Marisa Barbera
Mrs. Rosenwasser
AP English
3/13/12
A Critique of the Use of Language
For many, language represents a unifying force between people. For instance, a man and a woman are sitting on a bus in Barcelona; complete and total strangers just sitting. The man is a college graduate from Argentina, the women a local school teacher. They have absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that they both speak Spanish. The man and woman ultimately strike up a conversation about the current political scandal and before they know it, they find themselves walking down an aisle ready to say “I do.” Language is what allowed these people to go from mere strangers to husband and wife. Language is what brings people together. From sharing a secret with a kindred spirit to sitting around the table saying grace, language is what allows individuals to relate with others, without which we would all be running around as mutes. The English language today has been degraded. Although the introduction of new words on one hand serves to expand our constantly growing language, has on the other hand disastrous effects that digress a language history has worked so hard to beautify. Today I walk down the hallways during school and hear sentences like, “I’m dumb hungry” and “Yo I was so tight!” Loosely translated “I’m dumb hungry” could have a variety of meanings but the most commonly understood would be somewhere along the lines of “I’m very hungry.” Loosely translated, the sentence “Yo I was so tight” carries the meaning of being furious. Today, instead of using words that amplify the true meaning of the sentence, people insert words that do not testify to the true beauty of English.
Progression in the way people communicate is then put back years when one fails to take the time to use the right words to explain how he or she is feeling. Through language