I have been wondering for a long time, what has happened to the English language? I understand there are those who are not literate, use slang, and that slang is regional. I also understand there are those folks involved in the gang lifestyle and we all know they are just stump stupid. These are not the people I am talking about. I am talking about people who are allegedly educated. A couple of the things that bother me most are the use of the improper (or non existent) words and the grammar errors. While the list of these things is extensive here are just a couple of examples.
Wrong words = Here is my biggest peeve of this category supposedly vs. supposably. Folks there is no B in this word or any form of this word. When I hear “supposably” I just cringe. Now, if this was coming from people with little or no education that would be one thing but I hear this out of people who I know have high school diplomas and in some cases college degrees. How in the world do you go through school, including college, believing this is the correct was to pronounce this word? I guess though, since they use a word (supposably) that does not exist they can pronounce it however they want. But if the word you mean is “supposedly”, please learn to pronounce it correctly.
The next one on my list is “lackadaisical”. What I hear quite often is “lackadaisial”. I know the use if this word, like some other $5 words, sounds good in conversation but it sounds better when you pronounce it correctly. With both of these words, and others, the only thing worse than mispronouncing it is using it incorrectly. I'm thinking if you are going to use a word you should be able to pronounce it and know what it means. My favorite on the list of not knowing what it means is insubordination. I hear that thrown around like a baseball. And while many times the user is close more times than not the word is used incorrectly because they don't truly know what it means. If you plan to use it, look it up first so you can use it right.
Grammar = This one is killing me. Remember when we were in elementary school learning English? There were, and still are, certain rules to this language. So when I hear someone say something along the lines of, “The team they won the game.”, or, “The man he went to the store.” I have to wonder what happened to the rules. These are just two examples of what I am hearing more and more. I'm not sure why this is happening, other than teachers passing students who should not be passed or laziness, but it is annoying. Well, annoying in day to day life. It is unbearable when it comes from those who, again, are college educated. In this category those who stand out are reporters. I hear it daily on the news; the anchor or field reporter making this mistake. And ironically it is quite often after they say, “Now get this....”. Now get this? Really? I swear, watching the news sometimes is like listening to teenagers.
So many things in our language have been distorted, twisted, or just plain ignored. It reminds me of the reports a few years back or teachers in California getting classes in ebonics to better communicate with students. Excuse me? This was completely stupid. Instead of teachers learning ebonics make the students learn English! English is a requirement of graduation in my state and I thought it was on the left coast as well. Maybe I was wrong.
I thought it was bad when our kids started saying “Like” in every phrase: its like, I was like, etc. I never dreamed it would become this bad and it is only getting worse. Granted our language is always in transition. We no longer speak today the way Shakespeare spoke, but some things are just wrong and make the user sound stupid. I made a comment while in Germany last summer, to our German hosts, that you can't learn English from an American. Little did I know that my humorous comment would prove to become the truth.
Now, make no mistake, I am not an English major, nor do I claim to be the smartest person in the world. But when an average guy like me can hear these things and know they are wrong you would think the “educated” would certainly know. Especially the talking heads on the news or those who are educating our children. I saw, when my daughter was in school, the way teachers let things slide. I didn't allow it. I helped my daughter and made sure she learned the right way. I know she slips up; we all do. But she learned what was correct and strives to speak in that manner. And I will help my grand daughters, as will my daughter. But it does not give the schools the right to take a pass on proper teaching. I think every parent of a school age student, especially a high school student, should demand more from the schools. They are not here to raise our children, but we damn sure should expect them to educate them. After all, supposably” that is their job.
That is all.
For the record I did not capitalize ebonics by design. I do not consider that word worthy; it is not a true language and therefore is not deserving.
