Articulate

I've been holed up in the office for 2 days, finishing the book editing and prepping for the first day of school ... tomorrow! The farthest thing from my mind has been the news, so when I adjourned to the bedroom to fold clothes and put fresh sheets on the bed, I turned on the tiny TV to ketchup on what's happening outside the office.

"As of yet," the news reader said 3 separate times in her report about a child abduction. What the heck does "as of yet" convey besides the inability to construct a meaningful phrase to say that there is no suspect at this time.

A concerned parent was interviewed for her immediate reaction to the situation. Perhaps she was nervous about appearing in a TV interview and unsure of what she wanted to say, but she repeated "I mean" at least a half dozen times. If she didn't mean it, she probably wouldn't say it, so repeating "I mean" distracts from what she means, rather than enhances it.

The rhythm of the interview became "as of yet, I mean, I mean; as of yet, I mean, I mean; as of yet, I mean, I mean." With just the right melody, there's great potential for a hit rap, right?