Assorted distortion

The English language is used very differently in the globalised world. Most people communicate using a very restricted vocabulary, pertaining to their area of work. It seems so automated that, in most cases, the opening word is enough for the listener to complete the sentence.

The language of corporates has its foundation resting on abbreviations. Every company has a large proportion of exclusive abbreviations, and a few common ones. The sensational tone and the words used are much the same across the all television news channels. Not to forget, the weather reporting in particular, which has remained the same from the start!

The print media is catching up quickly in presenting news in the form of provocative stories. Cricket commentary is a list of adjectives, with a few technical terms at times. Movies and television serials are a dreadful combination of glamour and violence.

And there is the youth, which takes pride in speaking American English. This is no surprise, since our grasping of the langauge is only based on what we get to hear all the time. There are still others, who want to refrain from using the foreign language. That would mean, being closed to the affairs of the world.

From the little that I have observed, I find that American English does not abide by the basic rules of grammar. It has coined a lot of nouns, which are slangs, not listed in the dictionary. It shortens long words. ‘Comfortable’ becomes ‘comfy’, ‘information’ becomes ‘info’. It misplaces verbs completely. ‘Goes’ means ‘says’, ‘shoot’ means ‘send’. There are so many crude words which disturb you. It is devoid of emotion. Yet, it is considered to be stylish.

At the end of the day, the communication of thoughts has not taken place. What has happened perhaps, is only distortion. To whom are we speaking? Is it just to prove ourselves and confuse the listener?

A little bit of thinking on the choice of words, would surely go a long way in our understanding of each other better.