New year needs a new slogan
By Staff
Scot Beard
This is only the second full week in 2009 and I am noticing a trend that is beginning to get on my nerves – people saying, "Everything's going to be fine in '09."
Sorry, but I am not a fan of people going around rhyming their optimistic outlooks on life.
Please do not misunderstand me; I am not faulting people for having a positive attitude.
Actually, the world would probably be a much better place if more people cheered up a little bit.
What I have a problem with is the rhyming, which should be reserved for song lyrics and poetry.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson once said, "If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it."
That is a wonderful statement about people's ability to make their dreams come true if they want to reach those dreams bad enough.
Yes, the old "You can do anything you put your mind to" has become clich/ and Jackson was trying to breath new life into the saying, but I can't help but think the rhyming cheapened it a little.
Rhyming does have good uses when used in moderation.
Because it is seldom used – probably because it sounds stupid to rhyme everything you say – rhyming is an effective tool to grab someone's attention.
That is why it is occasionally used in newspaper headlines.
When you have limited space to attract a reader, you have to do your best to draw their interest to the story.
More often than not, however, rhyming is used inappropriately.
The absolute worst is when people feel the need to rhyme multi-syllable words in an effort to sound educated when saying something simple would work much better.
My frustration comes from their articulation in which the compilation of their communication suffers from the saturation of big words, leading to discombobulation and aggravation. For that there is no justification.
See what I mean?
So please quit saying, "Everything's going to be fine in '09."
Say, "This will be a good year," or "2008 was so bad there is nowhere to go but up."
These phrases are still upbeat and positive.
Best of all, you don't sound silly or arrogant.
