Some Antics

Short entry today... hopefully some of you readers will plump it up with some comments...

I love language. I love words. As a graduation award, the English teachers at my high school named me an honorary member of the English Department. I love that, once upon a time, words had true power, true meaning.

I like to think they still do.

This leads me to sometimes drive others crazy. The way statements are worded--particularly policy-type statements-- is something I will fight tooth-and-nail about. In a non-educational example (kind of), regardless of your political views, no one can convince me that George W. Bush didn't know the implications when he declared, "This crusade, this war on terrorism is gonna take awhile." The word crusade has an awful lot of resonance in the Middle East. A graduate of Philips Andover and Yale didn't know that? Poppycock.

In education, we are awash in buzzwords. There are plenty of websites out there with lists and lists of them, so I won't bore you with another one (although the Illinois Loop one is pretty funny...). Some of these buzzwords do have meaning, but some are just... well...

poppycock.