Frankenwords?

Ok, I'll admit it. Yours truly is often accused of being a member of the "word police."

No, that accusation has nothing to do with an affinity for political correctness.

Far from it, as ye socks who know me well can testify.

Rather, I'm sad to admit, near-apoplexy is often the result of incorrect word usage around this little corner of heaven.

Yeah, I THOUGHT I was bad.

That is until today, when I read this article by Jan Freeman in the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/04/25/frankenwords?mode=PF

Apparently, the desperate (perhaps, vain!) demand for proper word usage and the insistance that there are actual meanings behind our utterances is a long-standing tradition . . .