Popular Misconceptions

I considered calling this article “My Pet Peeves” or “Fed Up” but opted for something less petty-sounding. Everyone has them – things other people say that causes them to bristle a bit. Being a polite society (at least we used to be), we mostly just bite our tongues and try to shift the gears in our mind to some other subject. So this is my time to get a few things off my chest.  (I just realized that I’ve used four clichés in one short paragraph. If clichés are your pet peeve, I’m sorry.) So here goes - my dirty dozen - in no particular order.

Cabinetry – If you watch HGTV or DIY for more than 30 seconds, you’ll hear this word, perhaps more than once. It is now commonly used, or misused, to describe multiple cabinets. The word “cabinetry” means the art of cabinet making. There is a perfectly good word for the product of cabinet making and it is “cabinet”. Two or more are properly referred to as “cabinets”. Carpenters practice the art of carpentry and cabinet makers practice the art of cabinetry. They don’t make cabinetry. But saying “The cabinetry in this kitchen is so elegant” just sounds so much more intelligent, don’t you think? My mother would have called it uppity. Why use the wrong word, which by the way has four syllables, instead of the correct word which has only three?

Uppity – I intentionally used this word in the last sentence to make a point about another of my pet peeves. Words are constantly being added to dictionaries. You’ll find “uppity” in Merriam Webster. It wasn’t always there. Dictionary publishers are wimps. If a word is used in popular culture enough long enough, they’ll add it to their volumes. They’ll make up a meaning that seems to describe what people mean when they use the word. It matters not that there is already a perfectly-good word that means the same thing. Or they’ll add a new definition that gives two possible meanings to the same word. I expect cabinetry to have a new definition soon which includes “the work product of cabinetry.” That’s called a circular definition. (As an unrelated but interesting observation, “uppity” has racial overtones from the old south.)

Fitment – Another example of the misuse of a perfectly good word is using “fitment” as a noun in place of “fit.” Since automobiles have been an interest and hobby most of my life, I watch some Saturday morning car shows. This is where I usually hear “fitment” – and also in car magazines. “It’s very important that we get the fitment right on this transmission cross member.” “Fitment” is a proper word. It means “a piece of furniture or equipment made especially for a particular room or space”, e.g. kitchen/bathroom fitments. It doesn’t mean how well a particular component fits its intended location. A common phrase in the production quality circles is “fit and finish”. It isn’t “fitment and finishment” for a good reason.  “It’s very important that we get the fit right on this transmission cross member” would be correct - and save a syllable.

Install – “Let’s get busy and do the install.” Install is a verb. As used in the example, it is being incorrectly used as a noun. “Installation” is the correct word. This error pervades many industries. It is especially common to see “program install” listed in the menu of production PC software installation program dialogs rather than “program installation.”  I think this error came about from laziness – why type “installation” when it’s quicker to type “install”?

Sugar – “Sugar is bad for you!” No it isn’t - at least there is no definitive proof. For every study that shows potentially-harmful effects of sugar, I can produce another that shows the opposite - or at least that cites study evidence that sugar causes no harm. The data are simply inconclusive. Health blogs happily use the common cliché: “sugar is just empty calories.” No, sugar is a naturally-occurring, pure carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are an essential part of a balanced diet, and in fact dietary carbohydrate intake is necessary to prevent symptomatic ketosis. Don’t even get me started about the relative merits of the various forms of sugar. Is too much sugar bad for you? Maybe. But too much of anything can be bad for you. Water is toxic in sufficient quantities. Moderation in all things is appropriate here. Until maximum recommended daily values for carbohydrate intake are established, I’m going to continue enjoying my Brock’s Milk Maids.

Undocumented immigrants – People criticize me for using the term “Illegal aliens “to describe those not from here and who are in our country illegally. “You shouldn’t use that term. Saying they are aliens sounds like they are from outer space.” Researching the situation, I found a current U.S. State Department document, entitled: “Ineligibilities and Waivers: Laws.” It describes all the many ways one might be an illegal alien. The word “alien” appears no less than 64 times, mostly from quotes from the Immigration and Nationality Act. I am so fed up with all the political correctness, and even more so of criticism of proper terminology.

Immortality – In a currently-running AARP Medicare supplement insurance commercial, a woman proudly proclaims: “I’m only in my 60s. I’ve got a nice, long life ahead.” If there is anything God has taught me in allowing me to live beyond 60, it is that in the next second, I may breathe my last breath. To assume otherwise is foolish. My little sister, who is worshipping at the feet of Jesus is an example. We all have them. Be thankful for this day.

Run the country – This phrase is being increasingly-used in conjunction with the office of the President of the United States. The press is the biggest offender. “The president runs the country.” Nothing in the Constitution comes remotely close to ceding such responsibilities to the president. In fact, the opposite is true. The roles of the President associated with the responsibilities of the Executive Branch are enumerated and limited. They are basically to enforce Federal law, approve legislation, make treaties with foreign powers, nominate ambassadors, and protect the country from enemies foreign and domestic - and not too much else. In fact, the Executive Branch has far less power than the Judicial and even less than the Legislative. I suppose that people have erroneously made an association between a Chief Executive Officer of a company and the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. A CEO in fact does run a company, but it cannot be extended to stating that a federal U. S. president runs the country. The country runs itself. Notwithstanding Ronald Reagan and other humble men who have served in the capacity, some of our presidents have egos as large as oceans and don’t respect the Constitution. The current outgoing and incoming are good examples. We private citizens don’t need to stoke their egos by asserting that they run the country.

Middle class – This one drives me absolutely bonkers. We were intended to be a society without regard to class. Our establishment document declares the proposition “that all men are created equal”. The Bill of Rights guarantees our natural, God-given freedoms with no respect for one person or class over another. Defining classes is for no purpose other than to treat members of the class separately and with distinction. Why do we tolerate such foul language as “We need to (fill in the blank) the middle class?”

Hate – Or rather hate speech. Our society, culture and government have gone off the rails – in many ways. But this one really seems silly and perhaps ominous. When did we start thinking that the motivation of a criminal increases the severity of the crime? And further, how can we know, and codify what’s in the mind of the criminal? Does the fact that a murderer hates the entire class to which their victim belongs make the poor victim deader? And doesn’t the legal requirement to prove hatred in the heart of the perpetrator elongate murder trials and increase the cost to society? If hatred makes a resulting crime worse, isn’t the next logical step to criminalize hatred? Let’s just keep it simple (and reasonable), and prosecute actual crime.

Love – “I just loooove your new home!!” No you don’t. My dad on more than one occasion told us kids “We love God and people. We don’t love things, because things can’t love us back.” Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. It is the only word in the English language to describe our greatest gift from God. The love we have for each other came from God and we just pass it on. Popular culture has misappropriated and perverted the word “love” to refer to the basest of feelings, which is admiration for a thing or things. By using “love” to describe our feelings for our car, our home, and even our kitchen cabinets, we have no word left to uniquely describe our most valuable relationship with, and gift from, God. This is perhaps a symptom of the new secularism that is sadly sweeping over the world.

“You deserve it” – Ambulance-chasing attorneys proclaim “I fix problems. I’ll get you the money you deserve”. They say things like “You deserve justice, and we demand it.” Our society is fixated on what we deserve. Truth be told, the only thing any of us deserve is death and eternal separation from God. Anything less is living in grace. It is only because of what Jesus did on the cross for us that we don’t get what we deserve. Perhaps no other example Jesus set in his incarnation was more important than his servant heart. To adopt his humility would serve society well.

I feel soooo much better now. Thanks for listening.