Even through the second impeachment and trial of criminal, traitor and failed businessman Donald Trump, late night comedians like Seth Meyers had time last week to ponder other topics. Like, what is the plural of LEGO? LEGOs? Legi? Legoj? Legosteine? Lëger?
Kind of like what’s the plural of Sony Walkman? It looks like this whole thing started when Meyers said that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida U. S. House District 1) looks “like someone tried to build Tom Cruise out of LEGOs.”
Just for background, Gaetz is the dumbass who once wore a gas mask to protest basic coronavirus precautions. Gaetz also voted against a House resolution to terminate the emergency authorization for Trump’s dumb racist wall, voted against the re-imposition of net neutrality rules, voted against regulating foreign involvement in U. S. elections, etc. Guess how Gaetz voted on impeaching Trump?
In giving background on Gaetz, I’ve touched upon some three or four topics of ongoing concern, any one of which is way more important than the plural of LEGO.
But there’s a big difference between now and when Gaetz was first sworn in to Congress, a couple of weeks before Trump. That difference is that President Joe Biden (D) isn’t creating new topics of ongoing concern. President Biden has quite enough topics of ongoing concern to deal with as it is.
Meyers’s comment about Gaetz and LEGO probably wasn’t the first time the late night comedian used the incorrect plural. And it probably wasn’t the first time he was called out on it either.
Our democracy’s still in danger, because people like Matt Gaetz and Moscow Mitch are still in Congress. But with Donald Trump no longer having the nuclear codes, we’re just not as on edge as we were just a month ago.
But in this moment that we’re in, when we still have some very serious problems to deal with, it feels more acceptable to ponder little things like the plurals of brand names.
And maybe there’s also the sense that late night comedians shouldn’t have to substitute for journalists who are derelict in their duties, and that comedians should make fun of ordinary petty criminals, misspellings in newspaper headlines, “reality” TV shows, minor things like that.
So on a show last week, Meyers acknowledged the corrections. Chris Wharfe transcribed Meyers’s remarks for Brick Fanatics thus:
“I’ve been saying LEGOs as the plural of LEGO, and a bunch of people have told me, actually the plural of LEGO is LEGO,” Meyers explained. “And to those people I want to say: it’s too late for me. It’s never gonna happen for me. I’m not saying you’re wrong; I’m saying you’re right – but I’m not going to walk home and tell my kids, ‘Clean up your LEGO.’
Meyers has two sons, a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. LEGO bricks are a serious choking hazard for children younger than 3-years-old, so his younger son shouldn’t be playing with LEGO bricks.
We certainly don’t want to legislate language in the Meyers household. But how about telling your writers and your cue card guys to keep this in mind? I think that would be reasonable.
“I’m sorry. I appreciate everything you’ve tried to do. It’s too late for me.”
The next night, Meyers apologized again, acknowledging his mistake, and alluded to Donald Trump’s pathological unwillingness to admit the slightest mistake. By the way, what’s the plural of Sharpie?
Late Night with Seth Meyers airs weekdays on NBC at 12:36 a.m. Eastern. The show’s a rerun tonight. I think Meyers is off this whole week. Stephen Colbert on CBS is also off.
Even with all the fallout of the Trump train wreck of an administration that we still have to deal with, it’s nice to know that the late night comedians can take some time off and not have a whole bunch to cover when they get back.