Length: 349 Words Reading Time: 1 Minute 30 Seconds
Americans are dumbing down our language, and it doesn’t seem to bother anyone for the most part. I, for one, don’t like it because I grew up in Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s and it took me more than a decade or more to lose “youse guys,” “finance,” and “interesting,” as well as other mispronunciations and incorrect word usages.
I do not own a television and haven’t since I retired in 2003. As a result, I have not kept up with the many changes in American usage and what seems to be driving these changes. But some changes grate on my ears.
Why does everyone say “yeah” instead of “yes?” What happened to “delicious” and “wonderful” and “great?” When were they displaced by “yummy” and “awesome” and “perfect?”
By the way, if everything is perfect or awesome, then nothing is perfect or awesome. Everything at all times cannot be perfect or awesome because if we pretend that they are, then those two words have lost their precise meaning. And they are appropriate words when we used them precisely.
It was bad enough when we had “you know” and “well” back in the 1990s. Sadly, much worse phrases displaced them, such as “it was like,” “I’m like,” and “she goes.”
Also, when did vacations become “vay cay,” and when did crazy become “cray cray?” And when did we replace “you are welcome” with “no problem?” Where in heaven’s name did that response originate? These examples are only a shortlist of incorrect usage. Many other anomalies have cropped up in our everyday speech.
I am not sure if the gravity of this situation is apparent to a broad cross-section of Americans. To me, I believe this dumbing down of our daily speech is problematic and a cause for concern for our culture and social interactions. Our American culture, I think, requires clear and precise speech. If we continue on this road of imprecise and unclear speech, then the culture will be destroyed. That won’t be awesome or perfect or even cool.