No Problem!
I know that language is an evolving entity. A refusal to acknowledge changes in usage and meaning labels you as old-fashioned, an aged codger or, worse, a geezer! So be it. I’ve seen changes I can live with and some I rile against, some that sound silly and others that sound stupid. To my ears, many of the new (often ungrammatical) errors serve to
make the speaker appear ignorant. Not to seem overly critical, here are just two:
When I recognize a person for doing something for me, I usually comment by saying a simple “Thank you.” I expect “You’re welcome.” When did it become “No problem?” I don’t need to know that the person carried off the favor with such ease that it was hardly worth noting; in fact, isn’t it better for me to go on thinking that his act of kindness was achieved with a great deal of difficulty or effort? “No problem,” or “Not a problem” diminishes his act; one would think it to be to his benefit to have it appear as though there was some level of complexity in performing it, hence gaining my even greater appreciation!
Are we having fun yet? Did you have a fun day? Is this a fun blog? Do we know the difference between a noun and an adjective? There was a time when the word fun was only a noun, as in the sentence: I had so much fun at the wet t-shirt contest! Then people began using it as an adjective, as in: This is a fun party! Regrettably, I note that my Merriam Webster online dictionary not only legitimizes its use as an adjective, but also continues the farce by also justifying the comparative forms funner and funnest! Pulllllease! What are we doing here? Argggh!
I suppose I should just let go of the archaic and embrace the latest changes to our language. That would be the effortless thing to do. After all, who’s gonna notice if I change a part of speech? A definition? An idiom? Add an apostrophe? Create a new spelling? Eliminate a phrase? Invent a new one? “Go with the flow,” I say to myself. And what does Myself answer? “No problem!”
