COMMENTARY

Modern Day Silly Talk
By Walter E. Williams

Corruption of language is pervasive, much of it for political purposes. When I was young, there were bums, vagabonds, tramps and hobos. Today, they’ve disappeared to be replaced by homeless people. Also, during my youth, we played cowboys and Indians; now it’s cowboys and Native Americans. People used to be categorized by sex; now it’s gender. It’s worth remembering that John Milton predicted, “When language in common use in any country becomes irregular and depraved, it is followed by their ruin and degradation.”