Matt Anderson comments on the demise of the Comma and whether or not it is due to our hurried lifestyle. He's not so sure he buys into the notion. As for me, I'm open to the idea that our 24/7 internet-connected lifestyle breeds a sloppy and impatient mode of communication. Consider that teens think of e-mail as obsolete, opting for text messaging (which has, evidently, bumped instant messaging into the soon to be archived category as well).
Now, there's certainly a place for quick, informal communication: post-its left on a bulletin board (a real bulletin board), voice mail messages, and the like. Yet, I can't help but notice that the pervasive use of e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging and, yes, blogging, has led to a whole new subculture of communication methodologies.
Not to entirely blame the connected-generation, though, let's also consider the phenomenon of political correctness, and how it may affect our use of words. Did you notice the "24/7" I placed in the first paragraph? What, I ask, is wrong with simply saying "24 hours a day, 7 days a week"? Why do we need to now shorten it to "24/7"? Is our time really that expensive that we need to butcher the phrase? I recall a co-worker telling me about a make of automobile referring to the year it was made as "two-oh-four". "Two-oh-four?," I asked. "Yeah," he replied, "Two thousand four." Savings: one syllable. For that matter, I recall another co-worker typing "k" instead of "ok". Savings: one letter.
But, back to the slash (if Bonnie is reading this, she knows where I'm going). One of my (many) pet peeves is the combining of words that, in all reality, have no need to be combined. The blaring culprit, in this category is the use of "s/he" for "she and he" or "she or he" or, and it hurts to even type this, "she and/or he".
Ugh! Who speaks like this?
Well, Sonlight Curriculum, for one. The curriculum we utilize for our homeschooling is resplendent with the use of "s/he". Here's an example,
The notes in the History section are meant to provide the main ideas the material covers. When you finish reading the material, have your child repeat back to you what s/he thinks s/he learned. You may want your child to do this either orally or, when writing is no longer difficult (around 4th grade), in writing. Plan on a minimum of five factual statements each day. As your child narrates back what s/he has heard, we hope you will realize how much s/he has learned, and that the process of narrating back to you will actually help solidify the material in your child's memory.
So, just exactly how am I to pronounce "s/he"? "Sss 'hee"? "Ess 'hee"? "Sss-slash-hee"? "Ess-slash-hee"? "Shee-hee"? For crying out loud, can you imagine trying to carry on a conversation with any one of those variations? And don't even get me started on the issue of why the feminine is placed first! For all the political correctness in the world I think it should be "h/she" (despite the time-wasting inclusion of one extra letter). Favoritism indeed!
Tell you what... instead of the unpronounceable "s/he", how about we invent a word that replaces it? Let's see... how about "yo-hum" (which stands for young human)? So, with our new word in hand, let's revisit the sentences in question:
When you finish reading the material, have your child repeat back to you what yo-hum thinks yo-hum learned. As your child narrates back what yo-hum has heard, we hope you will
realize how much yo-hum has learned, and that the process of narrating
back to you will actually help solidify the material in your child's
memory.
Yes. Much better.
Note: for those who need the clarification, much of what you see written above was done in jest.
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