Jeremiah's Complaints

This blog tracks my problems with the way the universe is run.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The President's English

I just went to the restroom at work and they have a sign up next to the sink and it has a picture of hands and soap. I glanced at at it briefly and thought that it read "Is Your Hands Healthy?" I looked back and it said something else like "Your Health Is in Your Hands." But "Is Your Hands Healthy?" reminded me of the way President Bush speaks. And then I thought about how in days of old the language of a country was dictated by the ruler, hence the phrase "the King's English." The ruler had the power to change vocabulary, grammar, and anything else associated with the words his people spoke. And then I thought, what iF that were true today? For instance in Spain there was a king who spoke with a lisp. After him, Spanish spoken in Spain was spoken with all the "s" sounds replaced with a "th" sound. I believe it's called "Castillian" (correct me if I'm wrong, Internet). And then I thought what if that mode of language was used today and President Bush dictated how English was spoken. What is we had to use the word "is" used with plurals? What if? Wouldn't that be crazy. The man is not gifted with words, our language would be in shambles. Now, if Kerry were elected (or if electronic voting machines weren't used--take your pick) we'd all have to take like an 8 week seminar in proper English. That'd be a chore and a half.

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