O Henry, Where Art Thou?

Maybe it's this weather, or maybe it's just how I've been feeling lately, but I was so struck by something that I felt the need to write it out. I should apologize in advance if I come off sounding pretentious or worse, old, but I really wanted to comment on something while it was fresh in my mind. I'll try, but this will probably not be one of my most humorous posts, however it will hopefully be one of my most passionate.

I was sitting in my car this evening, listening to NPR (as all good wannabe hipster/intellectuals are apt to do) and specifically "All Things Considered", when I heard the deep voice of Robert Siegel describe the next segment as discussing the language and dialects on Twitter. Now, I'm still a bit of a newcomer to NPR, but this right off the bat, annoyed me a bit. I thought, really? Is that so very important right now? Still, I listened and waited, hoping they would maybe do a profile on how Twitter's language varies from country to country or describe the impact these social networking sites and their language have had on how businesses are practiced.

Instead I was stuck, nay, FORCED to hear the distinguished voice of Robert Seigel, utter things like "sutton" and "coo". The final blow occurred when a researcher from Carnegie Mellon answered questions, and explained to Siegel that "sutton" basically meant, "something." It was like a sit down between generations, the younger explaining pop culture to the older. This is really the second time I have felt this way; the first being when Terry Gross spoke to Green Day on "Fresh Air" about their musical based on "American Idiot".

As the researcher began his analysis of Laughing Out Loud, or "L-O-L-ing" I sighed and sadly clicked on my classic rock station. I realized I was annoyed and saddened by two factors- the overall catering to a generation and the seemingly enthusiastic demise of our common language.

As I mentioned I am still new to NPR, but from what I gathered already is that it is a station that encourages artistic and scientific thought. Though the shows are diverse they all share one common thread that unites them; they are all meant to enlighten. They can all teach you something.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe this is where the pretension and age seeps out of me and I come across as a know-nothing know-it-all or just a young old-fart. But I can't help but think there is much more to ourselves than these social fads, no matter how great or ever-present. I don't want to learn about the casual language of pre-teens. I want to know why we are in a war, explained to me in simple terms. I don't care about a band that has all but given up their relevance and social response for a short stint back in the limelight by reusing old songs into a trendy musical. I want to hear NEW things, by people I've never heard of- jazz singers or folk artists, rappers who truly use language as art and not merely as means to obtain frivolities like sex and money. When we become soft in our minds we become soft as as society. We are told to never stop learning, and we never will stop. But the materials we incorporate into our brain stems must be of a greater quality if we are to progress, not just as a generation, but as the holders of the future.

Now onto my second point of this boring lecture- the crushing of our language. As little as I am informed in the history or standards of NPR, I am in the history and standards of our language. However, I can say fully and without fear of retaliation, that I am just as informed as you. And still, I say we must reclaim our language.

Though my stint as an English teacher was brief I can tell that we are doing the generations below us a great disservice if we do not at least make the effort to encourage and teach basic language. Part of it, I know, is due to the people that are surrounding these kids, but it certainly cannot help when we are waving a flag of incompetence and saluting it.

I think about that movie, "My Fair Lady," another musical (ironic on my part, or just lazy? You decide) in which Henry Higgins finally creates a breakthrough for Eliza, reminding her that our common language is the greatest thing we could possess. Beneath the idealistic and corny words themselves, there is great truth in that. Our language is an equalizer, allowing us to come from whatever background we are thrown and find a commonality. I understand the need for casual language, I realize even other languages have both formal and informal usages. However, I fear that we have become too lax in ours, the linguistic equivalent of wearing gym shorts to a black-tie affair.

What will become of us if we care only to get by, put in little but expect much? IDK.