TO ‘BETTER’ ONE’S LIFE?
As I have mentioned previously, I am quite passionate about language and English in particular. Perhaps it is because of the training in linguistics that I have undergone during my college years. Whatever the reason, I cannot stand when people make fundamental mistakes. It simply gets under my skin… So much so sometimes, that I find myself yelling at the TV set because someone has just made a principal error while speaking.
I think I am past wondering why this happens to take place, I just want it to stop. Take yesterday for example… I was watching “Oprah” (as I do once in a while) and the topic of the show was quite engaging so I was actually paying attention to what was said. You wouldn’t expect intelligent and highly educated people to still make these awful language mistakes but there it was… A guest said she did a certain mental exercise to “better her life”… ‘Better one’s life’?—I ask. Where in the world have you found a rule that lets you use an adjective (and a comparative degree at that!) as a verb?!
Granted, there are some words that have the same form for a verb and a noun, for instance ‘produce’ but this is not the case. There is a perfectly good verb, i.e. ‘to improve’, which means “to make something better in quality or condition or become better” (quoted from Encarta Dictionary) and it should be used in such cases. However, most Americans seem to forget about its existence. And everywhere I turn I hear people say: to better myself or my life etc, which makes me cringe. Why can’t they say “to make my life better” for instance. Now, that would make sense and be grammatically correct. And seriously, it really is not that difficult to remember!
So I wonder if perhaps the educational system in the US is profoundly wrong or at least lacking something since it allows for such alarming slipups. Do me a favor, please, and next time you’re about to say something so incorrect and improper, think before you speak. I want to believe that the correct information is buried somewhere in your brain, it just needs a bit of prompting to come out… Good luck, then.