Dyslexia Or Excuse

 Dyslexia is used far too often by people who have not been tested for it, but who use the word as an excuse for their poor language skills. Perhaps they have learned that they misuse terms or misspell  words or make too many grammatical errors. The first thing that pops out of their mouths is "oh, it's okay, I am dyslexic". What wants to pop out of mine, is "have you been tested or are you using that description as an excuse for your mistakes?" We can do almost whatever we want to do or say or be, but there are limits. Limits are either legal, moral, political, social,  intellectual, on and on, but I prefer the word "why" when it comes to the interpretation of "mistakes". Why do we need to spell or say a certain word in a certain way. The whole mess of what's right and what isn't, was, in our language, more or less, invented by a man, Samuel Johnson, whose passion was the English language. He, in fact, compiled enough words in his time to create A Dictionary Of The English Language. If you want to read more about this astoundingly energetic chap, you can read Boswell's The Life Of Samuel Johnson. Johnson was an academic who lived during the 1700s. Apparently, Mr. Johnson took a peek at the French Language Dictionary that took forty years to make, and did his in only eight.  Samuel was a fellow who had the energy of a hive of bees and surrounded himself with mountains of books that he read and referred to. He was also an interesting person to view, for he had a series of nervous tics and jumping behaviours that did not stand in the way of his amazing brain that produced astounding amounts of literary works. You can visit his burial site in Westminster Abby not far from Shakespeare whom he wrote extensively about, if you wish. Back to grammar and the spelling of words. These days with spell check and on line help to do it, few people make mistakes. There is also AI coming up.  Usage, is quite another matter, not that many give a flying gerund about it. I once sat on a plane counting the number times I had to hear the word, "like" spoken by two young women off to another country to work. I hoped it weren't in a school. (Look that one up.) Cell phone texting is likely one of the worst enemies of  English usage due to its need for brevity,  but it is, to me, very interesting to see that a new language is, and can be invented. Beside my computer, I have a listing of cell phone terms just for reference. But I'm still and advocate of syntax. All teenagers since the beginning of time, have invented their own language thinking that we adults in their lives, have no idea of what they are saying. We don't, but then again, we don't care. We are too busy filling out the tax forms and job applications. They have that aspect of the language yet to learn. I have been told that the reason there are spelling rules, is to effect understanding. Ahem to that. Having taught English in schools, even  spelling doesn't cut it, when good writing and correct usage is absent. If  you don't believe me, give a listen to radio broadcasters who at times make errors that are blushible. Is blushible in the dictionary?