WordUp by Chad Gramling

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George Orwell said it best in “Politics and the English Language” when he stated:

“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language — so the argument runs — must inevitably share in the general collapse.”

Where am I going with this, you ask? Glad you did. Here’s my point.

My wife and I named our daughter Daphne. In doing so, we selected the name because it was not common and not weird. We chose a traditional spelling to make life easier for everyone. Unfortunately, in an age where everyone is spelling their names in different incarnations, the easy way seems to be too difficult.

We have seen her name spelled Dafney, Daphanie, Dafanie, Daphnie, Daffney, Daphinie, Dafni . . . you get the idea. It doesn’t make me all that mad, but it does make me question how stubborn we have become in trying to achieve our own personal identities in life.

So many people have sought ways to differentiate themselves from everyone else that they have mutated common sense spellings all in the sake of being unique. And my wife and I can certainly relate - - in fact, we were not the only Jennifer and Chad who were married in our county on June 9th 2001. I cannot recall many classes in school where there was not at least two Chad’s in class - - and how I dreaded being known as “Chad G.”

In hindsight, I kind of do wish that I would have chosen to go by my middle name of Albert when I was a kid — but I thought that was a dumb name back then. However, I have also realized that it is not a name or the spelling of it that makes a person.

That’s my two cents. Take it for what it’s worth.

P.S. It cannot be “brand new” unless it is a new brand. Otherwise, it’s simply “new.” Learn it. Love it. Live it. Quit mutating common sense language.