Sometimes I feel as though there’s a conspiracy of abbreviations, acronyms, texting shortcuts and just plain laziness that is bent on destroying or at least dramatically altering the English language. Even though I still have my Unicorn Hunter’s license, I haven’t been able to find any references to the original Unicorn Hunters’ organization. (I did find another group calling themselves Unicorn Hunters, but it is unrelated to the one that originated at the University of Wisconsin and is not concerned with preserving our language).
While I once conducted my unicorn hunting within a limited scope of individual offenders, correcting errors in speech and writing by individuals within my immediate world, I have come to believe that the problem is too large for such a modest approach. We need to ferret out the influences behind the mass misuse of words that is eroding our language and making communication less effective. One of the main offenders seems to be the world of advertising.
The advertising industry has been responsible for a lot of bad spelling. Consider, Rice Krispies, Duz does everything, Froot Loops, Trix, Kix, Luvs disposable diapers – the list goes on. Add to that, poor grammar and the rash of abbreviations and acronyms masquerading as words, and it’s enough to make Mrs. Cotter, who taught eighth grade English, give up in despair.
For nearly all my life I’ve been fascinated by the magic of writing. With just twenty-six little symbols we are able to record ideas, document history, express beliefs, keep track of facts, write poems, describe feelings and pose questions in a form that other people can understand and share today or a century from now – people who are far removed from us in years and distance, those who have never met us and persons not yet born. There is one condition that must be met, though, for this magic to happen. Those other people must also know the little symbols and the rules that govern their use. Those rules involve spelling, meaning and grammar.
Our language has always been in a state of flux, evolving continuously since its first sounds were uttered. We’ve added new words as needed to reflect new ideas and discoveries in all areas of human endeavor. Each new word has a specific meaning and precise rules regarding its use. When we, mistakenly or intentionally, use a word incorrectly we not only confuse the listener (or reader) but we weaken its original meaning. It becomes blurred and less effective. That’s not to say that the meanings of words cannot change, for a great many have changed dramatically over time. This is usually the result of new ideas and discoveries that necessitated more specific words to replace one or more of the original definitions of a familiar word. You can go back to Shakespeare or Chaucer to find some rather puzzling usages that have since been abandoned and replaced by more accurate words. I’m sure those two authors would be more than puzzled by many of our modern-day usages.
I suppose that today’s ad agencies believe that an unusual spelling will attract attention and stick in consumers’ memories long enough for them to get to the store and buy the product, but I wonder if they realize, or care about, the damage they inflict on our children who are learning to spell. And I wonder if they consider how all the grammatical errors in television ads affect the grammar of the people who hear those errors and assume they are correct because of the “authority” of television. How many people say “mis-chee-vee-ous” rather than “mis-chiv-ous” just because they hear it mispronounced so often?
“Hide my skin? Not me.” Those are sentence fragments meaning, “Do I hide my skin? I do not.” All those people in those ads should be saying, “Not I.” Shame on the person who wrote those ads. People who make their livings with words should have more respect for the language that is essential to their livelihoods.