Let’s Toss Out Crutch Words
In vogue in social and political discourse is ‘sort of.’ By Readers Sept. 4, 2023 3:49 pm ET Photo: Getty Images Regarding Andy Kessler’s “Little to Like on the Prefix Menu” (Inside View, Aug. 28): Can we toss some non-prefix words, too? The ever-irritating “existential” and “performative,” for example—words so vague I’m not clear on what they mean even after I’ve looked them up. I’m happy to report that I am tripping over “iconic” far less often these days. What a relief. Margaret McGirr Greenwich, Conn. Of the various prefixes and suffixes currently in vogue in social and political discourse, Mr. Kessler left out my favorite: “sort of.” This is rampant in academic discourse and often invoked by experts on National Public Radio and other media outlets. I would expect
Photo: Getty Images
Regarding Andy Kessler’s “Little to Like on the Prefix Menu” (Inside View, Aug. 28): Can we toss some non-prefix words, too? The ever-irritating “existential” and “performative,” for example—words so vague I’m not clear on what they mean even after I’ve looked them up. I’m happy to report that I am tripping over “iconic” far less often these days. What a relief.
Margaret McGirr
Greenwich, Conn.
Of the various prefixes and suffixes currently in vogue in social and political discourse, Mr. Kessler left out my favorite: “sort of.”
This is rampant in academic discourse and often invoked by experts on National Public Radio and other media outlets. I would expect these experts to have a command of language and concepts such that they didn’t need to rely on the “sort of” crutch to imply nuance or comparison. They always use it in a manner that invokes an air of erudite elitism.
William J. Beverly
Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
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