While watching NBC's Nightly News I realized how ironic it is to hear “grammar loyalists” who are anti-texting defend their slaughtering of vocabulary. If you're going to defend your ignorance of a word because “language evolves” then you either need to afford others the same leniency that you allow for your stupidity, or shut the hell up; I don't want to hear talk about people using texting abbreviations in everyday communication, especially from someone who looks like a hypocritical jackass for speaking ignorantly.
For what it's worth, I acknowledge a need for brevity when messaging via small devices, just as much as trying to understand someone's point when they aren't speaking correctly. However, texting and a shitty vocabulary have no use in regular communication.
A hesitant sun unevenly sets in a blanketed orange haze;
Punctuating taillight streamers, the starting line of hell draws near.
Shunned, isolated, alone, my island of solitude
Awaits the hurricane of self-destruction.
Dizzy eyes roll; whirling room a precursor for what’s to come.
Agitation dissipates, my naked body cloaked in candlelight,
A cowering freak seeking solace on the cold welcoming floor,
Happily drowning in the peace of mind I yearn for.
My head swimming with reckless abandon
Forgotten minutes pass as I crash on the rocks of reality
Unreliable drive, facing tormentors for a suicidal hourly wage,
A cycle of judgment begins anew.
Each minute a stepping stone to a pseudo desire
Staring down the barrel of a one-eighty of regret.
A hesitant sun unevenly sets in a blanketed orange haze;
My island of solitude awaits the hurricane of self-destruction.
Devoured by darkness, the small town settles into the bosom of night
Rabid raindrops thunder for my demise, liquified scavengers prancing about
Startled, the monstrous furnace roar commands, time frozen by fright
A discordant rasp grows deafening, amplified disgust of the forgotten phonograph
My slumber disturbed by the dank tentacles of unwelcome fear
Disruptive applause from the now flooded porch, shutters slam a perfunctory bow
An alarmed shriek escapes, the hairs on the nape of my neck stand tall
Chimerical sleep, an elusive legendary nocturnal creature
While eyes ache from widened cautious bewilderment
Now paranoid insomniac cowering from imaginary fear; good night!
Where’s the incentive to enrich our lives? I consider myself a successful entrepreneur, but I know I have a ways to go to expand my horizons on many levels. So far I’ve made attempts to better my grammar and vocabulary, tried different mediums of artistic expression (india ink & calligraphy), and learn more about history, but what’s the point when stuff is just going to be dumbed down? For example, someone in a writing position used the term “acronym” incorrectly. I posted a comment stating so, and their reply to me basically said language evolves. I think it’s a valid point, but an ignorant one nonetheless. Based on everything I’ve read, I’m of the opinion that it’s the context that changes, not the actual definition – a word that describes something huge in a specific genre might “jump the fence” to mean the same thing in another. So I ask, what’s the point in even having something to describe words like “NASA,” “SONAR,” “RADAR,” et al, if they are ignorantly used interchangeably with another, more accurate word? As inane as it might be to some, it doesn’t just affect language; there are many other examples from beverages to politics, but it seems like people don’t care. Two other examples off the top of my head include “war” and “conflict,” and “insurgent” and “terrorist.”
What’s fostering the dumbing down of our society is laziness and excess equality. The lazy view is based on my interaction online, with family members, and acquaintances who allow other people to shape their values and opinions. I’ve participated in many discussions where, if people actually took the time to research, watch interviews and speeches, read transcripts, or visited snopes.com, they wouldn’t regurgitate the same ignorant arguments. Any fool can select a snippet of a speech and redefine the context - it’s done on on political shows all the time. It’s because of those shows, and the ignorant subscribers who regurgitate their spin, that I want to listen to a speech or read a transcript for myself … plus, it’s good practice.
I’m sure the phrase “excess equality” set off a few flags for some, but I currently don’t have a better way to describe my point, and I refuse to be a defeatist and butcher my language just so I can “fit in.” I think we all have the same inalienable rights, and I think we should all have equal chances at life. However, if a person chooses not to do something necessary for the next level in their life (higher level position, scholarships, etc.) then they shouldn’t be able to compete with, or surpass, me. I believe there are exceptions to this rule, but the application should warrant the exception, I.e. competence. Anyway, the excess comes in when we engage everyone on an equal level instead of encouraging or guiding them to the level we’re at - like mentoring.
In conclusion: I’m frustrated. I’m putting forth effort to better myself, but when I encounter people who subscribe to the level of stupidity described above, I lose all motivation to continue interacting with them and others of a similar mindset. I refuse to engage people who have displayed the fortitude equivalent to the Viagra deals I come across online. I’m trying to bring myself up, not drag everyone down to the same level I’m on.
