I’m a proud ‘word nerd’, always was, always will be. As I write in the almost finished memoir “Raised on the Radio”, my inability to draw good pictures in grade school made me turn to the English language to express myself. Writing to state ideas, comments and jokes, that’s how I worked my way to and through over twenty years in big city radio. As a Special Education teacher, I still use those skills.
Currently in the English vernacular, there are some words and expressions I need to address. Some I like and some I cannot stand.
“Woke”- This word is a popular one used on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. “Woke” is the current term for “being aware of something.” It started with social causes where someone would say, “Aren’t you woke to global warming?” Or, “You need to get woke to racial injustice.” Hey, I’m fine with knowing about these social concerns, just not with using that word “Woke.” It sounds stupid, trite and over-used. Now “woke” is used for being aware of anything on the American spectrum. “Man, you need to get woke to Baby Yoda” or “Get woke to pumpkin spice lattes.” I looked up some other commentaries on “woke” and as early as 2018 essayists were already saying “woke” is dead. Terms like “hip to”, “into” or “aware of” work better anyway. Let’s take the word “woke” and put it to sleep.
“Drops”- Using this word in terms of something new coming out for sale or public consumption has been around for at least ten years. You hear it on TV or radio, “Hey the new Beyonce album drops at midnight tonight” and “The I-Phone 50 will drop next week at Apple Stores.” Careful folks, you drop that I-Phone and you’re gonna have a cracked screen on that pricey device that wastes too much of your time. The best is hearing middle aged TV journalists and entertainment reporters throwing the term “drops” into their daily works. Do you know how stupid and desperate to seem cool that sounds? Reminds me of the late 60’s and early 70’s when an older person would try to relate to younger people by using the term “groovy.” Just keep it traditional folks, when the new Springsteen album comes out, you just say, “It comes out on so and so date” or “The new Wonder Woman movie hits theaters in December.” Give it up wannabe hipsters and drop the term ‘drops’ from your talk.
Play Ball- For years, sports talk media and baseball announcers have tried to substitute traditional jargon in the game for new words. Home plate or the plate is often referred to as “The Dish.” Sorry, eject that term. It’s silly. Others have tried to call the foul pole the “fair pole.” Nope, I cry foul on that one. Same goes for those sportscasters who say so and so “went 3 for 4 today with 3 RBI.” Get real with your English folks, if there’s more than one RBI in the stat, then it is ALWAYS RBIs, PLURAL!
The only different term in baseball that I DO accept is calling the pitcher’s mound “The Bump.” As a former hurler, I like that substitution.
FORGET TERMS LIKE ‘THE DISH’ INSTEAD OF ‘THE PLATE’ AND MORE.
The ‘T’ is silent- A decades long time irritation for me has been people who pronounce the ‘t’ in the word “often.” Sorry, pronouncing the ‘t’ in often makes you as if you’re superior to others. Just be normal folks, and lose the ‘t’ in often.
Just Google “Often” and read this-
Do you pronounce the T in often?The \t\ is silent. Why? Often has a medial /t/ that, like similar words such has “hasten” and “soften,” was once pronounced and is typically silent.
Self Correction- For as long as I can remember, when saying the word ‘both’ I somehow threw in an ‘L’ sound into it. I would pronounce the word as “bolth.” I have no idea where this came from and nobody ever called me on this idiocy. This finally came to light when I heard Garth Brooks talking about how years ago he heard one of his daughters say both as “bolth.” He realized she picked that up from a hired caregiver. As soon as I heard Brooks discuss this, I dropped the ‘L’ in my saying “both.”
Double terms for a single meaning– Finally, someone tell me why ‘fat chance’ and ‘slim chance’ mean the same thing. Help!
Call me a curmudgeon, a stickler, prickly or a…you know what,.but the afore mentioned language louse-ups needed to be addressed. I feel much better getting all this out in the open. If and when I think of more terms to cover, I will do so. You know me, when it comes to the English language, I ponder its usage often. WITHOUT pronouncing the ‘t.’
NEXT BLOG- Sharing some great opening lines to songs.