It’s likely that pretty much everyone has been guilty of malapropism at some point. Sometimes the mistake is notable but not particularly memorable — like mistaking elegant and eloquent. Others, like the one Greg Jennings used on Friday’s First Things First are more notable — and most importantly, funny.
As is done every Friday during football season, First Things First played “Upset Watch,” with each panelist looking forward to Sunday’s games and identifying one underdog to win, or at least cover the spread. Jennings, who is partnered with former NFL coach Eric Mangini in the season-long contest, chose the Indianapolis Colts, who are four-point underdogs at home to the Buffalo Bills.
“This week, it was a challenging week. And I’m like, ‘Coach, we gotta do something.’ So I went into the anals of last year,” Jennings said.
It was then pointed out to Jennings that the word he was looking for was “annals.”
“Annals, anals, whatever,” Jennings continued, with his co-hosts laughing in the background. Jennings then a point that truthfully can apply to either word. “It was challenging, where I went.”
Greg Jennings isn’t sure whether he went into the anals or annals. pic.twitter.com/s2qd5Rwz7b
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 8, 2024
Dictionary.com defines “annals” as “A record of events, especially a yearly record, usually in chronological order,” “Historical records generally” or “A periodical publication containing the formal reports of an organization or learned field.”
As far as how “anals” is defined, we’ll let you do your own research.
Jennings then went on to share his reasoning for picking the Colts. The Bills host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. Kansas City is the team that has most often stood in Buffalo’s way in recent years, with the Bills suffering three playoff losses to the Chiefs since 2020. Also, Jennings detailed that teams are 2-5 this year the week before playing the Chiefs. We of course don’t know that the Bills will overlook the Colts in Week 10 but it’s certainly reasonable to put them on upset watch.
But before getting to that reasoning, things got a little — messy — for Jennings.
[Photo Credit: Fox Sports 1]
