I knew we were in trouble when “impact” became a verb.

By “we” I mean newspaper copy editors—those word lovers who have long mourned the slow, agonizing demise of the English language as we once knew it. And by “verb,” I mean a verb other than transitive—“impact,” when used other than as a noun, is a transitive verb to denote a pressing or forcing together tightly. It is NOT a verb that means “having an impact.” Well, it didn’t used to be, anyway.

But thanks to overuse of incorrect usage, and thanks to music and text messaging, editors’ halcyon days are over.