F.S. ~ A Way with Words

Mistakes in grammar and vocabulary, especially in our speech, are common topics in our households. As an English major and grammar fanatic, I often point out the tiny mistakes we make every day with our words. The gradual acceptance of misused forms of words is frustrating. Verbage has become the commonly used variance of verbiage. Snuck has become an accepted past participle of sneak, when sneaked is proper. Creeped is often used as the past participle of creep instead of the correct form crept, and the list could go on and on. So why have these words sneaked their way in?

We have become, in many ways, lazy or careless in our speech. I recently spent 10 days in England listening to the British accents, and I realized we have lost much of the beauty that we admire in their speech. It does not take much thought to insure that our pronoun use is correct and our past participles are proper. A well-spoken person gives the impression of a well-educated person. Perhaps we should give more thought to preserving the aspects of our language that keep it from deteriorating. A good writer aims for eloquence; a good speaker should do the same.