Here's the POINT

Have you noticed that we like to use extraneous words whenever possible?
Americans seem to think that if one word is called for let's make it two just to be sure.

These extra words have a way of sneaking into our vernacular. One day we're referring to the price of something and the next day it's the price point. Have you noticed? "I think you'll like these numbers, J.B., our price point is now $20,000." "The price point on that model is $40k."
What the hell happened to PRICE for God sakes?

To me this use of superfluous words seemed to start with that weasel John Dean during the Watergate hearings. In John's testimony nothing ever happened early or earlier...it was always early on. Nobody referred to things happening early on before Johnny Boy started saying it and now you can't escape it. I even see it in newspaper articles and on network newscasts. (Not that they don't make bonehead mistakes all the time.) In fact, I no longer think that ANYBODY checks the facts and pronunciations for newspapers or network news . How else do you explain the moronic practice of news reporters standing in either Reno or Las Vegas and referring to their location as Ne vah dah? Doesn't it ever occur to any of these clowns to ask a local how they pronounce the name of their state? (Here's a clue: The A sounds like the A in fatuous.)

But I digress. My favorite extra word is LIKE. This is a word employed by people mostly south of forty years of age. "So he was like going....to like take the bike to like his folks' house."
It's like a quick way to make an Ivy League education sound like stupid.

Another beauty I hear all of the time is the extra of. Instead of: "It's not too bad a commute on our freeways." This comes out: "It's not too bad of a commute on our freeways." DUMB!

On the other hand there is one word that is lately often left out when referring to education. How did we get to the point where it is common to hear and see: "He graduated college." instead of, "He graduated from college."? If you don't know the answer to this one, you probably slept through English class before you graduated from college.

And, as long as I'm on a roll, something is either free or it is for nothing. It is NOT for free.
That one makes me like...ARGH!