In Other Words...
I've always been fond of language and it's usage, and I've also been a fan of the late George Carlin, who used to poke fun AT the manner we use our language. So, it's with mixed feelings that I am hearing all the verbiage coming out of the mouths of supposedly educated people...people of alleged erudition, who are, for the most part, making all this up as they go along.
Now I find that I can discuss things intellectually AND I can cuss like a longshoreman...I just try to not do BOTH at the same time...LOL.
Not bad for largely being self-taught.
Over the last several decades, we've become accustomed to "buzz words" or "catch phrases", generated to invoke a specified response in us whenever we hear them, much like Pavlov's Dog, sans the salivation factor.
Take some of the OBVIOUS changes to our language, for the most part done to skew our "perception" of people, places, and things.
People are no longer BLIND - they're VISUALLY-IMPAIRED (that would explain the BRAILLE all over the PARKING GARAGES...who'd have believed that all these BLIND people are driving TO those car parks anyway?)
We're not BIGOTS, we're RACIALLY-CHALLENGED (and in many cases overly-tolerant of aberrant behavior, which is a whole OTHER post).
We're no longer DEAF, we're ACOUSTICALLY-INSENSITIVE. (What the hell did he say?)
People are not SHORT, they're just VERTICALLY-CHALLENGED. (I tend to think of myself as slightly below average, so I'm in denial)
People are no longer OVERWEIGHT, but rather UNDER TALL. (kinda shoots the whole "big bone" theory in the ass, doesn't it?)
People are not STUPID, they're INTELLECTUALLY-INHIBITED (No, there are some that are REALLY just plain stupid, and a few that exhibit a "special kind OF stupid")
Folks are not RETARDED, they're just PHYSICALLY or MENTALLY-CHALLENGED. (explain THAT one to the teacher trying to encourage some LAZY kid what the value of an education is all about, as he nods off again in class)
But it gets even better. Seems we've manage to find "excuses" for most EVERY type of behavior these days...
People are no longer DRUNK, they just have a LOW ALCOHOL AND INHIBITION QUOTIENTS.
People are not VIOLENT, they're just suffer from OPPOSITE REACTIVE DISORDER.
People are no longer REACTIONARY, they're just victims of ADVERSARIAL OPINION SYNDROME.
People are not just LAZY, they suffer from CHRONIC FATIGUE DISORDER.
People are not POOR, they're just plagued by FINANCIAL DISENFRANCHISEMENT SYNDROME.
People are no longer RELIGIOUS, they're suffering from THEISTIC TENDENCIES.
It's amazing how people can twist and turn our language around to suit whatever need arises.
For example, we are NO LONGER waging a "War on terror". We are INSTEAD conducting an OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATION...how's about THEM apples, people?
But it gets better. We're not EVEN calling a TERRORIST a terrorist any longer. They are NOW called ENEMY COMBATANTS, but hold on just a second...isn't there a SPECIFIED TREATMENT for those ECs that are CAPTURED? Do we not treat them a bit DIFFERENTLY than say regular combatants? Or regular enemies? Don't they go before a MILITARY TRIBUNAL (that's the name for a "war court") for crimes AGAINST our military or against another nation involved in a war?
And to carry this further to OUR own shores, should we NOT consider the thugs and gang members that take over our streets and neighborhoods to sell their poisonous drugs to the masses THE ENEMY...or COMBATANTS, after a fashion?
I pretty much think we SHOULD. They're DOMESTIC TERRORISTS, plain and simple.
They just don't wear a tablecloth on their heads, turn to Mecca 5 times a day, or have sworn any type of JIHAD against us (that I know of anyway). But they are still OUR enemy, and should be treated as such, and not the "such a nice boy" that his baby mama knew and loved (as she re lit her crack pipe for today's morning high).
It's astounding that in some cases, we call things as they ARE, but in other instances, we try to divert our attention by renaming or reclassifying something or someone.
To me, it's all smoke and mirrors.
Every time I hear another "new" catch phrase of buzz word, I have to roll my eyes at the indecencies being perpetrated against OUR language.
If you stop and read letters from people from the 18th century through Victorian times, you see a masterful command of the language, with such depth and passion for whatever was written. People had a flourish for words and their true meanings, and over the centuries, it has been slowly lost.
Somehow, the "magic" of language seems to be missing these days, supplanted by a contrived mish-mosh of BS designed to entice us to a "higher" level of humanity.
Look at the fundamental construction of our founding documents...and then TRY to look at laws being passed in THIS day and age.
Our forefathers made those documents simple, and yet powerful and just complex enough to the point that tampering wasn't easy.
Today, it's ALL about skirting the law (after it's been written). Loopholes abound that one could drive a Kenworth through, and it's all designed this way, until people wise up and figure out how much they're being duped.
People have to understand their language...it's that simple.
We have to make our YEA be YEA, and our NAY be NAY.
Black is not white and vice versa.
Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Doesn't get any easier than that.
But most of all, we have to UNLEARN all this linguistic tripe, and focus on the real meaning of the real words.
We have to see past the smoke, mirrors and diversions to get to the heart of learning and understanding.
Then, and only then, can we reclaim that part of AMERICA that has managed to slip through our fingers, and that would be the education OF the people. Enough with all the "buzz n catch" crap.
Get back to basics in order to promote knowledge and wisdom.
And it's SO simple a cavem...well, you know the rest.
Stay safe out there, America.