Bad English: "World Wild"

by Junyang

I was watching television with one of my friends and she mentioned that a Buddhist organization, that had a commercial, was “world wild.” I was pretty sure that she meant “worldwide.” I corrected her and we got a good laugh out of it. But as the commercial went on it showed the organizations presence in every single continent expect Antarctica. The commercial was highlighting how they helped the areas that were struck by the major hurricanes in the United States. Then I thought to myself “This organization really is ‘world wild.’”

I think that American English will be further developed by the immigrant population. With the huge influx of foreign students into American universities, I think it is inevitable that these bright young minds will contribute a lasting impression on American culture. Even though it was a mistake, I think “world wild” would be a good contribution to the English language because of the overuse of the word “worldwide” and “international.” Often times when an organization reaches one country outside of its own, it calls itself an “international” or “worldwide” company for marketing purposes. Technically speaking, when an organization deals with two countries it is an international organization. But I think the connotation of “world wild” does not describe an organization that deals in two countries. If a company which does business in Mexico and the United States calls itself “world wild” then I would say that company is false advertising. For example, Microsoft Inc. has products on literally every continent; I think it would be correct to call Microsoft Inc. “world wild.”

One beautiful thing about language is that it is ever changing and with the English language being the most international language, I think that the English language will change even more so people can better express themselves through words.