On the day before these legions of students would sit for the test, a local paper ran the headline, "Food Bank Fuller ..." There is no such word as "fuller," or at least there shouldn’t be. The food bank is either full or it’s not, but there are no degrees to "full." The food bank is probably closer to full, but it is not fuller. Likewise, we can be prosecuted to the "full extent of the law," but not the "fullest extent," although I suspect that sounds more threatening.

Sadly, I know that adhering to the rules of Standard English is no longer in style. When the Miller Brewing Company introduced "Lite" beer, I saw the future of correct spelling grow bleak. But misspellings and poor grammar for the sake of advertising are somehow tolerable. Two places (at least) where we should all be able to read correct English are our newspapers and our schools.

Unfortunately, this is too often not the case. Things have gotten so bad that I almost called Tom Grace the other day when I read the proper use of the word ``comprise’’ in an article. But I expect that of Tom. He is a fine writer. By now you know where this example is leading. There is no such phrase "comprised of," yet I read that frequently in letters from schools and in our newspapers. The 50 states comprise the union, and the union is composed of 50 states. I believe the proper use of comprise and composed of died during the Watergate hearings when the language of testimony became an instrument of obfuscation.

Another verbal miscue that drives me crazy is ``reference’’ used as a verb. When did ``reference,’’ as in ``the point I referenced earlier,’’ replace the words ``referred to?’’ Refer is a perfectly good verb. Do we think lengthening it to ``reference’’ makes it sound more impressive? We make a reference (noun) when we refer (verb) to something. We also never seem to use the word ``use’’ anymore. Now we ``utilize.’’ No one has ever convinced me that the latter is any better than the former. There are no longer signs telling us where to go or what things are. Now we have ``signage.’’ Is that really necessary? And while I’m at it, unless you’re in the privacy of your shower, let’s learn the correct use of well and good.

All right, this all sounds pretty snooty, but I’m not trying to imply that our journalists or educators are ignorant of proper English. I think we just get careless in our use, and young people pick that up. They see ``fullest’’ in print; they’re told they are doing ``real good’; and they read, ``comprised of’’ and don’t know any of this is wrong. And they are told that everyone must have their own number 2 pencils, instead of his or her pencils, and they think that is correct. Then they take the SAT and find out.

Our schools, our newspapers and our magazines might be the last place we can hope to preserve proper English. As long as our young people are going to be judged on their use of our language, writers and educators need to set the best examples.

David Pearlman is a former English teacher and school principal who now writes from Leatherstocking St. in Cooperstown.