Today after work, I saw a “Make a wish” box in the lobby while waiting to attend a client dinner coaching session. It was a box with a few hundred wishes from local orphans. I picked one up, and read it. It was from a 6 year old girl. The age of my oldest Daughter. She wrote on her make a wish card. “I wish I could have a new t-shirt, and a pair of sock for Christmas” My eyes swelled up. And then my client walked in. I’ll check back tommorow, they will be there all week.
Ponderous Prepositions and Prefixes
Nothing is more symptomatic of our declining language skills than the increased misuse of prepositions and prefixes. People today feel compelled to tinker with proper word usage in speech by adding those handy prepositions and prefixes. Take traffic reports, for instance. Traffic on Route 1 is “easing up,” “easing down,” “easing off,” or “easing out,” but never just “easing.” What is “easing up” traffic? Is that when cars levitate? Levitating cars certainly would ease traffic.