportage. I know, I know! Many of you out there whole-heartedly believe that NPR is the cradle and nursemaid of leftness. You also think it is anti-conservative, pro-perversion and, worst of all, námbee-pámbee, which translates to "warm and fuzzy" in some areas, "flaccid" in others. You are welcome to your viewpoint. "To each his own" is my life motto. Besides, I am not here to argue with anybody over NPR's content or intent.

No, I am here to argue with NPR, together with several other news/talk/comentatary outlets available on radio and TV. That includes the all day and into the night cable news shows. (Yes, MSNBC, I'm talking to you.) I refuse to watch Fox News with its stable of hate-and-fear-mongers so I am not certain whether the talking heads on Rupert Murdock's payroll say, or allow to be said by their guests, the Phrase that has burrowed its gruesome way under my skin and set up housekeeping in my subcutaneous layer.

OK. Said Phrase, and it is said more or less incessantly day in and day out, drives me up the wall, scratching and screaming. If you can envision a plump, gray-haired, older lady with bright pink fingernails scaling a wall, you are more imaginative than I. The Phrase does take a small number of slightly different forms, but basically it is the same ol' same ol', day in and day out. When asked what the difference is between the various forms of the Phrase, English language experts, 3 to 1, said "none."

Oh! You don't care about statistics? You'd rather become acquainted with the Phrase, wouldn't you? That's reasonable enough. The short string of words that have the power to unhinge me is, "That being said . . ." or "Having said that . . ." or "That said . . ."

One specialist in English usage says, "There is no difference between 'Having said that . . .' and 'That being said . . .' It has the idea that something is accepted (i.e., as you all get what I have just mentioned) yet there is still more to say. Usually but not always, right after 'that being said' or 'that said', contrasting elements (thoughts/ideas) would be introduced."

A further authority asserts: "The meaning is practically the same suggesting something is accepted before the next point is mentioned. The use however needs some caution, That being said or more simply, 'That said' at the beginning of the sentence can be followed by any subject. If you start a sentence with Having said that, you will the have to make sure that the follwoing subject relates to the speaker of the espression." (Italics mine. I own them.)

Yup. These two or three words are endangering what is left of my sanity. The following report on the subject makes the most sense to me, even in my lopsided state.

"I am not a teacher. To me there is a slight, although not important, difference. 'Having said that' means to me that the person who is speaking is reffering to his/her own words. 'That being said' to me could indicate the person speaking is possibly referring to someone else's previously spoken words." (Italics are still mine. You can't have any of them.)

Thus, I ask you, why do loads of journalists, novelists, non-fictionists, Senators, Representatives, press secretaries, specialists in assorted fields, soldiers fresh from the fronts, even recently released criminal all oblige us to listen to "That being said . . ." over and over? Moreover, the show hosts, the big shots, the "talent" themselves have stooped to voice the vile Phrase. (Rachel Maddow, you know what I'm talking about and shame on you!) If any of these people are using the Phrase to purchase themselves a couple of nanoseconds in order to ponder their next foray into facts and knowledge, I'd prefer they use the more tried and true "Ers," "Uhs," or mere grunts. Ering, uhing and grunting I understand and am able to tolerate.

So, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News ald all others with their hardworking news directors, would you please do something kindly for this disgruntled but still avid fan? Do you think you could place a small embargo on "That being said . . .?" All you'd need do is hold the Phrase down to one muttering per hour as used by any hosts or guests who cannot function without saying it. If so, you would become an honored affiliate on my Terrifically Kewl People List. What more could you ask?

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About the author Cate Lane: Born in Minnesota and raised a temperate progressive, I was carried off to Texas 10 years ago by the tsunami that was my husband's retirement. Texas is not Minnesota, not by a long shot. However, I hear that Minnesota isn't Minnesota anymore either.

Writing was always my first choice in life. I began writing at the age of 8, small books about pioneers heading west. Little did I know then that I would be living in the most "western" of all the states, Texas. No one told the Texans that they are simply Southerners who, like Bugs Bunny, took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and wound up here.

I am sneaking up on 70 years of age and now own a vast store of useless knowledge. Happy to share any or all of it with you all.

Email: CthlnLn@aol.com

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