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Hmmmm... That is interesting. To my ear, the "on" sounds natural when it's used with a date or with a day of the week, but it sounds unnatural when it is used with "yesterday", "today", or "tomorrow":
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were committed against the United States and its citizens..." ~ Public Law 107-40, Authorization for Use of Military Force
"The terrorist attacks on September the 11th were a turning point for our nation." ~ George W. Bush
I'm sure that there are plenty of counterexamples, though.
"On today" (and its close parallels "on tomorrow" and "on yesterday") sound wrong. With a day of the week or other short description such as "Thanksgiving" it's possible to omit the "on", but some people get all het up when they read a sentence like Leading economists announced Tuesday that the recession is nearly over. They claim it's a "garden path" sentence; that it makes them think that the economists announced a day of the week.
This is a pet peeve of mine. We have a local weatherman who consistently says "on yesterday" and "on tomorrow". I had never heard this before and everytime he says it I bristle.
He also has a habit, when speaking slowly, of saying "ah" before certain words. I have heard another reporter on local station do the same thing. It's not a hesitation, not like they don't know what to say next, but actually sounds like they were trained at the same school of enunciation! The "ah" often feels like a precursor to the next word, an emphasis of sorts. It doesn't really help. In fact, I always think he is going to say a word that begins with the letter "a", then he says the word "school" or something! "The children were excited to be leaving aaah-school today".
Hahahaha,
hotczech! Some TV hosts in our country do the same aaah-thing on national channels. It's a way they've learned as to be interesting, but sometimes it's too blatant. When I analyze such persons' characters, I find them as they think they're amusing people whom everyone likes(=dunno whether there's an adjective to describe such a trait).
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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