There are words that I hear that cause me to inwardly and sometimes outwardly, sigh. In fact, because of the sensitivity of my hearing, they can cause me literal pain. Here comes a phrase that I do not need to hear again or not hear in this particular way. Ready to know what it is? “Thank you for having me.” What? Having me over for dinner? Having me stand here looking nervous before I speak? Our language and the changes in our language over the years, is a fascinating (possibly that is an overused word right there) research topic. Let us find and actually use or create some new words.

It’s the same when I hear “gone missing” on forensic television. You are either gone or you are missing you have not gone missing. Who joined this annoying and trivializing pair of words together?

OK, let me also mention the second phrase uttered by a speaker that makes me cringe, “Without further ado”. Rhymes with do do. Now I am a huge fan of Shakespeare-the man could write-but for now let us say bye-bye and Auf Wiedersehen to ado!