The Retired English Teacher Raves

William Safire died on September 27.  So passed the consummate lover and protector of the English language.  ADMITTEDLY, I didn't always agree with his politics.  He was a Nixon speechwriter after all, and when he was hired by the NY TIMES, some bright person said, that it was "like setting a hawk loose among doves."  HOPEFULLY, he will be remembered for his wonderful columns on our language.

In his memory, I would like to discuss two word that I despise.  If you haven't already guessed, they are "hopefully" and "admittedly."  First let's talk about that bastard of a word "hopefully."  Athletes love it.  "Hopefully, we'll win today."  Politicians feel the same. "Hopefully, this is the dawn of a new era.  What they are saying or think they are saying, of course is, "I hope we'll win today"  and "I hope this is the dawn of a new era."  Only problem is, "HOPEFULLY" DOES NOT MEAN "I HOPE."  It means what it says, which is basically "full of hope." If one wants to say that one is hoping for victory then say, "I hope we'll win today." That's what one means.  If one looks at "hopefully" as an adjective in the sentence, "Hopefully, well win today," then one is saying, I guess, "A bunch of guys are standing around with hearts or stomachs full of hope trying to win."  If one uses "hopefully" as an adverb in that little sentence, then one is saying, "We''ll win full of hope today."  Neither of those sentences are what one meant to say.  A time when one could logically use the word "hopefully" would be in a sentence like, "Hopefully, we joined together, praying that he would recover completely."  In that sentence, "hopefully" is not pretending to mean "I hope."  It means what it means, that some people have joined together and they are "full of hope."

If you think I don't like "hopefully" wait until you hear how I feel about "admittedly." There is no reason for such a fargin' word.  Lazy speakers and writers have coined it to make their attempts at transition easier.  I know transition can be tough, be it from pre-teen to puberty or paragraph one to paragraph two.  Let us consider how "ly" ending words generally work at the beginning of sentences.  In the sentence, "Happily, the little children danced in the town square," "happily" is functioning as an adverb saying HOW the kids danced.  But on his weather broadcast, when Dave Eichorn used to say nearly every night something to the effect of "Admittedly, the rain started a couple hours earlier than predicted," what was he saying?  He thought he was saying "I admit the rain started a couple of hours earlier than predicted," but he wasn't.  I don't know what he was saying.  That the rain admitted to starting early, maybe.  The only way I can think of to make "admittedly" work would be in a sentence like, "Admittedly, the boy confessed to the crimes."   What am I saying?  That wouldn't work!  There is no reason for the word ADMITTEDLY!

Enough of my blithering.  One will choose what one will choose in one's writing and speech.  But I admit that I hope this little blog will make some of you "ones" think twice about those two awful words.