'A' is for Antidisestablishmentarianism...

On the Jukebox: "Kinder Words" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Quote: "One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." ~ James Earl Jones
Flair: Word up yo!

Did you ever read those books as children that start with ‘A’ is for apple; ‘B’ is for boy…? I see those types of books everywhere and can’t understand why they’re so popular. I mean there’s no plot whatsoever! Are they supposed to be vocabulary builders? If so, then maybe they should have an entire series that offer different grade levels. By the time a child is reading on a third grade level it would be ‘A’ is for applesauce; ‘B’ is for boyfriend… and once a reader reaches the junior high school level it would be ‘A’ is for appaloosa; ‘B’ is for boycott. Naturally the college level it would be designed for spelling bee champions with such gems as ‘A’ is for amaranthine, abyssopelagic, and aischrolatry; ‘B’ is for batraquomancy, bahuvrihi, and balbutient.

Do people even study the meaning of words anymore? I know they can’t spell. Even the word misspell is commonly misspelled. I’m guilty too. I love words but spell-check has made me lazy. Now that we’re a nation of texters and instant-messengers, our grammar and vocabulary skills are practically nil. I’ve read a few articles on how even most English teachers don’t use proper language. President Bush used to make up words and because they were absorbed into the pop culture meme they sound correct. I still think ‘strategery’ is a real word. But that’s okay because I hear people say ‘athleticism’ all the time and that’s not really a word either.

We’ve also gotten into the habit of combining words and phrases to create new words. Example: Our language is pathetic and sad… it’s pathetisad. However, I don’t really blame society for becoming lax in both vocabulary and spelling. No, on the contrary I blame the wordsmiths that brought us such gems as'Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.' It’s the fear of long words and it is a whopping 36 letters long. They should have made it shorter if they wanted anyone to remember it – let alone try to spell it.