A Visit from the Language Police

As much as we don't want to be defined by our age, there is such a thing as age appropriate.  Time to leave the overdone pink behind, the short-short skirts, the bare midriff.  Definitely time to donate the go-go boots to Goodwill -- if they'll even have them.

I also think some words are age appropriate.  Dude, for example, should be deleted from your vocabulary early in life.  Leave the dude to Bart Simpson who is, as you know, in elementary school and a cartoon character.

Awesome is another word that sounds marginally pathetic when used by those of us of a certain age. First of all, the word has lost its meaning.  The pizza was awesome.  Correction -- the pizza was, perhaps delicious or yummy but hardly awesome.  The party was awesome.  Correction -- the party was a blast, really fun, just great but hardly awesome.  The Grand Canyon was awesome -- now there you go. 

As a self-deputized member of the language police, I advise choosing your words carefully. A tweet or Facebook entry can go viral and your poor choice of words can haunt you forever.   Ask any politician -- the masters of back-pedaling after being quoted "out of context".   The number of times these dudes are misquoted is awesome.