Yeah, I'm gonna change some habits this year

"Anybody who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist."

-Stephen Colbert-

"The Colbert Report"

Bad habits come in all shapes and sizes.

There are the big bugaboos such as smoking or drinking & eating too much. Sadly, that includes mac&cheese and chocolate pie. There are second tier bad habits, such as procrastination or too much television that can also have a negative influence on our lives. Even sadder, that includes "The Good Wife," "30 Rock" and "Colbert Report."

But wait! There's more! How about bad language habits? And I don't mean dropping f-bombs or other Nixonian expletives. Late last year, I suddenly realized how many times I started a sentence with an unnecessary "yes" or "yeah." It made me cringe. My husband swore he hadn't heard my dreaded sentence "starters." Was I imagining it? I think not.

There are other bad (lazy?) language habits. While on a trip with my sister and cousins, we all started laughing about the overuse of great. Great dinner. Great scenery. Great book. Stop!!

I am in favor of expanding my vocabulary and never using great again. Will a better vocabulary automatically mean I'll sound stuffy or pretentious? What if I use galumptious to describe dinner? Or say a book was mirific? Instead, I'll start small and use superior, peerless or transcendent.

As for my habit of starting sentences with an unnecessary yes or yeah - I'm working on it.


Yeah.


 

Books that can help us conquer bad language habits

Webster's New World Thesaurus - An easy-to-use edition. Includes a section on synonyms that "are not always interchangeable." This is helpful when wrestling with continual or continuous; perseverance or persistence.

The Thinker's Thesaurus - Meltzer, Peter. Without this tome, I wouldn't be able to call someone a mooncalf or describe a novel's plot as blandiose. Just in case a reader questions his "truthiness"*, Meltzer often gives examples of where some of the more far out words can be found, such as The New York Times' use of illaqueable in 1996, which is an obsolete word that simply means ensnared.

Bryson's Dictionary for Writers & Editors - Bryson, Bill. Instead of saying a "troubled teenager," call him/her an enfant terrible. Bryson gives an easy-to-remember lesson on irony versus sarcasm. And, did you know that just deserts has only one s? That is because it has nothing to do with dessert. According to Bryson, instead it springs from the French for "deserve."

The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate - Ehrlich, Eugene. Don't be put off by the grandiose title. The book is both handy and fun. Do you get confused between affect and effect? Or discreet and discrete? Ehrlich will help with everyday language as well as the occasional "wow" factor of a word such as obviate (verb) - make unnecessary or to neutralize; or canard (noun) false report or hoax.


Choose the Right Word - Hayakawa, S.I. Offers even more synonyms to the dreaded great. Instead, try using notable or eminent. And if you like to nitpick exact word definitions, this book is perfect...consummate, flawless, ideal.



Stay tuned - grammar books will be reviewed soon. And no, it won't be painful.


*Used by Stephen Colbert in 2005. Truthiness was declared "Word of the Year 2006" by Merriam-Webster Dictionary.