Language and its abuse

**LGS** · 29th October 2007, 07:49 AM

Sting wrote..
"Poets, Priests and Politicians,
have words to thank for their positions."

Well, you can add journos, speech writers, teachers and a few other professions. These we could call the wordsmiths. It seems that lately they have become somewhat lax in their use of the words they work with. I think it was LBJ who started with "looking back in retrospect" and now Kevin07 says "This is the single, largest Government initiative of its type." So these guys just quietly try to up the importance of their statements by adding a few superlatives and everyone absorbs these statements, then uses them in everyday speech.
What happens, though, when the meaning of the original word becomes lessened. We now have quite, relatively or very unique.
I actually read a message where someone was trying to stress the importance of his invention by saying, " I want to stress that in comparison to something that is relatively unique, my invention should be regarded as quite or even very unique"..Say what???
Isn't "unique" a word to define something that stands alone and has no peer? I'm sure we can all think of other examples. The lessening of the importance of language means a lessening of the coherence of society. (Big statement but I think it is so.) If the wordsmiths can't get it right, what hope is there for anyone else?

Regards,

Rob

**pawnhead** · 29th October 2007, 11:03 AM

In my quite humble and immeasurably diminutive opinion, I’ll attempt to try to achieve in a small way, some meager expression of some most deserved recognition of your clever, astute, wise, and appropriately equitable observations, with as few unnecessarily and drawn out superlatives, and as briefly and succinctly as my grasp of our noble and historic language allows me to express a brief prose that conveys an appropriate sentiment that would be tenable for a passing reader to comprehend totally whilst casting a brief, and fleeting glance at my humble and immeasurably diminutive opinion, which attempts to try to achieve in a small way, some meager expression of some most deserved recognition of your clever, astute, wise, and appropriately equitable observations, as briefly and succinctly as my grasp of our noble and historic language allowed me to express a brief prose that conveys an appropriate sentiment that would be tenable,,,,,etc, etc, ad infinitum:

I concur.

**echnidna** · 29th October 2007, 11:07 AM

sms messaginmg will probably have a bigger impact on our language in future than all the boffins ever could.

**LGS** · 29th October 2007, 12:30 PM

You're right Bob,

A 12 YO girl in NYC recently was asked to spell then text "supercalifragilisticexpialadocious". Couldn't spell it, texted in about 10 seconds! Where will it end?

**OLDPHART** · 29th October 2007, 02:16 PM

Its Public Service speak,obfuscation.

**Gingermick** · 29th October 2007, 02:48 PM

isn't it expialadotious

**LGS** · 29th October 2007, 03:08 PM

Ginger,

Could be.

rrich · 29th October 2007, 03:21 PM

Nah, it's just the GWB school of public speaking.

**Stuart** · 29th October 2007, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by LGS

You're right Bob,

A 12 YO girl in NYC recently was asked to spell then text "supercalifragilisticexpialadocious". Couldn't spell it, texted in about 10 seconds! Where will it end?

I fail to understand how the ability to spell or text the said term, has any bearing on the diminishing ability to understand and use the English language.

Perhaps if she could not spell America, or some other English word, it would reflect on the modern bastardisation of the English language.

**Big Shed** · 29th October 2007, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by rrich

Nah, it's just the GWB school of public speaking.

Isn't he the president of Austria?

**Gingermick** · 29th October 2007, 04:54 PM

Needless to say, we will get to the end of the job when we finish.

**Iain** · 29th October 2007, 05:00 PM

Me myself, personally speaking....................did hear this once

**wheelinround** · 29th October 2007, 05:07 PM

I often wonder what other nationalities think of our dribble when reading these forums.
Is/are the WWF's translated???
Can you imagine some of the expressions on their faces.

**LGS** · 29th October 2007, 05:46 PM

Stuart,
If she couldn't spell the word, what exactly did she send by text? In fact, from what little I understand of texting, most of it bears little resemblance to English anyway. Its all abbreviations, contractions and corruptions. So if she did not send the word spelled correctly, then that has a lot to do with the destruction of language.

Wheelin, its a universal pheomenon, not a local issue. In the '70's people with no qualifications in English or teaching made a good living teaching English to Japanese students. Some were illiterate in English and so, what the students were taught was, in fact drivel.

Ginger, I checked the spelling; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superca...expialidocious.

Regards,

Rob

**Skew ChiDAMN!!** · 29th October 2007, 05:58 PM

'Oo really cares wha's bloody well 'appenin' to th' Pommie lingo? So long as no mongrel bastard comes along and starts c'rruptin' Strine...

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