Forgotten English - Assishness and The Feast of the Ass

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I love words and I'm "crazy for calendars." Most of my writer friends are too.

One of my New Year's gifts to myself was a new calendar: "Forgotten English," by Jeffrey Kracirk. My nifty new book of days is a "365-day calendar of vanishing vocabulary and forklore for 2011." If you click on the link on the left you'll find out it's available on Amazon--and half price at that.

The word for January 14 is "assishness: asinine quality; stupidity; blockishness."

Today is also "The Feast of the Ass, anciently celebrated in the French town of Beauvis every year on the 14th of January to commemorate the flight of the Virgin into Egypt with the Infant Jesus. . . Parts of the service were terminated by imitation of the braying of an ass and hymns were sung in praise of the Ass." Who knew?

A few other gems for this month:

"scurryfunge"- A hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbor and the time she knocks on the door.

"gone to Texas" - An American expression for one who has decamped, leaving debts behind. It was not unusual for a man to display this notice "G.T.T." on his door after he had absconded.

"married all o'er" - Said of women who after their marriage become miserable looking.

So, don't be "married all o'er" when "assishness" neighbors come calling unexpectedly. Instead of "scurryfunging," around, just put up a note: "G.T.T. Gone to Texas" and maybe your caller will go away and celebrate the Feast of the Ass.

Is English Dead?

In a tongue-in-cheek essay in The Washington Post last weekend, Gene Weingarten lamented, "Goodbye cruel words: English is dead to me."

In Weingarten's article he pointed out examples from the Washington Post and other media of mistakes in print. Some reasons he cites for the demise of the proper use of English are decreased attention to grammar, punctuation, and syntax. Unedited blogs, instant messaging, and newspapers cutting back on copy editors have also contributed to the death of the English language, according to Weingarten. Some examples he cites are humorous; others are sad.

Everyone makes mistakes when writing or speaking. I've often made mistakes posting on my blog. When I discover them I feel embarrassed and make changes right away. On some occasions, a few writing pals have e-mailed me to let me know when I've messed up--and I appreciate it when they do.

For those who care about the proper use of English, what do you think:

Is English dead? Is it on life support? How can we save it? Should we care?