Language Fail

I'm currently reading a book called "Grumbles From the Grave" by Robert A Heinlein. He's a science fiction author probably best know for "Stranger in a Strange Land." This book is a bunch of his correspondence with his publishers and agent and others. This is when people wrote letters longer than "LOL"...

In one of the letters he comments to a publisher that his vocabulary is probably 300,000 words. I find that number astounding, impressive and somewhat sad. Sad because the number of words in people's vocabulary is ever decreasing.

I read a lot. I read a lot of obscure science fiction/fantasy and know words like "erebus" (I'd say look it up, but it's not in most dictionaries. It means darkness. Really dark, primordial darkness. For example: "Conan walked through the erebus darkness of the tunnel, sword at the ready in his right hand." Thank you Robert E. Howard.). But in the world today there are fewer people reading, fewer words being used by those writing, and things are being lost... This is bound to happen in a world of texts and shortening words to fit into 140 character tweets.

I work with riggers. In a previous blog I mentioned how every other word out of some of their mouths is "fuck." I love the word FUCK; I say it quite often and liberally, usually while driving. But when people use it so often in place of other words they forget how to talk like educated people. Erudition should not be lost, but I think it's getting lost and there will eventually be a big price to pay when the dumbed down masses take over the world. (Sarah Palin for President!)

I find it annoying when people are proud of their ignorance. "Fuck yeah! That's the way common Americans talk!" Common is not good. Common is WalMart. Common didn't get us to the moon. And common will never get us back to the moon or beyond.

So I guess I'm saying pick up a book, and "Soar beyond the common bound." (Sorry, Mercutio, my old friend.)