By Cheryl Mattox Berry
During Sunday worship service, visitors were asked to stand. The young woman who welcomed them said, “We want to thank you guys for coming…” I don’t know what she said after that because my mind was stuck on the words “you guys.”
Then, a woman sitting in the pew behind me said, “You guys? That’s not the right thing to say.”
Amen, sister!
So, it wasn’t just me who was offended by use of slang in a conservative setting filled with multi-generational church folk. When I told my 25-year-old daughter, Jasmine, she wanted to know what was wrong with saying “you guys,” and what should the greeter have said. The words “everyone,” “all of you” and “you” would have sufficed, I replied.
That led to a broader discussion of how slang has crept into the workplace. Once upon a time, slang was reserved for friends, and proper English was expected on the job. Today, we hear “no worries, like, literally, you know, my bad, um, uh and so” (the first word in response to a question) at staff meetings and during PowerPoint presentations.
Some older people might think it makes them look cool to use these words. However, the only thing it does is make you look like an old person trying to act young, and that’s not cool. Set an example. Don’t dumb down.
I’m worried that we’ll end up with a generation of young people who don’t know how to use words properly. It’s bad enough that many millennials can’t spell, think fragments are complete sentences and respond to just about everything in 140 characters. At this rate, I see a future where people are communicating in monosyllables or those ubiquitous emojis.
Now that my daughter is aware of her bad speech habits, she’s making a conscious effort to eliminate slang and overused words. I’ve issued a challenge to her this week in words that she can understand – money, money, money – to clean up her vocabulary. Each time, she replaces one of the words above, I’ll give her $5.
I’ve assured her that speaking well won’t make her look old or sound stuffy. Instead, she’ll come across as a polished, professional young woman.
Well said. A former supervisor once said to me “since you come at me like that” when I questioned his justification for a student grade change. I was so taken back by his response in a professional setting, it left me speechless.