If there's one pesky little thing that drives my writer-speaker self over the edge, especially if I'm under deadline pressure or PMS-ing, it's regular, unacceptable misuse/abuse of simple language, especially by supposedly educated people.
This simple act upsets me almost as much as learning new technology. But not quite. For that, my usually mild-manned self has been known to loudly threaten to heave my computer off the roof of my house, along with a few naughty words.
Think of all the credit the tiny letter A gets that rightfully belongs to the word HAVE. That poor little four-letter word is ignored on a regular basis in daily conversations, the media, and over coffee and cell phone chats by otherwise stellar citizens! Over blueberry scones and foaming lattes, the letter A brazenly steals HAVE's thunder with no apologies for the blatant infractions.
Consider the following evidence of popular, daily language abuse by good folk not intending any harm.
I coulda... I shoulda... I woulda....
The word should be HAVE, people! They should all be HAVE! (and not OF, either).
Could have. Should have. Would have. The rampant abuse is shameful.
This week, I challenge you to pay attention to how many times you, and those around you, are guilty of depriving the word HAVE of its rightful place in our language use (but don't ignore your kids).
I bet you'll lose count.
Now, don't even get me started on pronunciation of the word Of-TEN!!! (equivalent to fingernails on a blackboard!).
I shoulda rambled on about this important subject long ago.
Oops.
JudyWinter.com
Breakthrough Parenting for Children with Special Needs: Raising the Bar of Expectations
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