Words words words

You probably know that I'm fascinated by words and how they're used, especially in regard to current norms. Recently the two that have caught my attention are 'remit' and 'purview'. Not words I ever even heard up till a few years ago. Now they're common.

As a writer of contemporary (mostly) fiction (mostly), I need to keep my word usage up to date. And that's becoming increasingly difficult for me, mostly I suppose because I seldom watch TV or movies. So I rely on what pops onto my screen via blogs and facebook to kind of keep me in the loop.

I remember my very first writers group back in the day (another new thing we say!). There was a woman about the age I am now who wrote good stories but... they came across as old-fashioned and from another era. It's a subtle thing, really, and somewhat scary for me. On the other hand, recently we've been reading 'Swallows and Amazons' to our grandson and that (mostly) comes across fine. I suppose this has to do with the imagination the book creates.

Complicating matters is the fact that the UK and the North America diverge on current speak. Which changes all the time. Right now I'm thinking of how we used to say 'It's up to you' whereas now people say 'It's down to you'. Personally, I think 'up' is more encouraging than 'down'. Don't you?