Coarsening Of Language

This morning on my way into work, I noticed a new billboard along the side of I-4. It was an advertisement for some kind of new chip dip. No big deal, except for the name of the dip: Heluva Good.

Now the name in and of itself is no big deal. Let's face it, the phrase "helluva" has become very commonplace in today's society.

But it is representative of a coarsening in society. We are no longer willing to use the full richness of the English language. It seems like people are no longer willing to learn how to speak without using foul language. Curses are used in place of actual thought.

Certainly no one is immune to this trend. I try not to use foul language whenever possible, but on occasion I slip, or like the other day in my response to an Atlanta Journal Constitution article, I use it for stronger emphasis than italics or bold type provides.

I don't see the problem getting better anytime soon. I noted a few weeks back that the kids coming out of high school today don't seem to have a vocabulary that contains many words in excess of four letters. They are also, almost to a kid, unwilling to read anything more than absolutely necessary as they view reading as boring or waste of time, especially since it requires imagination and thought, whereas TV - their favorite medium - does not.

The real shame of all this is that it is creating an American aristocratic elite. The elite are those who are educated and well spoken. The underclass will be those who cannot communicate effectively whether it be by linguistic barriers or a lack of vocabulary. Too many people are throwing away their opportunities.

Language is not just a tool, it is the most important tool that we have in becoming successful. Without the ability to communicate, a genius is wasted. Without the ability to communicate, the average person is wasted. A lack of language skills is a great equalizer - it makes everyone equally inferior and makes society less rich and life less fulfilling.

That's a helluva a lot of consequence for allowing the coarsening of society and the degradation of our language.

George Bernard Shaw said the Americans and the English are two people separated by a common language. Rapidly, the Americans are becoming internally a people separated by the English language.