Say what you mean and mean what you say!

Words are necessary for total communication -- that is a given. However, proper word usage, like proper dress, seems to have regressed significantly the past decade.

Redundancy and misuse of our language - magnified by using abbreviations, slang words, phrases and internet jargon - and just plain improper sentence structure or word use is now common and accepted.

How often have you heard: "Enter your PIN number" (PIN stands for Personal Identification Number) - does he have a stuttering problem? Ever been asked "Where is the ATM Machine?" (Automatic Teller Machine) but I repeat myself. Then there is the newscaster on national television who states "A dead corpse was found…" -- is there any other kind.

Many times our writings show a lack of spelling ability or concern for the proper meaning of a word or phrase. Recently, the following notice was posted on the entry door of a National Retail Store: "Dued to the water pipe break" - perhaps they had been reading an article on the "The Economic Times" website which stated in the 'Title' of the article: "Check with CIBL if loan rejected dued to …". Even better was a notice on a western superstore entry which stated at the bottom of the notice on a single line with no punctuation: "Sorry Management" - at least they knew they were lacking!

Ever ask the Guy at Home Depot "Where are the Hot Water Heaters?"? I mean really, if you have Hot Water WHY do you need a Water Heater? But then when you live in a country that 'parks' on the Driveway and 'drives' on the Parkway and often pays a Toll to drive on the Freeway, what would you expect?

I do think that our language reflects a lot on the success, or lack thereof, of our educational system. I get emails, read comments in blogs and 'text' messages where I is never capitalized. Do you really believe it is due to brevity or to speed up the message - not me. Seems more plausible to blame it on dumbing down (one of those words) of the population as a part of some sort of a sinister plan to dominate the world.

Then there is the case of just not knowing which word or phrase to use in expressing an opinion or idea. Using their vs there, is vs are, who vs whom, or a vs an in a sentence. I have a problem blaming it on haste or typo - more like the writer just did not know the correct spelling but fell back to using phonics. Based on that premise, I’m not sure whom to blame, but I continue to here from all sides that our schools is turning out students who are not even capable of balancing an simple checkbook let alone being able to adequately complete a employment application or perform satisfactorily in a entry level job where u gotta have simple readin, ‘ritin and ’rithmetic skills.

Welfare Abuse, Fraud vs Personal Responsibility

Welfare Fraud, Abuse vs Personal Responsibility