Monday, July 30, 2007

transition on over here

I need help from all you Sandlinistas and free floating internet junkies out there on the web. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher has been using transition as a verb. “We will now transition to the playing field.” Transition is not a verb. I don’t want people talking like that around my precious child.
I would rather she say shit. Shit can be a verb. Ain’t is at least in the dictionary, even if it is an example of the wrong way to talk. Transition as a verb is not in the dictionary.
Leila loves her teachers and her school. Heck, I love her teachers and her school. It’s an amazing school full of amazing people and she’s happy as a tree squirrel in spring there. The last thing I want is for them to turn on my daughter because I’m a language prig. But how would you feel if someone said, “It’s time to transition into the lunch room,” in front of your impressionable child?
So, what should I do? How do I let the teacher know this is something that matters? No one likes to be corrected. It’s probably some teacher-talk thing she learned in grad school. For all I know, kindergarten teachers across America are all using transition as a verb and my daughter’s generation has gone down the tubes before they’ve turned six.
Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get ready to have it pointed out to you that 'transition' appears in the dictionary as a verb in this use. Like using 'impact' as a verb, it's generally a poor word choice but it's not incorrect.