George Putnam
Friday, Feb. 14, 2003

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have an English teacher like Edith Foulke and Olive Allen, my journalism teacher at St. Paul Central High School, were privileged to live with the English language experience and to learn to understand its quality. Both were proper maiden ladies who were married to their professions.

Miss Foulke introduced MR’s (minimum requirements) – if a student failed in the usage or proper construction in a final term paper, he/she failed the course!

I wonder how they would react to the rap proliferated by the baggy-clothed youngsters of today or, for that matter, adults who mangle and squander our beautiful language without a second thought.

As an example, much of the rap music containing sordid lyrics being sold to young children who are so easily influence is referred to as "culture," when it's actually just mind poison that perpetuates poverty and lowers their values.

It's ironic to think that many blacks are returning to the type of black English or Ebonics that sprang from slavery – the very chapter in history they abhor the most – in order to recapture their heritage. Controversial is the question of whether this black English is on the path to convergence or increasing divergence.

Tragically, due to the vast wasteland of mindless speech – too much talking and not enough listening and learning in our world of today – standards have been lowered to the point that kids can't spell and some can't even read by the time they are permitted to graduate!

And the problem isn't confined to any particular social position, race, creed or color; it's a plague that is infecting a cross-section of America.

Pardon me, Mr. President, hasn't anyone schooled you in the proper pronunciation of the much-used word NUCLEAR (NUW-KLI-YER). You insist upon pronouncing it NU-CU-LAR, which is embarrassing to the American people! And in conversation the other day, you referred to "me and Laura" instead of "Laura and I." But the TOPPER came when you were discussing how Saddam Hussein's partners in crime should be treated; you actually said, "They should be PERSECUTED." Did you mean PROSECUTED?

Listening casually to conversational changes, one hears such misuses of our language as "her and me," "ain't," and overused fillers such as "you know," or "LIKE." How about the antagonyms, "you're so BAD," "screwed," or "cool/hot."

We sometimes ask "what's going down?" and some of us call everyone we meet "man." And how often we leave the "g" off of words (i.e., "what're ya doin'?")

My pet peeve is people at all levels who consistently say "I'm going to try AND ..." It should be "I'm going to try TO."

For some individuals the word ASK poses a problem. You may have heard sentences such as "May I AX you a question?" Of course, the speaker intends to say ASK but the S and K sounds are transposed so that it sounds like AX, as in the tool used to chop wood.

There are endless examples of the sloppy use of English; we've all heard them and we're all guilty to some extent. But what can we do about reversing the decline in our English standards today? It takes time, discipline and patience to teach the English language as well as to train oneself to break bad speech habits.

But many people simply lack the imagination to think of creative ways to express themselves and instead resort to foul language and the excessive use of the "f" word. They are in desperate need of a thesaurus! Go to: http://thesaurus.reference.com/

When I think of how our founding fathers, with such limited scholarly opportunity, recorded beautiful, meticulously constructed thoughts and high-flown phrases, using excellent penmanship (all done while dipping a quill into an inkwell without the convenience of computers and spell check), it makes me long for the good old days when we were taught phonics, proper sentence construction and how to use our language according to Mr. Webster.

Think of the author of "Little Women," Louisa May Alcott, portrayed in the movies with her ink-stained hands, composing such luminous volumes of inventive phraseology.

It's time to start over, and we can begin by cleaning up our own ways of using the magnificent English language through self-education. I recommend subscribing to http://www.wordsmith.org/awad to get a new English word, its pronunciation, and its definition and example of use, every day of the year in order to expand your vocabulary on a daily basis.

Let's all turn off the TV and read a book for a change ... or try solving the New York Times crossword puzzle. Listen to yourself when you speak and make a conscious effort to try new words ... and when you see or hear a word unfamiliar to you, take a moment to look it up at http://www.dictionary.com.

Olive Allen and Edith Foulke, if you're listening: In present-day vernacular, you were a couple of real cool cats! I hope I've made you proud. You know?

Here are some other helpful sites to help you get started on your pathway to better English:

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

http://www.comenius.com

http://www.ilovelanguages.com/index.php?category=
Languages%7CBy+Language%7Cenglish

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/errors.html

http://grammarguide.port5.com

The legendary George Putnam is 88 years young and a veteran of 68 years as a reporter, broadcaster and commentator ... and is still going strong. George is part of the all-star line-up of Southern California's KPLS Radio – Hot Talk AM 830. Click here for George's complete bio

... and check out a new feature article in Insight magazine on George

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