When I saw this at Charlie Pierce's joint, my jaw hit the table, which was the only thing that kept me from laughing. Briefly. Here's how Caroline Moss played it at Business Insider's education blog:
An education blogger in Utah is out of a job today after writing a blog post explaining "homophones" for the Nomen Global Language Center.
Tim Torkildson said he was fired by his boss and NGLC owner, Clarke Woodger, for promoting a gay agenda.
If you need a quick reminder from elementary school English class, a homophone is a word or words that are pronounced like another word but varies in spelling or definition, like "to, too, and two."
This is not the same as a homophobe, which is defined as a person who hates or fears those who identify with a homosexual orientation.
“This blog about homophones was the last straw. Now our school is going to be associated with homosexuality," Woodger allegedly told Torkildson before letting him go.
Torkildson wrote a post about the firing here.
“I had to look up the word,” Woodger allegedly told him, “because I didn’t know what the hell you were talking about. We don’t teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it’s extremely inappropriate. Can you have your desk cleaned out by eleven this morning? I’ll have your check ready.”
It's great to know that a part of Utah's educational system (private sector division) is run by silly people with deeply silly names. Mr. Woodger sounds like someone out of Wodehouse or Monty Python. Mr. Woodger wudely dismissed someone because he didn't know what a homophone was. I hope nobody is planning to write about Homo Sapiens or Homo Erectus in the Beehive State any time soon. That last one sounds too kinky for the good people of Utah, gosh darn it to heck.
Woodger wilco and out.