When someone mispronounces a word it drives me absolutely batty. No matter how easy, or complex. I figure, if you don’t know how to pronounce it, you ought not be using it. For example, I’ve been listening to Erwin’s podcast of a couple of weeks ago. He constantly uses the word "optimalize." I’ve noticed people do this a lot: add "-ize" or "-ed" or to shift a word from noun or adjective to verb. For example,the past tense of to orient is changed to "orientated", which is not a word. —Are you listening people, it’s not a word! :::ahem:: :::cough::: :::straightening out my shirt::: — The word you are looking for is oriented. Hence, the sentence would be "He oriented himself to his surroundings." NOT "He orientated himself…"

Grrrrr!!!

Okay, back to Erwin. The word he was trying to convey was optimize. I knew that. I understand that English is not his first language, having been born in El Salvador and not arriving in the US until he was… 10, I think….?? I was willing to overlook it. Once. Maybe even twice. But he continued using the word throughout his 44 minute podcast. AAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! Drove me nuts!

I love Erwin. I love hearing him speak. I miss sitting through his talks two or three times a Sunday (once or twice while running sound, a third just for the heck of it). But, come on. He’s got a Master’s, for goodness sake. His wife has a Master’s. And she’s a teacher. If nothing else, she should have been able to correct his bad English. But, alas, it persists.

Don’t get me wrong. I still managed to get a great deal out of his message. But not without a lot of gnashing of teeth and constantly correcting him — as if he could hear me all the way out here in Nashville…. sheesh.

One of my best friends often calls me a walking Thesaurus. She always calls or emails me when she needs a big word to more powerfully convey the meaning behind her thoughts. I can always give her at least one or two off the top of my head, more if I’ve got a computer nearby. God knows (!!) how much I love my Thesaurus. I admit it, I’m a word-snob. I love words. I love how they sound (when they are pronounced correctly — one of my friends once pronounced the word cacophony as "kakuh phoney"…. "because that’s the way it’s spelled" — aeeyah! — but I digress).

But its not just that I love words. I respect them. They have power to convey deep meaning, to conjure images only the mind can see or create. They have the power to heal wounds and mend hearts, and the power to destroy kingdoms and kill the soul.

I don’t think people have the proper respect for words; for our language. If they did I think their pronunciation and usage of words would be far superior to what it is now.

Now, grammar and spelling… well, that’s a different story. One we will not get into. I’ll I will say is, I looooove me my spell-checker!