My ancient and good friend, Sven Lernevall, is an astute observer of the English language. You may recall that it was Sven who offered the opinion that the English language is “a rich language.” From time to time, I have tried to keep up with the changes in the language as I continue to marvel at its richness.
Now about the title of this essay. When I first heard the expression “going viral,” I thought it had to do with a medical condition. But it turns out that it has very little to do with medicine. Rather, it has to do with the spread of information on the internet and on television. I don’t necessarily consider myself a purist on the English language but I thought that the term “going viral” was a bastardly concoction. Now that it has been around for some time, you may be interested to know that I still have the identical belief. “Going viral” simply means that a report circulates rapidly and gains wide recognition. But the term “going viral” is a term that I would never use, nor do I believe that it should pass the lips of anyone else.
But television announcers in this country seem to enjoy the use of “going viral.” It is the hope of those of us who have treasured the English language that a new term will soon be found.
For want of a better term, I have called such intrusions into the English language “interjections.” Indeed there are several other interjections that I plan to review with you today.
The first interjection is the term “you know.” When a person uses “you know” fairly often, you may assume that he is unfamiliar with the subject at hand or that he is winging it. Unfortunately, the President of the United States is a great believer in the use of the term “you know.” He uses that term fairly often when he is speaking in a non-scripted way, when he avoids the use of a teleprompter. It is clear that Barack Obama is a superb writer. But there are occasions when he uses “you know” instead of offering substantive points. My point is that the President is a superb writer and the same would apply when he is speaking from a script. When he goes off script, he seems to use the term “you know.” My inclination is to say, “Hey, Barack, I don’t know!” But this is a small thing and there are thousands of people who use this interjection as a conversation extender. But now I must move on to, “you know,” another point or two.
Then there is the use of the term “this point in time.” If by some miracle I were returned to my job as a labor relations negotiator and my opponent were to use “this point in time,” I would safely conclude that he knew very little about the subject. More than anything else, “this point in time” is a device to extend the conversation without saying anything substantive. In my own mind, when a man uses “this point in time” it is a turn-off because I know he has nothing to say to me.
The next intrusion into the English language is a term used by politicians. It is “leaning forward.” This is an interjection of no merit, in my estimation. Again, if an adversary would have told me he was “leaning forward,” I would have marked him down as a person who had very little to say to me. There is a variation on the term “leaning forward,” which is “forward leaning.” Politicians love to use this term which says that they are in the avant guarde in this period. “Leaning forward” and “forward leaning” have their place in our language but not in the interjections that occur frequently.
Then there is the interjection “as we speak.” The proper term here is “now.” But the interjectors use “as we speak” to extend their remarks and let you know that they are really “with it.” A person who uses “as we speak” is not one that I would recommend.
Well, these are my thoughts on this rainy Thursday morning. As I said earlier, I am not a purist when it comes to the English language. But I like for it to be spoken with some coherency. Now I must leave you because I have a news report that a person has been named a “spiritual advisor” to the President. May I ask, as gently as I can, what in the world Barack Obama needs with a spiritual advisor? Mormons believe that there is a spirit world up there in the air. But I know nothing about a spiritual world. I would prefer that the President get re-elected to do something about the earthly problems that we all face. A “spiritual advisor” is about as offensive as “you know.” And with that bit of wisdom I now take my leave of this essay.
E. E. CARR
May 24, 2012
Essay 660
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Leaning forward I would like nothing more than for this blog to go viral, you know? At this point in time, I feel that it could be becoming a real possibility, even as we speak.
This will be the first of three pieces posted tonight about language, a subject to which Pop is no stranger. Tonight will also feature the introduction of a brand new category, “objections to modernity,” which I feel will get a hell of a workout in the coming months.