Valley Girl Power!

OMG, who started this?!  This being a style of talking like Hollywood's Valley Girls, with a nasal, "little girl" style, hands tucked close to the chest, and "like" being interjected after every other word.  It's horrible, ugly, inane, and certainly unprofessional.  And it is heard everywhere, even among professionals.  Like, when asked to answer a question, you know, like, if you're at an interview, and like, you're sittin' in front of a prospective boss, and like, you want to present yourself as knowing what you're doing, like, you know, you majored in something important in college, and you even have, like, your master's degree, but like, it hasn't made much, like, difference so far, but, like, you're applying for this job, and like ... Ugh!!! GROW UP!  None of those "likes" is appropriate here!  And if you sound like a 10-year-old, no one will take you seriously.

Spoken like a true drunkard!

Enunciation has gone by the wayside. 

It's not enough that our language has been corrupted by slang, obscenities and simple misuse, we have now descended into an abyss of texting.  And what is texting?  Using one's thumbs to type made-up acronyms on a tiny TV.  Even talking on the phone has been all but relegated to the cemetary of the Old-Fashioned. 

I gave a speech recently about non-verbal communication, talking about the myriad ways we communicate - with each other, as well as between species.  I spoke about the incredible power of facial expressions as communicators.  The eyes are the "tell" in poker - imagine, such a tiny part of our anatomy can do so much harm, or be used for good.

But I digress.  Beyond the misuse of our language, enunciation has been all but eliminated as a useful skill to develop.  There are many who mutter and speak so poorly as to sound drunk, slurring their words, and being generally totally unintelligible.  Others have adopted the annoying habit of peppering their conversations with "like," and modifying their voice to sound like 12-year-old prepubescent girls, this from otherwise professional adults!  I wonder if any of them realize how unprofessional they come across?

Axial v. Axillary

These words might be confused by the uninitiated.  Let's try to make sense of them.

Axial (adj.) is related to the word axis, and is therefore anything relating to, characterized by, or forming an axis, such as the axial length of the field is three acres.  Axial also means a force which acts perpendicular to the plane of action, as in the (weight) bearing capacity of one unit in relation to another.

Axillary (adj.) refers to the axillae, the armpits, as in "the axillary glands are regularly examined by a physician during routine physical exams."