The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 5)

The "gate" suffix; We haven't heard this offender in a little while (Enrongate was especially galling) but it is only a matter of time in an election year before we have Iraq-gate, Halliburton-gate, or your-name-here-gate. What if the famous hotel/apartment complex had merely been known as 2600 Virginia Ave?

p>Irregardless; Overuse of a term does not make it correct, people! My wife has made it clear she no longer wishes to be the recipient of my verbal broadsides in defense of the English language, so I am forced to hold my tongue. At least I know I'm not the only one. br> -- Joel D br> Grand Rapids, Michigan /p>

I would like to contribute another item to Reid Collins' litany of the erosion of English: the apparently irreversible use of "everyday" when basic grammar and common sense both call for "every day." The one-word form has an honorable and proper purpose as an adjective meaning "common" or "ordinary," but it is clearly misplaced when the time phrase meaning "daily" is meant. Thanks to the ad agencies of America for this one...

p>But let's not let the barbarians advance much further (or is it farther?)! br> -- Dave Williams /p> p> In regards to Ms. Evelyn Leinbach regrets over creating a monster by teaching her husband that "loan" is a noun. There is no need for her husband to yell at the television anymore; unfortunately there never was. I regret to inform her that it is both a noun and verb. M-w.com has an interesting account of the development of its use and asserts, "Although a surprising number of critics still voice objections, loan is entirely standard as a verb." br> -- Tom Reynolds br> Wharton, New Jersey

topics:
Education, Television, Abortion, Law, Iraq, North Korea