That’s Dearth, not Death!

Not used much today—it seems there’s a dearth in the use of dearth. It just seems to me that today there is a little bit of a dearth in the use of civil discourse. In politics I guess that’s normal. But should the Republicans be tearing each other apart with the prospect looming that they will face either an avowed socialist (that would have been unheard of when I was in college) or a shameless liar about too many things.

Dearth, of course, is a synonym for lack, scarcity, shortage, want, paucity, deficiency, or just plain absence.

There is also a dearth of the use of proper language. It appears more and more often in news reports and on TV. The more than common (no dearth here) dropping of the words “well” and “like” and the misuse of the words “me” and “I”. I probably shouldn’t even mention this, or I might be found wanting in this area myself! Don’t they teach English anymore in High School? (See a previous post for opinion of the use of the word “Whom.”)