Diction, My Dear. Diction.

I still haven’t figured out how to shrug and walk away when I’m surprised by little linguistic thuds dropped by people who should know better. It’s okay if regular folks commit grammatical and lexical sins. In fact, I like the way their lexical and grammatical diversions stretch the language, make it more alive, more touchable, more powerful even.

But when newscasters say things like, “he paid the ultimate sacrifice” (one sacrifices; one doesn’t pay a sacrifice) or “there’s [sic] 300 people outside the studio,” I can’t help but squirm. I mean, it’s bad enough that they can’t stop calling one another “guys.” When I hear teachers slip up on Grammar 101 in front of their students with remarks such as “He wants to see you and I [sic] in the office” or “I feel badly [sic],” it’s all I can do not to correct them. My friend Peter can say “I feel badly,” because he knows better, and he likes to work at sounding not quite as brilliant as he is. Other people can say it, too. But not teachers. Not newscasters. And, not even talk show hosts.

Most annoying of all are the writers—and not just the immature bloggers who are trying to sound all grown up and trendy—who smudge their copy with words such as “totally” and “awesome” and “f---ing.” I couldn’t bring myself to write that last word.

It’s easy writing. And, like a fill-in-the-numbers painting, it’s boring.

There, I feel all vented.