Thank you, Mrs. Hutson

In the 8th grade, I had a wonderful English teacher.  I never was a big fan of English up until that point.  But she made it fun.  She made it interesting.  And she made me realize that I was pretty good at it.


She taught us some things that I still remember to this day.  One of the things she was a stickler about was words that aren't really words.  That stuck with me.  Her pet peeve became one of my pet peeves.  So I'm going to run through some words that aren't really words.  (Note:  If you have used these words while talking to me, I noticed.)


1. Ginormous
This is not a word.  I use this word all the time, especially when referencing our sweet baby.  In my defense, this word is used for emphasis.  I know it's incorrect, but it adds emphasis.  It's used as hyperbole as Stuart Scott intended it to be.  (Stuart Scott - ESPN Sportscenter anchor credited with creation of this word... at least in my opinion)


2. Ya'll, m'aam, alot
These are not words.  When you make a contraction, you place an apostrophe where you removed letters.  You all becomes y'all.  Madam becomes ma'am.  Alot is just simply not a word.  It is two words - a lot (as in "a large amount").  I'll never forget the day Mrs. Hutson got on her soapbox about "alot."  Let's just say it stuck with me.


3. Funner or Funnest
These are not words.  You will never catch me using these words.  The correct form of these words are more fun and most fun.  Please do not use these words around me or you will make my head explode.  Yes, there was also a soapbox about these words.


4. Normalcy
Oh holy crap this is not a word!!  In 1920, Warren G. Harding used the word normalcy in a speech on the campaign trail.  After the disruption of the World War, Harding said on the campaign trail, it was time to get back to normal: "America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration." He repeated the word in his inaugural address the next year: "Our supreme task is the resumption of our onward, normal way.... We must strive to normalcy to reach stability."


Normalcy was popular with the voters. But since it was a newly prominent word uttered by a politician, reactions to normalcy were mixed. Language purists sneered that Harding's word was a mistake for normality. They explained that -ity is the usual suffix for words like normal, while -cy is only attached to words that end in t, as in democracy from democrat.



You can't turn on the television today after some sort of disaster without reporters using the word over and over and over again.  And that's when my brain starts to ooze out of my ears.