Response to Lost Words e-mail

From Richard in reponse to the previous e-mail post--he is an author and priest:

As a wordsmith of sorts, I have bemoaned the passing of some words.
Nevertheless, I have learned to live with what we are given in this day. I do so
24/7. I still drive my 1978 MGB. If I were not married, I'd be proud because
this car is a chic magnet. No matter how much we try to educate, people will
still refer to me and others in my profession as Reverend, i.e., "Ask the
Reverend." I like how every noun has become a verb. I have been tasked to do
such and such. Recently on one of my favorite TV shows a character--playing a
lawyer--said I'll messenger that to you. Irregardless has become acceptable for
regardless. "I'll invoice you."

So often new words represent a
great deal of the progress we have made. For example, surrogate motherhood was
not conceived when I was a child (during 50s and 60s). Not only did we not know
what the Genome Code was, we had no idea it could be cracked. What can I say
about "sperm donor?" And there is the unflappable "in vitro" and "in utero."
Organ donor. Transplants. DNA. DNA testing. Now we have a better idea who my
baby's daddy is.

Unfortunately, we have the diseases HIV and Aids.
The word "cocktail" is used to describe the medicines combined to assist
HIV-Aids persons to fight their illness.

Instant messenger or
instant message. Cell phone or simply, "My cell" as in "Call me on my cell."
Wireless networking. Hooking up. Many of us are not interested in having a gay
old time in gay Paree or any other place. The word fag does not mean cigarette.
When someone asks if you smoke, they generally do not mean Camels or Kools or
Marlboro, et al. Kara told me that she smoked 'weed' and would do so
always.

When did freaky become a word? There is even the verb "to
freak." Rap is not the action you take on the table, it is music (OK, OK, some
of you may disagree).

The computer generation has brought about the
abbreviated message and especially those with acronyms, initials, and the like.
LOL is what many of us do when we hear a joke. Cryptic comes to mind when I read
most e-mail messages. Just a few years back, "Internet" was unknown to most
people; certainly it was not widely known or understood. E-mail address is
now required on applications almost as often as telephone number. Gigabyte.
Browser does not refer to the person window shopping and who may ultimately
procure some store bought items. Perhaps one of the most elegant of all the
technological terms is ISP or Internet Service Provider. AOL comes to mind
immediately.

Graphic seems to be the manner of the day. Not only
are some terms not in vogue like "in a family way" or even pregnant, but the
more basic is employed: knocked up.

A number of two- and
three-letter words exist like Bro and Yo.

What is snail mail? A
guy wishing to court a girl (Do we court today?) will usually ask her for her
digits.

I love the fact that we are reticent to rank; instead we
seemed to have a need to prioritize.

Category = I hope I don't step
on too many toes
Even well-educated individuals will end a sentence with the
preposition 'at," e.g.. "Here's where we are at." and hardly anyone understands
the comparative today. Just the other day I heard a person say, "I could not be
more proud of this individual." Why can't prouder suffice?

Forget
all about the verb to be which takes the nominative case. So one correctly says,
"It is I" not "It is me." Where we really miss the boat is when we say "Thank
you for the time you showed Jeanie and I." That's when the objective case is
required and proper. I like to say that it is OK to say me. But then you'll
actually have those who will say, "Jeanie and myself."

These were
just a few of the things that rolled off the top of my head; I wanted to share
them with you.

For better, for worse. words will come and they will
go. Their meanings may or may not remain constant. Many will be saddened by the
passing of some of our favorites. But some of us will seek out the new, the
revised, the descriptive, the more relevant. We'll examine the use of the new
and improved, the altered, and the words that are dropped for
use.

Thank you for this posting. It was fun.