Dear Geist,

When did people stop saying and writing “I’m so excited about your award!” and start saying “I’m so excited for your award!”? It’s the person’s achievement, not the slab of metal, that is exciting. Please make it stop, Geist!

—Arya A. in downtown Guelph, ON

Dear Arya,

We couldn't agree more. Perhaps it’s another of those bits that seem to require more forceful phraseology, like gifting someone a present instead of giving them one. So even though this sort of revision is grammatically goofy, maybe it’s a response to the increasing volume of messages printed on paper or screen and sent noiselessly via email and social media—too quiet and polite for the contents. Or perhaps it’s just more of the burgeoning use—possibly overuse—of the word excited. One thing we can be sure of is that when excited is deemed too quiet, English-speaking humans will find something even more agitated to replace it!

—The Editors