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I’ve been following the discussion whether to say “two thousand and ten” or more simply “twenty ten.” I think 20-10 sounds better and over the last few days I have heard the latter more often than the former. People who study language believe 20-10 follows what we’re used to such as “nineteen fifty.” For me it sounds more compact. Everyone agrees both are correct so it will be a matter of preference and eventually we’ll all end up saying it one way or the other. My bet is on 20-10.
Some words and phrases are used so often we have desensitized ourselves to their meaning. One example is the expression “Oh, my God.” This expression became so ordinary that it was shortened to OMG to accommodate text messaging. “Oh, my God” has been used for as long as I can remember and I have myself used it constantly, though I am trying to break that habit. I’m not breaking the habit because it offends, though I’m sure it does. I just don’t like it. It doesn’t make sense most of the time. If one is praying then it makes sense. If one is watching football and it’s shouted out to the world when a player does something amazing it doesn’t sound right. It’s a sensitivity issue for the devout. For me it’s just not a smart way to express a thought.
I was born and raised Catholic and heard “Oh, dear Lord” many times as I grew up and sometimes by priests (though never by nuns). I’m not certain how these expressions were developed but they’ve been with us since the beginning of religion. Other religions have similar expressions. And in many languages. I knew many of these expressions in Portuguese at one time. I don’t think they were ever meant in a disrespectful way when delivered after a shock but sometimes they are used in an ordinary way like the above-referenced football game.
As people move from “Oh, my God” they struggle and search for a more acceptable ending and “gosh” is usually what they come up with. Sounds stupid. Doesn’t have the same punch as “Oh, my God.” “Oh, my God” became particularly popular when Matthew Perry’s character, Chandler Bing on Friends, used it in a very comical way, an exaggerated and slow “OH----MY----GOD!” Almost everyone started saying it that way. There are great alternatives. “Gosh” is not one of them. If we witness a car crash instead of “Oh, my God” how about “Oh s--t”? Too raw? Perhaps. But it isn’t blasphemous and won’t offend the devout as much. Or maybe it will because it is a bit indelicate. Sometimes people say “Oh, Jesus Christ” or a variety of puzzling variations. I’ve often said and heard “Jesus H. Christ.” What does the “H” stand for? I haven’t heard that on regular TV but I have heard it in movies. I’m trying to break that one too.
Switching from “Oh, my God” to “Oh, my gosh” is instantly recognized as what it is—an awkward last minute substitution. It takes the listener or viewer or reader out of the “moment” where the action is taking place and instead we are momentarily paying attention to the weird “gosh” rather than the content of the entire sentence or paragraph.
It’s the same with a telephone number in a movie. Movie folks have mostly changed phone numbers to the fake prefix of “555” such as 555-6547. It’s to prevent audience members with good memories from calling the numbers and annoying someone in the middle of the night who happens to be unlucky enough to have that number. If it’s a popular movie that person could end up changing their number after thousands of calls. I guess it’s happened. But the resolution they selected was stupid. The writers should give it up and instead say, “Call Bob” and leave out “Call Bob at 555-6547.” IT DOESN’T FOOL ANY OF US. We all know it’s a fake number. When I hear “555” I’m pushed right back into reality because it’s not real and it’s overused and just dumb. Maybe it’s also lazy.
Last New Year’s Day I resolved to stop swearing as much as I do and to also choose better words when proclaiming a feeling. It’s been a tough year. It’s sort of like giving up smoking. I’ve been swearing for most of my life. I started young; about the time I started smoking. I think I thought it was cool. I wasn’t raised by a sailor (actually, I was, but he didn’t swear in front of me), but it’s an era thing. Swearing and smoking were big in my youth.
Another word I have never used and vow to never use is “texted,” which is pronounced text-ed. I looked it up and it’s actually correct but it sounds horrible. Just because you can add a suffix to a word doesn’t mean you should. Some just don’t work. Instead of saying “I texted my mom” why not stretch the vocabulary just a bit and say “I sent a text to my mom.” Instead of “he texted me” why not “he sent me a text.” After more in-depth research on this word on the Internet I found a great deal of debate on the topic. The feeling is people will get used to it and not find it offensive or strange over time. Another opinion is that many people don’t find it offensive or odd at all. It’s a matter of one’s current vocabulary usage in general. “I petted my dog.” The problem is the consonant “t” with the suffix “ed.” It’s an awkward combination and the enlightened among us should try hard not to get swept away with its use. It isn’t a swear word but I’m including it herein because it’s a bad word.
Speaking of swear words, some swear words are acceptable and some are not. Sometimes a word can be bad and good at the same time, such as “bitch” (a female dog) and “bitch” (a mean woman). I’m not going to launch into a George Carlin routine but there are some great YouTube videos of George explaining language. I tried to post the link but today eBlogger isn't letting me do that.
For many years I used the word “crap” as in “Oh, crap, I dropped the lettuce.” I’m trying not to do that anymore. Sometimes we say “that’s crap.” All of it just doesn’t sound right to me anymore and I don’t know why. So I have switched from “crap” to “crappola.” For some reason it doesn’t sound as, well, crappy to me. Instead of “what a piece of crap” I have switched to “what a piece of crappola.” And we all know the other word that can be slipped into that sentence but I’m not sure eBlogger would allow it even though this blog is about words. I’m not using words to be crude in this context and I hope eBlogger agrees with me and let’s some of this pass. I’ve left out the really bad words.
Depending on a person’s age, grammar and word usage can change over time. Punctuation has changed a bit since my grammar school days. It’s hard to change one’s punctuation style if it’s been done that way an entire lifetime. A friend and I discovered that an east coast education is different from a west coast education. She learned punctuation styles quite unlike what I learned. We also had an age difference so it was very interesting when we worked together on large legal documents because we both had our different grammar school teachers ringing in our heads. [The debate surrounding “different than” and “different from” still rages. However, most agree it’s better to say “different from” as above.]
So a hit man kills someone and a witness says, “Oh, my gosh. What the fudge just happened? Oh, fudge, oh fudge, or fudge, man. Quick, call his mean wife at 555-6547. Fudge, man. Oh, fudge, man. Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh.” That’s just not going to work. Dagnabbit.
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