I love words. Ever since I was little, I’ve enjoyed reading and writing them. Newspaper and magazine articles, novels and other books, columns – I love them all. I have a sticker on the back of my car from a fellow local author that says, “Word Nerd.” It’s a perfect description of me. (Thank you, Curtis!)
However, even this Word Nerd apparently can’t keep up with our ever-evolving language. I’ve known since my Journalism and English days at IU that this is a reality. I’ll never forget the first time I realized just how out of touch I was.
I was teaching a workshop on how to show appreciation to funders during the 2013 Grant Professionals Association National Conference. I broke the room up into small groups. Everyone was looking at examples of thank you letters I’d created. Participants were supposed to discuss how to improve each letter.
One eager young man did a great job sharing his group’s top points. But I was taken aback when he said, “And we would change the ending – no one ends a letter anymore with the word, ‘Sincerely’. We would say ‘Warm Regards’ or just ‘Regards’ instead.”
I was flabbergasted.
“Uh … yes … absolutely.” I stammered.
Fast forward to last Saturday. I was enjoying an evening with Our Gang, a group of dear friends I’ve mentioned a time or two in this column. I was telling them about my high school reunion and my attire from that event. When I said that I wore a long sleeveless blouse, my friend Cindy stopped me instantly.
“That’s showing our age,” she said, “The word ‘blouse’ isn’t really used anymore.”
“What, really?” I asked. I knew as the mother of a 13-year-old girl that Cindy was right.
“So, what word should I use?” I asked the group. We finally concluded that saying “top” was more current. But, of course, that will probably change in the next couple of years.
Naturally, being the loving people that they are, the topic kept cropping up for the rest of the evening. And Our Gang member Greg had to text us all Tuesday to say that his family was going shopping that evening for a blouse for his daughter’s interview the next day. With a great big smiley face emoji, of course.
This generated laughter and humorous emojis from the group followed by Cindy texting “Knickers go great with blouses.” Yes, folks, we certainly know how to show love to one another.
Honestly, at this stage in life, I’ve given up on trying to be anywhere near cool (wait, is that still the thing to say?) And with a gazillion words in the English language, and thousands of new ones being created or changed every year, I doubt any of us over 25 can truly keep up.
I’m sure I have used other outdated terms in the past in this very column and will use more in the future. Dear Readers, I ask that you gently guide me now and then. I promise I’ll take it on the chin.