March 19, 2010 1:26 p.m. (the feast of Saint Joseph)
I have a pet peeve regarding the way we speak. I say "we" because, although I severely dislike this way of talking, I self-consciously discover myself doing it much more often than I would like. Despite my age, I apparently was caught up in the first wave of those generations who, unfortunately, talk like this.
I am so sorry. I tell my children that I am sorry. I try to teach them to be aware of it -- to be sensitive to it -- so that they don't grow up partially handicapped like their poor mother. This is one of those many areas in life where I want my children to grow up better off than I have been.
Hopefully, my efforts to enrich their lives by reading aloud good literature, as often as possible, and making video and image-based entertainment as scarce as possible, will bear good fruit. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I share this with you. I like this poem. I like the message.
I have a pet peeve regarding the way we speak. I say "we" because, although I severely dislike this way of talking, I self-consciously discover myself doing it much more often than I would like. Despite my age, I apparently was caught up in the first wave of those generations who, unfortunately, talk like this.
I am so sorry. I tell my children that I am sorry. I try to teach them to be aware of it -- to be sensitive to it -- so that they don't grow up partially handicapped like their poor mother. This is one of those many areas in life where I want my children to grow up better off than I have been.
Hopefully, my efforts to enrich their lives by reading aloud good literature, as often as possible, and making video and image-based entertainment as scarce as possible, will bear good fruit. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I share this with you. I like this poem. I like the message.
|
2 comments:
I suffer terribly from shyness, and an inability to think of just what to say to appear witty. So, long ago I trained myself to never use "like", "um", "you know", "uh", you get the picture. I just suck in a deep breath, think of the topic at hand, and speak clearly. When Ryan was in about 4th grade, he began answering questions with, "um, y'know", so I told him we don't like "Umyanoes" around here, because they are unidentifiable. It's a hard thing to work around, isn't it? Especially since everyone around us does it. My father always wanted to appear young, cool, and hip, so he took up with the um and you know fillers, and even as a little kid, I realized you can't be young and hip if you have screaming brats following you around. It's a good thing to remember if I feel like stumbling.
most excellent. i like it. have you posted it on fb yet? 'cause i think i will.
and sadly, i totally, um, have to admit to, y'know, talking this way in, like, real life?... even though i have a high regard for the english language and aspire to be an editor. very sad. i need to work harder to be aware of it and break myself of the habit. i could probably enlist my kids to help me. it would be rather humiliating, but that might speed the process.