Et Tu, Oxford English Dictionary?

Last April, I had the opportunity to visit with a few of my favorite former students. I'm afraid a serial killer was born that day, friends, because I noticed a language trend that made me feel positively murderous: the unabashed misuse of the word literally. These young women had literally crapped their pants, literally guzzled an entire bottle of vodka in one sitting, and literally died laughing among other literal events. When I returned to work the following Monday, I tuned in to the casual conversations of the students and found that the misuse was rampant! My only solace was that I could correct the linguistic lawbreakers with my standard "Is that how literally is defined in the dictionary? Go look it up!" Imagine my distress when I learned that my beloved Oxford English Dictionary had altered the definition to include the colloquial usage.

Television Does NOT Rot Your Brain?

I watch an absurd amount of television.  During the school year (which happens to coincide with the traditional "TV season"), I am far too brain-wasted to force my mind to create images while reading.  It's not that I don't enjoy reading.  I love it, in fact.  It's just that, after performing in front of one hundred and seventy-five teenagers all day, it is easier to sit back and enjoy a suspense-filled, explicative-laden, character-driven serial.  As an English teacher, I have always felt a bit guilty about my shameful habit.  Shouldn't I model the behavior that I expect from my students and devour novels like Tony Soprano devours ice cream?  When the Writers Guild of America published its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series, however, my guilt was assuaged. 

Truth

I must confess...

Image courtesy of gettheetoaneditor.com

GUILTY!