ROTHENBURGER: Let’s stand up and say what we mean, not just sort of

You can likely tell from the mention of Maxime Bernier and Elections Canada that they’re from an interview last fall leading up to the federal election. I just had to write them down but reading them now I have no idea what the subject of the interview was.

I’ve never met the fellow who uttered those words but I wouldn’t be surprised if he went to journalism school. Apparently, though, he was never taught how to ask questions in English so has developed his own language. Or, it might be Klingon, I’m not sure.

I haven’t been able to listen to his program since my grammatical synapses experienced a meltdown after listening to the above example.

We all have our imperfections when it comes to using our language but I constantly find myself counting how many times someone says “sort of” or — it’s first cousin, “kind of” — in the course of a conversation.

We slaughter our written language with spelling and grammatical insults but, when we speak, we heap upon it even more extraordinary indignities. Nobody would ever write a sentence like the one I’ve quoted, so why do we accept that kind of babble in speech?

The offending originator forgot one half of the art of interviewing. Part one is knowing what you want to ask, and asking it in an understandable manner. Part two is the answer, which is highly dependent on the skill with which the question is put.

If you’re not careful, you might get a reply something like this: “I think it’ll depend on what, you know, environmental groups, what type of, sort of get out the vote campaigns and, you know, issue-awareness campaigns that they come up with during the election.”

Sadly, that was the actual response to the question. We now have a generation of grown-ups who sprinkle their verbal discourse with “sort of,” “kind of,” “literally, “you know” and “like.” I heard another fellow, who was once an excellent reporter, ask a guest this past week to “sort of explain” something.

How do you sort of explain something? Either you explain it or you don’t.

Someone must be to blame, and I think I know who.

Kids aren’t allowed to swear up a storm at home, are they? Parents are careful, for example, not to employ the “F” word in front of their children because they don’t want the little darlings to think it’s just part of the way we should speak, and start using it themselves.

Why should it be different with atrocities such as “sort of”? When parents allow degradation of the language at the supper table, are they not guilty? Should they not be held to account?

Schools, of course, can’t escape responsibility, either. Just think what a difference it would make if students were made to speak proper English in class. Sure, they’d no doubt revert to their own special dialect out at the smoking pit, but that’s okay — we’ve devised a system for when and where we can utter expletives, so schools need be no different when it comes to pointless words and phrases.

Thirdly, I accuse our journalism schools. If we’re going to teach people how to make a living by asking questions, and if J-schools are going to charge good money for the opportunity, surely we could include a class or two on stupid, useless words.

If journalists began speaking English, maybe others would, too.

Here’s a challenge: write down a sentence spoken by anyone under 40. You can do this by turning on CBC, Fox News, or just about any other news-and-entertainment medium. Now, remove all the “sort of” references. Then, read it again. I wager you will find it more sense devoid of “sort of” and those other junk words.

“Sort of” began as a way to express lack of confidence in knowing what you’re talking about, an inability to articulate the most basic thought. These filler words are a way of saying, “Like, I’m really not sure if I mean what I’m saying, and don’t really know much about the subject but I’m talking about it anyway.”

But “sort of” has transcended its original purpose of reflecting uncertainty, and now permeates the language for no reason whatsoever short of taking up space between thoughts and attempted thoughts.

It’s time to take back our language and make statements we believe in. We wouldn’t stand for it if City council bragged about “sort of bold leadership” or if the Society for a Performing Arts Centre urged us to “sort of get out and vote.”

Therefore, let’s banish junk words from everyday conversation as well. I expect some will take offence and will pore over this column looking for grammatical and punctuation errors and inconsistencies so they can exclaim, “Aha, you’re no better than the rest of us!”

No, and I’m probably guilty more than occasionally of the very things I preach against, but I try.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Let’s stand up and say what we mean, not just sort of

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