I've been noticing more and more how the English language is deteriorating into slang, misused words, improper abbreviations, and mistakes ranging from television to print media, to the web and most disturbing, everyday language. It has become so bad, that the English language has changed to "accept" this. For instance, anyways is often used for anyway. This really disturbs me as it just doesn't sound right and makes people who use it seem uneducated to me. I hear this used on television and in everyday conversations all the time. The problem is that no one corrects the mistakes. Is this a breakdown of our educational system or does no one care anymore?Related to vocabulary issues and slang, the use of email, instant messaging, and text messaging has caused people to become very sloppy in their writing and many people just don't care what they write. I find myself trying to proofread everything I write as it is a reflection on me and every communication can affect my work. I wish this was imparted on kids and teenagers as the more they neglect their writing, the bigger problem society will have later.It really only takes a few good influences to change someone's language skills. It starts in the classroom, but extends beyond that. My wife is a science teacher and for the last few years, she's been hanging out with English teachers. A few weeks ago, I commented to her that her vocabulary has increased just by being around people that use more sophisticated words. My wife is very smart, but has said that she was never good at the SAT words. Well, I think that has changed just by her friends' use of new words.When is society going to start caring?(I'm sure someone will find grammatical errors with this entry, but at least I tried to get everything right.)
Comments
November 3rd, 2010
April
I’m a student in high school, and I decided I was going to write an argumentive article for a school magazine about somthing I strongly beleived in. I chose this topic and I found your blog entry very helpful and very true. I fully agree with you,… its a terrible thing, and it increases more and more with the incoming generations.
November 3rd, 2010
Scott Gruby
Spelling is going by the way of the dodo bird as well! its should be it’s :-)
November 7th, 2010
Hannah
Perhaps you did this on purpose, but shouldn’t “sloppy in there writing” be “sloppy in their writing”? Again, you may have just done this to make a point.
November 7th, 2010
Scott Gruby
Definitely unintentional! I’ve updated the article with the correct homonym. (Believe it or not, I can’t remember the last time I used the wrong their when writing; my mother was a teacher and I managed to learn something about grammar from her!)
April 9th, 2016
Fred
Update 2016. Spoken English in the United States is now only a ghost of what we’ve learned in the past. We no longer teach our children how to hand write, and apparently English grammar is no longer taught. We are a nation of illiterates who will soon be unable to compete in the world. We are also totally dependent on electricity and electronic devices. It’s a good thing our electrical grid is impervious and cannot fail. Events are now avents. Anesthesia is now anesteezia. “Theres” is now an all purpose word that eliminates “are”. “Your or yer” now replaces you’re. Your gonna like it when we get to your house. Your not feeling good or well? An is now eliminated in favor of “a”. Lemme have a “R” or a “N”. On and on it goes; we as Americans are exceptional people.
March 2nd, 2018
SmileyRose
Hi Scott. How I totally agree with you. I have been saying the very same thing for years now.
May 25th, 2021
Arnie
Yes, it’s highly contagious when you notice poor use of the English language from newsprint, television personalities, business and government leaders and so on. At first, I thought it was a recent malady but you can also find it in television reruns from 50+ years ago. I sometimes want to correct people but it is so prevalent that it seems to be a lost cause right now. It’s sad to witness.