An EPIDEMIC! Improper use of words!
One example of idiocy
Do people think it makes them sound intelligent if they use big words even though they misuse them and it makes them sound idiotic? Do we hand out high school diplomas to people who cannot read, write or articulate a sentence, just to rid them from the system?
Public education and education in general always seem to be the ones that take the blame for the public's lack of panache in speaking and writing. But I believe it has more to do with the student in general, who does not read material throughout his or her education and believes that twelve solid years of education is enough to make them educated.
I am not suggesting everyone has to go to college or seek a higher level of formal education, but I am suggesting people need to stay informed by reading, writing and learning new things so they may increase their knowledge and not remain in a 12th grade "state of mind" for the entirety of their lives.
Today, a reporter asks a mother who is attending the release of Casey Anthony (aka "tot mom") why she is at the scene with her children. This woman tells the reporter that she "can't CONCEPT how a mother could do this to her child". Ah yes, she cannot "concept." How about she cannot "conceive" of how she could do this to her child? Her lack of ability to articulate is an embarrassment, even though she is clueless that she was incorrect. And when it is a politician who does this, ie: George W. Bush, or "Say it ain't so" Sarah Palin, we REALLY lose as a nation.
Palin is quoted as saying: “Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real,”.. does she understand what she said? And when asked, she wanted to be in the same category as William Shakespeare in that he also made up new words.....! C'mon...no comparison! Oh sorry, perhaps I mis-underestimated her, like George W Bush did. They must have had the same learning curve in school, as I know it was neither their teachers fault, nor the schools they attended. It is lack of "giving a shit". Perhaps we need a new word for people in this category....How about this one? I read a review the other day about something someone ate affecting their "pallet" HELLO????? How can eating something affect a wooden plank designed to hold things up from the ground?
I remember having a conversation with a man and he asked me a question about something of which I was unsure ...I told him : "you would know better than I", He nearly fainted. Turns out he was a high school principal in Texas and had NEVER had anyone correctly say that sentence to him. Most people say "you would know better than ME".which is incorrect! We use words all the time that we take for granted are correct and they are either not correctly used in a sentence or correctly utilized in writing. Typos are one thing, speaking words are another.
Why do I care? Because when "Who wants to be a Millionaire" was brought to the states from England, they had to dumb down the questions! Most people could not get the $100 answer right! Lazy, lazy people! Do you not see this is a reflection on the country at large? I also put this in the same category as those people who do not think for themselves...but that is another Hub entirely! Get some "ed-u-ma-cation" people.....read! Or keep your mouths SHUT!
