that extent. There is a gradual process o f change in w hich can be traced
the drift from the orthodox connotation. This chapter is m uch concerned w ith w ords which manifest that drift. We are considering the questions: W hat are the spoilt w ords o f today, the w ords damaged by being misunderstood, and the w ords whose meaning is dissipated in lax over use? It w ould take a very long list to contain them all. But we have already considered several in this chapter and w e can pick out a few m ore o f the most glaring examples. Over-use is not, o f course, an arithmetically calculable matter. If you w ork in a restaurant, you and your colleagues may use the w ord table thousands of times a year w ithout affecting the meaning o f the w ord in the slightest. Here we are concerned w ith the kind o f over-use w hich weakens and distorts meaning. access W e accept that, largely perhaps through the influence of the com puter world, the noun access has taken new life as a verb. It is part of our policy to present visual art to people who might not normally visit a gallery by accessing through other artforms. My dictionary classifies access as a transitive verb that requires an object. One accesses a source o f inform ation on the internet. But in the sentence here we do not know w hat is being accessed nor w ho is accessing. The grammar suggests that our policy is to help people by accessing through other artforms. But in the back o f the m ind one guesses that it is the people w ho are being helped w ho will be able to access something unspecified. address There are contexts w here this is the exact w ord needed. Used o f putting the appropriate directions on an envelope or o f speaking formally to an audience, it is not replaceable. But the w ord is now being used where better w ords are available. At last the editor has addressed an issue which is of vital importance to all of us. Thus people speak o f addressing issues, situations, problem s, and the like where they m ight better use verbs such as deal w ith, tackle, attend to , cope w ith or even study. I have just heard a BBC Radio 4 com m ent on a report about the treatment o f cancer by the National