My goodness, what a year we had,

With mayhem, storms, and fires so bad.

Our language seemed to fall from grace,

Sometimes nasty, sometimes base.

With "fire and fury" we rudely "threw shade,"

Aspersions flew like hand grenades.

Online postings spiked great tensions,

"Hashtags," "likes" and multiple "mentions."

Reporters just could not refuse

The overuse of "breaking news."

"It remains to be seen," they often did quip,

"Amid growing tensions," officials "tight-lipped."

Of "firenados" they intoned,

And disaster sites "resembled war zones."

And how they obsessed over "midterm elections,"

Each one a "toss-up," a "high-stakes" selection.

The thesaurus of POTUS was rarely extended;

On simple words he always depended.

"So bad," "believe me," "so stupid" and "weak,"

"Tremendous," "amazing" he often did tweet.

On Mueller and Russia, he showed no confusion:

A "witch hunt!" "Fake news!" "There was no collusion!"

Declaring himself a "nationalist,"

This "stable genius" was no euphemist.

The Kavanaugh hearings unearthed "sequelae,"

"Exculpatory," "P.J." and don't forget "Squi."

And technical terms left some of us whining:

"Gene-edited babies" and "data-mining."

In business, "thought leaders" got in on the act.

They'd "pivot," "loop in" and then "take a step back."

"Trending," "deep diving," their "ducks in a row,"

"Swim lanes" and "tool kits" filled their lingo.

As for the millennials, so "trill," "lit" and "woke,"

"Salty" and "swole" were buzzwords they spoke.

But let's not forget the words we found silly,

Like "laurel" or "yanny," Bud Light's "Dilly Dilly."

Over in Britain, our eyes caught the sparkle

Of little Prince Louis and aunt Meghan Markle.

While this year's issues were often debatable,

We all could agree that she was "relatable."

We'll miss Poppy Bush, for he was a student

Of "kinder" and "gentler," words he deemed "prudent."

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

Photo credit: at Pixabay