Biden Fumbling His Words Is Representative
Of A Larger Societal Problem: A Lack Of Virtue

A good read. But 'getting it off one's chest' rarely works - especially when the trigger of others misusing language is everywhere and all the time. But again - a good read.

A thoroughly enjoyable and useful article that I will take to heart. Merry Christmas fellow L-dotters. You have been my salvation throughout this miserable year. Best wishes to all in 2022.

To utilize my own experience FJB is a carbon copy of my Grandmother and Mother before their doctors utilized the word Alzheimer's. As a family we utilized the phrase "Alzheimer's sufferer" before the doctor declare that utilizing the diagnosis was certainly correct. So we were correct in our utilizing the disease that would overtake their minds and souls as humans. FJB (jill in this case) refusing to acknowledge that Alzheimer's (at the least dementia) is utilizing joe's brain, or what is left of his brain, in a timely fashion is avoiding the obvious. Just because jill will not utilize the word Alzheimer's does not mean it is not happening. She knows that utilizing Alzheimer's describes joe. We all know. The utilizing of joe and his condition is detrimental to all of America.

FTA: (Plato) "would bar from his Republic those poets who use narrative stories of tragic grief to stir up people’s emotions, which then leads them to act impulsively, no longer anchored in reason." Watch local news recently? Or a certain holiday Chevy commercial? We are surrounded by such because once upon a time the viewing public demanded it, tired of the old "bad" news, consumers wanted "good news". And now we get it, in spades, from all angles, from commercials to newscasts. Hurrah, good news!!

My proper English pet peeve is the improper use of I/me/myself. In reaction to years of a campaign in the 1990s to get people to quit using "me" when they needed to use "I", the country increasing now uses "I" when they need to use "me." Recently, I have noticed of an increasing use of "myself" in place of "me." I think because people realize they are using "I" but are unconsciously afraid to use the dread "me." "Frank and I went to the store" "George went to the store with Frank and me." "I went to the story myself."

#5 - unless yourself is Hillary. Then it's: "I went to the store herself."

Some good points, but after reading the article I will nominate Ron Nutter for Queen for a Day.

As far as I am concerned, the Press in the U./S. is an even bigger culprit than Biden and the Democrats.........they shielded a man who was crooked as can be, hid the Hunter Biden story and all the earlier illegalities and lies (his first wife was killed by a drunk driver, etc. and even when this is corrected he says it again) and let him "win" from his basement. And then, when disaster ensues, they STILL try to prop him up and make excuses. I am not talking about opinion pieces but of the working press, who have gone so far from virtue that they should be ashamed.

My pet peeve is the substitution of the impersonal pronoun. It's not "I saw all the putrid,stinking and looting riders which were there". It's 'who' were there.

Strunk and White, “The Elements of Style.”

I well remember when the head administrator where I worked discovered the word "moneys." We never heard the word "money" again. So now we have "carceral" and "autogolpe." I'll read the piece later; maybe those gems are mentioned....

My pet peeve is the improper use of “seen”. My stepdaughter worked for us for about a year and a half and I’d mention something and she’d say “yeah I seen that”. Lord give me strength. I corrected her approximately 563 times to no avail.

There are lots of ways to drive home the point of this diatribe. Orwell was a genius. Yes, the language is being debased and society is degrading as a result. Unfortunately, Professor Nutter weakened his argument by coming across as cynical, condescending and sarcastic. His commentary is demeaning toward those who cannot respond from a lofty perch upon an impervious rhetorical tower. My mother was a winning contestant on Queen for a Day in 1959. Her request was for a big 5th birthday party for my younger brother with a local celebrity "Chucko the Birthday Clown". My brother had been diagnosed with leukemia and was being treated at the City of Hope. My parents had been struggling for months and finally understood that my brother's time was drawing near. My mother's heart was broken. She wanted to tell my brother how much he was loved. So yes, she swallowed her pride and told her story on TV. My brother died soon after his big birthday party. if I apply the author's characterization of women who "share their tales of woe in a competition to see who had the most pathetically pitiful and empathy-inducing story.", it serves to diminish the author, who trivializes the 'tales of woe'. Especially when applied by a person who claims to be a champion of appropriate and exact use of language to properly convey meaning and context. And yes, I do understand that the author's criticism is aimed at the cynical purveyors who set the stage and dream up a contest that shouldn't be a contest. But a mother's plea for their dying child should never be characterized as 'pathetically pitiful' - especially by someone who espouses virtue.

TV Sports commentators: "athleticism" for "athletic ability." FOX's Steve doocy (BS in journalism): "[1st Noun, 2nd noun], and stuff like that." Insurance ads: "Only pay for what you need."

My personal gripe is the replacement of "horrible" with "horrific." In most instances, the person using the latter word is misusing it and means the former. But EVERYBODY now says "horrific" when they're describing some event or thing that was really bad. Horrific means something that evokes horror in itself, like cancer. Almost not even to talk about. Horrible is proper to use when something is really bad in some kind of context, like, "Thanksgiving was horrible this year because my stupid liberal relatives wanted to browbeat me while I was watching the Packers." I think horrific displaced horrible even faster than Omicron displaced Delta because people think it sounds more intelligent. Like saying "I" when they should say "me." This would be better stuff to teach than CRT

Spend some time in corp America! My favorite was always “We are going to “effort” a solution…. Sigh! Or following every declarative with “right”…. Double sigh!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, #5. I want to scream every time I hear something like “ Give the ball to Bill and I.” Practically every “genius” in Hollywood talks like that, as well as most teachers I know. Grrr! #12 has my second pet peeve.

thank you,thank you thank you for this tread...my teeth gritting all time peeves..the word..anyways........there is no such word.AND using the word less instead of the word..fewer..it is like the word FEWER disappeared...!!! for example..we had less guests..instead of ..we have fewer guests..AAARRRGH!!! I hear it every where..on TV ,on the radio....drives me bats...and what is with the awful,nasal, valley girl speech patterns. they speak from the back of the throat instead of the diaphragm...Ok rant over.

The misuse of I as an direct or indirect object reminds me of a similar situation with the phrase 'We The People'; for example: this policy is destructive to We The People. It should be to Us (The People). My theory---OK hypothesis---is that, in the minds of many people, the 'I' has become amalgamated with its concurrent noun or pronoun. So, e.g.: a package came to my sister_and_ I , or detrimental to We_The_People sounds correct in their ears, because the unit is indivisible in their minds. My friend_and_ I play tennis. The other double beat my_friend_and_I. It's incorrect, but I understand why people do it. I always tell people: leave out the word(s) that accompany 'I' and you will know what is correct. At least, that's the way it seems to I. LOL