The English language is in trouble. Last night I watched a terrifying movie, Idiocracy. This movie, which takes place in 2505, shows a world in which English has devolved into a combination of hillbilly, Ebonics and valley girl style speech. Anyone who uses "smart" words is deemed "faggy" and ridiculed. Is this a stretch? Lets take a look at some of the new entries into Webster's dictionary:
Ginormous: extremely large, humongous
Crunk: style of Southern rap music featuring repetitive chants and rapid dance rhythms
Flex-cuff: a plastic strip that can be fastened as a restraint around a person's wrists or ankles
Now, I am all for the evolution of language. I understand that it needs to be flexible enough to accommodate innovations and new inventions. But, ginormous is a word???
In a world of Jackass and Jerry Springer we need to be conscious that we are not inventing words rather than using our vocabularies. I don't want to live in a world where using real, meaningful words will make me the subject of ridicule.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
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