2223 Mulligone

I think folks just don't understand how to use words. Like they don't comprehend a certain context is required, or what a word even means. Not sure if it's our education system or folks just got lazy.

In the context vein, I saw this ad on a bus recently. It was for a credit union and was obviously directed at young people. I figured this out because it had a picture of a young person in the ad.

It seemed to be aimed at young people's proclivity for messing up checking accounts. Adding badly, or whatever, ending up a little short. The ad was for overdraft protection.

It was in the slogan that the ad writers went awry: "Because everyone deserves a mulligan." Either I'm out of touch or they are. That's what you get when you have ad professionals and bankers who spend all their time golfing do ads. I don't think most young people know what a mulligan is.

I didn't know myself until I sponsored a golfing hole for a tournament. "A second try after a bad shot" is a great concept for overdraft protection. But "do-over" is a better word. Maybe the ad writers should take a mulligan.

On a different note, another word I saw outright misused was in the NBC News Headline: "Family Unhurt as Twister Decimates House." The house in question was actually obliterated. 

"Decimate" does not mean destroy completely. NBC News of all people should know this. Historically, when an army was "decimated" in battle, they'd lost one-tenth of their force. Now "decimate" means significant but not complete destruction.  The writer could have just said destroyed and been more accurate.

Without decimating our language. 

Perhaps NBC News would like the opportunity to take mulligans too.

America, ya gotta love it.