Have you noticed that 'children' is vanishing from the language? It is striking how seldom is heard the word. 'Children', along with a number of other nifty words. They are being replaced by terms that will, probably in their turn, go the way of the dodo.

On TV, in the newspapers, in magazines, on billboards, 'child' is being replaced by 'kid.' It might be advisable for small goats to take up a petition for survival. Hi kids. Goodbye children.

Now then, go into practically any bar or restaurant…not the fanciest, but somewhere below the top tier. Most likely you'll be greeted with, "What'll you guys have?" This greeting, irrespective of the gender of the customers, has descended like the strange disease on our wounded ears. Until the middle of the 19th century a 'guy' (according to the OED) was a "person of grotesque appearance...a fright." Maybe that is what the 'server' (an example of language inflation) has in mind by his/her attempt to be casual and friendly.

Washing that all down with a beer, we move on. Have you noticed that nearly everything has to be 'fun'? Fun food, fun drinks, fun chips, fun dentists and doctors. Soon we may see fun morticians...oops, sorry...'Fun Fun-eral directors'.

To brace up the fun, guys and kids...one needs to 'laugh.' A recent billboard proclaimed, "Memorial Hospital...Learning, Laughing, Knowledge." Going into the hospital is not often met with gales of laughter.

Down the street you might be encouraged to "Come in and Laugh with us, Sing with us, Pray with us!" It is possible to wonder when churches became a branch of Disney. Isn't a church a place to commune with eternal truths rather than infernal nonsense?

Naturally language is always in flux. However by the careless mangling of words and syntax we destroy the very thing that allows us to help understand one another. Over use and sloppy use reduce words to gibberish.

The French used to claim, and maybe still do, that French was the most precise of languages. English has been noted for its ability to assimilate words from other cultures. Certainly that has helped make it the prevailing language on earth...(China might take exception to this remark).

Anyway, look out for the kids laughing with fun guys every Sunday morning at your local meetin' hall.