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Michael Bedford

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Just Words

I’m sweating, I freely admit it.
I’ve just used the word count and I think that I’m over.

If I use too many the word police will come.
There’s a national shortage and they may have to be rationed.

They say after 8 o’clock people will only be allowed to use
short words or abbreviations in order to ease the scarcity of
                                                                                         letters.

There will be standpipes in the streets, of course, for
                                                                                particularly
vulnerable groups such as writers or conversationalists.

Lawyers and estate agents wont be allowed any at all
as they misuse the ones they already have.

Rare words such as perspicacious and entourage will be
kept in museums and only used by the curator on special
                                                                                       occasions.

Clichés will have to be used until they wear out completely.

To save on new words, some will have to be repeated over and
over again (politicians are piloting this at the moment).

Some valuable words like happy and joy will command
very high prices (much as they always have).

All in all, people will realise the value of words and will
be less likely to misuse them.

Perhaps no bad thing.

 

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