Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Wise

I hate the way the people misuse this word: wise. They use it as a suffix to make words into an adverb. Here are some examples that I've heard this week:

1. From a student during discussion: "He's saying that we're only smart, not with books, but... like, computer-wise."
2. From a school counselor: "We don't know how this is going to work, you know, registration-wise."
3. From a speaker at a recent school board meeting: "This [budget cuts] is going to affect everyone... classroom-wise."

As an English teacher, I know that I have to be open-minded about the flexibility of the English language. It is constantly changing every day in small ways, influenced by everything from foreign languages to pop culture. But there are actual words to use rather than making them up or combining them. What does "wise" mean in the above cases? It certainly does not mean "to be intelligent" or "all knowing." To use "wise" as a suffix--which is not even an official suffix--means "in the context of." Sometimes people just add the suffix because it makes the root word suddenly seems "better." This is what students usually do.

The misuse of words: a pet peeve of mine.