A Good Get

What is with TV station employees’ language skills? I cannot count the number of times this past week that a newsreader has used the phrase “as of yet” in the course of reading a news story. We know that “as of yet,” the name of the victim has not been released, when the road will reopen, or when the results of the election will be finalized. I'm not sure why this phrase has become so popular, but it seems to be accepted as Standard English because, I am assured, the language that people use is dynamic and I must be open to the fluidity of changes that originate with the people who use it.

Hence, I’ve given up the battle that requires people to send and invitees to receive an “invitation,” rather than an "invite." I’d dearly love to hear one person ask another, “Have you received your invitation?” rather than "Did you get an invite?"

The pesky fluidity of language simply assures me that the speaker (and, perhaps, the other conversant) has no idea that one, invitation, is a noun, and the other, invite, is a verb because it really don't matter to most speakers. And, of course, I know the answer to both questions is the same: “Not as of yet.”