Say What?

It is with some boldness—and mild trepidation–that I attempt to deal with some of the errors in speech and writing with which I have been regaled during my several years as an educator, trainer, and concerned member of society. I do this primarily for selfish reasons; the main one being to lessen my intense discomfort every time I hear or see the language “slaughtered”. But I am also doing this for the love of the people in our society—young and not-so-young—who genuinely want to improve their oral and written communication skills regardless of the pressures they may endure from their peers and others to be like everyone else. In everyone, I see such promise, a hope for better things to come, a glimpse of what I call that elusive lexical utopia. Many of the wonderful, young minds in our midst do not yet realize how important it is to cultivate these skills. They are unaware of the extent to which such skills can and will contribute to their marketability in an increasingly difficult job market. They are unaware that the possession of good communication skills plays a large part in their selection to the prestigious colleges on which their hearts are set. They need to know, before it is too late, that the ability to speak well and write well will put them over and above other contenders every time in their chosen pursuits This is not an attempt to deal with accents or dialects; but rather an attempt to help you who feel the need to use the language more efficiently. You will avoid the use of words that do not exist—even though you hear them in the most surprising places; you will use some simple rules to construct your sentences, and you will treat with impunity the widespread misuse of punctuation. Anyone, regardless of age or station, who recognizes a personal need for improvement in these areas and is willing to fulfill that need, I extend a warm welcome to my book, Say What?