Possibly due to strict upbringing, or maybe because of a year with Sister Immer Richtig at Immaculate Conception School, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m accustomed to saying, and, especially, hearing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Teachers are discouraged from using the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153w\u00e2\u20ac\u009d word, lest somebody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego gets crushed and Mommy and Daddy need to run interference for the brutalized child.<\/p>\n
Let me explain:<\/p>\n
In what may seem like a concession on my part, on the part of the most persnickety Language Cop alive, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m coming around to accepting the fact that language changes and \u00e2\u20ac\u201d dare I admit it? \u00e2\u20ac\u201d language is what people make of it, not necessarily what dictionaries say it is or should be.<\/p>\n
Most dictionaries are descriptive, in the sense that they simply report how words are used. Textbooks generally are prescriptive, in that they explain usage called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153proper.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Well, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really need prescriptions when I was a child; having my father monitor every word, in two languages, was prescription enough. And he was quite heavy on the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153say it this way, not that way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d admonition<\/p>\n
Old habits die hard. Naturally, I chose the discipline about which I had received the most discipline. That is, Dad did the verbal disciplining, and I eventually chose to study languages. As either a teacher or a newspaper reporter\/ editor, I filled my days with occasions to rough up someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s copy. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You must follow Associated Press style,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I repeatedly told those less experienced than I.<\/p>\n
And the same thing happens in the classroom. Students in one class at Highlands even talked of buying me a set of rubber stamps, with the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153trite,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clich\u00c3\u00a9\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u201d my favorite \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153n.s.w.,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no such word,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That way, you can stamp these on the margins and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even need a red pen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d one student explained.<\/p>\n
Ah, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it be great if correcting stories and compositions were that simple! Now, before I come across as completely forsaking my profession as a comma-chaser, let me explain that teachers have the right to prescribe the kind of usage that goes into a composition. If the teacher decrees that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a word or that the student must not use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d those are the rules.<\/p>\n
But is there anything a teacher or editor can do to reverse the tide of verbiage that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s degrading our language? And is anybody prepared for the damage coming down the pike, wrought by texting? Lol!<\/p>\n
Years back, a long-time editor of the Optic, Walter Vivian, apparently caught several errors in my copy and explained why I was never to use them again. He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever misuse \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchopefully.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/p>\n
The same for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153comprise\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153regimen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
That was more than 50 years ago. My editor had picked three terms which people still misuse. Have people always butchered these words, or is it as my friend and former colleague, Jessie (Querry) Farrington recently asked? She wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure you must have written about words or phrases, like Black Friday, that all of a sudden everyone is using as if they have always been a feature of the language, but that you, at least, have only recently become aware of.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Of course I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve written about that question. Usually around election time, politicians move words like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153conflate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153convoluted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d out of cold storage. Soon everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s using them, for all occasions.<\/p>\n
People invariably misuse \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hopefully\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in constructions like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hopefully I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get a raise.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wrroonngg. We can say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hope I get a raise,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hopefully\u00e2\u20ac\u009d means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153full of hope.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And that expression might better be used in, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I opened my pay envelope hopefully, expecting a Christmas bonus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Comprise\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is not the same as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153consist of\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153composed of,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and never ever the equivalent of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153compromise.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And nothing can ever be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153comprised of\u00e2\u20ac\u009d anything. For example, people will say, incorrectly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153New Mexico is comprised of 33 counties.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Turn the sentence around: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153New Mexico comprises 33 counties.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The larger unit (New Mexico) comprises \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or embraces, or surrounds \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the smaller units (counties).<\/p>\n
And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get queasy when people would interchange \u00e2\u20ac\u0153regimen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153regime.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on an exercise regime,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d my neighbor once said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I think of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcregime,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 I think of a temporary form of government, usually in South America,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I told my neighbor.<\/p>\n
Well, you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t win \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem all. As I was searching for documentation for my stance on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153regime,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I came across a slew of dictionaries that use the terms interchangeably. To them, a diet regime is acceptable.<\/p>\n
And even language maven Edwin Newman, in his book \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Strictly Speaking,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gives \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hopefully\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a qualified thumbs up in expressions like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hopefully, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll arrive on time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Experts still regard \u00e2\u20ac\u0153comprise\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as distinct from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153compose,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but usage and custom probably will legitimize \u00e2\u20ac\u0153comprised of.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The closest my dad ever came to explaining why this word is right and that one is wrong was to insist, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because I said so.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He did, however, point out that where there are multiple meanings of a word, listed in the dictionary, the first one is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153preferred.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Strictly speaking, then, I proffer the injunction: check the dictionary so you will have an authority to fall back on. And because the dictionary is bound to change, replace it every three years or 100,000 words \u00e2\u20ac\u201d whichever comes first.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Possibly due to strict upbringing, or maybe because of a year with Sister Immer Richtig at Immaculate Conception School, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m accustomed to saying, and, especially, hearing, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Teachers are discouraged from using the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153w\u00e2\u20ac\u009d word, lest somebody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego gets crushed and Mommy and Daddy need to run interference for the brutalized child. Let me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}