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Surge Summary: Some thoughts on some of the problems that can arise for a people when the proper use of language is overlooked, the degradation of music is afoot and the police are seen as the enemy.
by Larry Usoff
And now…a word about words…and other stuff.
There was a time, about 2 generations back, maybe three, when our native language(English) was taught and spoken. Along with that we learned history, civics, geography, shop for the boys and home economics for the girls. Typing was a coed course, if you wanted it. We produced some of the best and brightest this country could produce and we were proud of our educational system.
Sadly, that has gone by the boards, or down the tubes if you prefer that idiom. Our young people, brought up mostly without the benefit of learning the courses mentioned above, have little or no clue as to what the world, or their own country is about. The smart phone, which dominates their world, reduced their vocabulary to abbreviations and they might not know the actual meaning of them. I hear the word “like” in conversation so much that it makes me wonder if they understand that some things MAY be like other things…but NOT EVERYTHING is “like” something. It is either the thing or it’s not. That brings up another hot button issue for me and, before I get too far along in this, you should know that I am not an English professor or teacher or anything else related to speaking the language. It grates on my ears when something is misused over and over again.
All my life I’ve had fun…sometimes more than others but it was always such fun, or some fun or a lot of fun. At no time was it ever “so fun” which seems to be the common usage of that word today. Proper speaking of one’s native language should be a natural thing…but, again, the young people seem to be bent on bastardizing it. While it may be acceptable in certain areas, it is not correct grammar, and I wish they would correct themselves when saying something about having fun!
The word “formidable” has been revamped, if you will, as well. In my day it was a word spoken as it looked…not so, as it now has become “for-MID-able”. I have checked with several online dictionaries that will voice the word and all of them are using the original, and correct, pronunciation. Just because a lot of people are using words and phrases wrongly, and the public is accepting them, doesn’t mean they are correct.
I recently put forth an idea for honest voting. The plan was, in my not-so-humble opinion, very near fool-proof…but not damn fool-proof, and so I got some feedback on it. Feedback is good and it’s appreciated but why use a nom de plume if you’re not ashamed of what you’re saying? It was obvious that it was a fake name because I’m pretty sure Nostradamus isn’t still around making predictions. The writer took me to task because my plan didn’t involve the government except in a peripheral manner and, if you know me, I’m a smaller government guy.
Change of subject. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato No one that I know doesn’t like music…and I’m not speaking about rap or hip-hop, techno, heavy metal or anything of that ilk. Words that enflame, and denigrate, that’s not music to me. I recently took my car in for an oil change and the noise coming out over the shop’s speaker was ear-splitting, to say nothing of the content of the words. I heard the F-bomb dropped several times along with “bitch” and it was loud enough so that in the waiting room we could hear it also, at a lower volume of course. The only time it was silenced was when the desk at Customer Service had to call someone in the shop, so I guess it was an automatic shut-down.
Again, a change of subject. This time it’s law and order. There was a time when members of a Police Department or a Fire Department were considered friends of the neighborhood. Pinpointing exactly when and where that died is probably not possible, but since it’s here, we have to deal with it. American Civil War (ACW)2.0 is coming, I do believe. I just don’t know who the adversaries will be. This much I think will be true…the battle will be short, and bloody. The victors, and in my not-so-humble opinion will be in the Southern tier of states, sort of a reversal of the original ACW. One can only poke a bear so much before it rises up and comes after you, and those that are doing the poking now should pay attention to that. The two sides are going to be slinging a lot of lead back and forth and that means that innocent bystanders may be injured or killed.
Parting shot: I don’t know how the election is going to come out, and I think you know where I stand on that…however, and whichever way it goes, can we tie up the wounds that have been created? If it seems I’m on both sides of the issue, I’m not because an enemy has to be defeated in such a manner as to impress on it/them that it would be foolish to attempt what they just failed at doing.
Previous administrations have pretty much turned a blind eye to what was happening in our own country, being “global” was the thing.
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge
Originally posted here.
Image: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1545479
Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired. Articulate. Opinionated. Patriotic. Conservative. Cultured enough so that I can be taken almost anywhere. Makes no excuses for what I say or do, but takes responsibility for them. Duty. Honor. Country. E-mail me at: amafrog@att.net
Surge Summary: Some thoughts on some of the problems that can arise for a people when the proper use of language is overlooked, the degradation of music is afoot and the police are seen as the enemy.
by Larry UsoffAnd now…a word about words…and other stuff.
There was a time, about 2 generations back, maybe three, when our native language(English) was taught and spoken. Along with that we learned history, civics, geography, shop for the boys and home economics for the girls. Typing was a coed course, if you wanted it. We produced some of the best and brightest this country could produce and we were proud of our educational system.
Sadly, that has gone by the boards, or down the tubes if you prefer that idiom. Our young people, brought up mostly without the benefit of learning the courses mentioned above, have little or no clue as to what the world, or their own country is about. The smart phone, which dominates their world, reduced their vocabulary to abbreviations and they might not know the actual meaning of them. I hear the word “like” in conversation so much that it makes me wonder if they understand that some things MAY be like other things…but NOT EVERYTHING is “like” something. It is either the thing or it’s not. That brings up another hot button issue for me and, before I get too far along in this, you should know that I am not an English professor or teacher or anything else related to speaking the language. It grates on my ears when something is misused over and over again.
All my life I’ve had fun…sometimes more than others but it was always such fun, or some fun or a lot of fun. At no time was it ever “so fun” which seems to be the common usage of that word today. Proper speaking of one’s native language should be a natural thing…but, again, the young people seem to be bent on bastardizing it. While it may be acceptable in certain areas, it is not correct grammar, and I wish they would correct themselves when saying something about having fun!
The word “formidable” has been revamped, if you will, as well. In my day it was a word spoken as it looked…not so, as it now has become “for-MID-able”. I have checked with several online dictionaries that will voice the word and all of them are using the original, and correct, pronunciation. Just because a lot of people are using words and phrases wrongly, and the public is accepting them, doesn’t mean they are correct.I recently put forth an idea for honest voting. The plan was, in my not-so-humble opinion, very near fool-proof…but not damn fool-proof, and so I got some feedback on it. Feedback is good and it’s appreciated but why use a nom de plume if you’re not ashamed of what you’re saying? It was obvious that it was a fake name because I’m pretty sure Nostradamus isn’t still around making predictions. The writer took me to task because my plan didn’t involve the government except in a peripheral manner and, if you know me, I’m a smaller government guy.
Change of subject. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato No one that I know doesn’t like music…and I’m not speaking about rap or hip-hop, techno, heavy metal or anything of that ilk. Words that enflame, and denigrate, that’s not music to me. I recently took my car in for an oil change and the noise coming out over the shop’s speaker was ear-splitting, to say nothing of the content of the words. I heard the F-bomb dropped several times along with “bitch” and it was loud enough so that in the waiting room we could hear it also, at a lower volume of course. The only time it was silenced was when the desk at Customer Service had to call someone in the shop, so I guess it was an automatic shut-down.
Again, a change of subject. This time it’s law and order. There was a time when members of a Police Department or a Fire Department were considered friends of the neighborhood. Pinpointing exactly when and where that died is probably not possible, but since it’s here, we have to deal with it. American Civil War (ACW)2.0 is coming, I do believe. I just don’t know who the adversaries will be. This much I think will be true…the battle will be short, and bloody. The victors, and in my not-so-humble opinion will be in the Southern tier of states, sort of a reversal of the original ACW. One can only poke a bear so much before it rises up and comes after you, and those that are doing the poking now should pay attention to that. The two sides are going to be slinging a lot of lead back and forth and that means that innocent bystanders may be injured or killed.
Parting shot: I don’t know how the election is going to come out, and I think you know where I stand on that…however, and whichever way it goes, can we tie up the wounds that have been created? If it seems I’m on both sides of the issue, I’m not because an enemy has to be defeated in such a manner as to impress on it/them that it would be foolish to attempt what they just failed at doing.
Previous administrations have pretty much turned a blind eye to what was happening in our own country, being “global” was the thing.The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge
Originally posted here.
Image: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1545479
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