Language Lessons with Miss Mandy

Every day, I become more and more aware that we “Good Grammar is Hot” people have failed an entire generation. The youth of America, folks, they can’t/don’t talk good. Or write good. Or know that that good isn’t the right word in those last two phrases. That said, I feel a new series of posts coming to this blog. So welcome to your first lesson in the language, boys and girls. Here we go!

1. Make sure that word really means what you think it does. So you want to sound smart or whatever and decide to pull out a big word. But sometimes, dears, what you think you’re saying isn’t exactly what you said. Case and point: the word nauseous. Who hasn’t said the phrase I’m nauseous? We all have. And we’ve all just described ourselves as causing others to feel sick, as being nausea-inducing. If you say, I’m nauseous, you’ve basically said you possess that quality. You’re describing yourself. This would be true, say if you were so annoying that your presence caused others stomach pain. Or you were BO guy. If your personality or personal hygiene (or lack of it) cause others to feel sick, then you are nauseous. Because you cause nausea.

If you just want to say that you feel sick, go with the simple I feel sick, my stomach hurts, or dude, I’m gonna hurl. (Wayne, if you hurl, then I’ll catch a whiff of it and blow chunks. . . ) If you feel you must use any form of the word nauseous, go with I feel nauseated. Don’t even get me started on the word impact!

(Short story: you can have an impact on someone or something, but you don’t impact them unless you’re colliding into them, like meteors hitting the earth. Or cars in a pile-up. Please stop using impact as a verb!)

Next time: be prepared to discuss when to use I and when me is appropriate. Which is more often than most of you think.