There are between approximately 450,000 to 700,000 words in the English language depending on what dictionary you look up, I know this because I have counted them while on holiday in Belgium, believe me it’s about the most exciting thing you can do in Belgium. With so many words you would think there is pretty much one for every occasion, right? Well this may come as a shock to some but apparently many people find having to choose from one of the 600,000 or so words in existence is far too restrictive for everyday communication purposes and insist on inventing new words.
Why do people feel the need to add for example “isation” (or “ization” for our American friends) on to the end of a word. There are numerous examples of this almost everywhere you look these days and if I started going into detail we would be here all day, at least I would, there’s probably no one reading this.
The above, although irritating, is somewhat more acceptable than the cut and shunt of the written or spoken word which has given us such gems as “guesstimate”. Now any time I hear anyone use such a word all I can see in neon letters above their head is “Twit” or in some cases “Prat” usually depending on whether or not they are wearing a suit. You either guess if you are not sure of an answer or are lacking the required information to make an estimate or you estimate if the required information is incomplete or you don’t have time to give a calculated precise answer. Why the need to combine the two and talk jibberish? Now I know that modern English has Germanic origins and let’s face it, the Germans are the past masters of running words together when the is a shortage of spaces to go around but at least their word joining doesn’t make up new words on the spot, it’s an accepted part if their grammar.
My personal favourite “word” to hate lately has to be “staycation” which has seen an explosion in use given the current economic climate which has become an excuse for everything these days from the shortage of credit available in the interbank money markets to why bee colonies are dying out in ever increasing numbers across the globe. If there is a problem in the world today, no matter how big or small, it’s probably down to those greedy bankers. But I digress. Would you ever shag off with your “staycations” or as our German friends might say, “Wearetoocheaptogoawayforourholiday” and tell it as it is and stop this bollixisation of the English language please. Ah rats…
P.S. I could thoroughly recommend Belgium if you are too cheap to go anywhere decent on holidays but bring something good to read like a telephone book or something to pass the time.
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