Goes=Says and Points in Time
I am pleased to be writing this month's column in response to a reader question. Will Nash writes:
English speaking people are getting less and less in touch with the structure and elegance of a difficult but rich language due to laziness. This laziness is exacerbated by text messaging (Orwellian Newspeak), smileys, expressions like "whatever," just to name a few.
I wouldn't have brought this subject up hadn't it been for two recent developments which are infecting even intelligent, well spoken peers of mine, i.e.:
"Goes" and "going." These two are used, for instance, as "I told her to go to heck and she goes 'ass' to me" or "He said 'pick that up' and I'm going 'pick it up yourself.'"
The verb "to go" has replaced a myriad of more expressive ways of communicating. It seems the words: retort, reply, exclaim, say, act, cry, denounce, demur, exhort, rebuke, opine ..................... they are all becoming defunct because even grandmother has succumbed to using the verb 'to go' to communicate anything.
My second peeve is "this point in time." This is amazing as we seem to be relying on one verb, "go," while becoming more verbose with this popular phrase. "This particular point in time" means "now." "That particular point in time" means "then." Think about it. Do we feel more like a lawyer or someone more erudite and authoritative, when use this long winded, over used expression for "now" & "then?" If that's the reason, we must be getting mighty pretentious.
So, please tell me how these two aberrations began.
Well, Will, these are interesting questions that you raise. As for the overuse of the verb "goes," I unfortunately recognize that one from my own circle of acquaintances. I have only ever encountered it in conversation and hope I will never see it in print unless it is part of a teen dialogue of some sort. In my research, I found that this use of the verb "to go" most likely found its roots in juvenile speech, such as "the cow goes moo." R.R. Butters discusses this phenomenon in a very interesting article from 1980 in American Speech ("Narrative Go Say," Vol. 55, No 4., p. 304). This usage is therefore obviously nothing new. Butters points out that the common nursery rhyme that is recited by parents while pulling on their children's toes ends with "and this little pig went wee-wee-wee all the way home." All of the sources I have found point to origins in child language and the fact that most people who use this form of go are in the younger generation. "Go" has indeed become akin to the word "smurf" of Saturday morning cartoon fame, as it can be used to mean almost anything.
"This point in time" is a phrase that I had never given much thought to until I received this query. It is indeed a strange expression. The Watergate hearings are often cited as the source of this unnecessarily wordy substitute for "now." While it is true that James McCord uttered "At about this point in time...." in the Senate Caucus room that fateful summer of 1973, and that ears of an entire nation heard and reacted to this phrase, there is evidence that it was used much earlier in academic circles. The Watergate hearings can thus be credited with creating the widespread use as well as the general hatred for the expression, but not for its origin. I agree that a simple "now" will suffice in most any situation. The use of "this point in time," "that point in time," or "some point in time" do lend a certain sense of fluidity. Perhaps this is why we often hear them in the political arena? They certainly leave a little room for changes in interpretation. Maybe "now" is too black and white and these points in time are a bit more gray.
I hope that this answers your question as to the how of these aberrations, and gives you some pointers as to where you can look for further information. As for why they have become commonplace, I have no idea at this particular point in time.
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