Ms. Picky Wants You to Light Candles

There are some who say that, in a few generations, we will all be speaking Chinese. Others suggest that not only will English  continue to be the native language in many parts of the world, but that it is fast becoming the lingua franca for non-native speakers of English.

For those who go with the latter projection, the task that native speakers of English have before them becomes all the more critical: We must protect the integrity of our words' meanings in order to insure clarity and forthrightness in human communications. The world is already fraught with resentments and disputes for reasons far beyond our control. Let us not also have misunderstandings about language, since those, with some degree of diligence, might be prevented.

Ms. Picky fully understands the necessity for technology neologisms and shorthand in the context of texting and tweeting, and she does not expect her readers to stand on street corners thumbing out "you are" instead of "u r." The niceties of proper grammar and correct usage are for those rare occasions when one's bars disappear and one is forced to have an oral communication (formerly known as a conversation), or to write a document of more than 140 characters and spaces.

The time has come to refrain from merely cursing the darkness. We must light candles, and light them quickly. We must guard against our own personal lapses. We must edit documents circulating in the workplace. We must write letters to editors of newspapers. Finally, we must correct our children's grammar and entrust them with passing the torch on to the next generation.

Ms. Picky, being of a somewhat peevish nature, has already compiled a long list of subjects for her posts, but she is aware that, if you have read this far, you care enough about language to have your own peeves, and she welcomes hearing from you.