New Music

In past couple of weeks I have spent more time than usual in the car. That has meant I've had more time than usual to listen to demo CDs of new choral and instrumental music for worship. Aside from the usual sense of "I can't believe someone thinks that's great music" I have developed a new pet peeve.

It's the use of the word "choral" as a noun. As in, "here's a new choral by composer so-and-so." Or "this new sacred choral is sure to inspire." Where I come from "choral" is an adjective." Always has been and always will be. No matter how much publishers try to convince me otherwise by misuse. It's right up there with converting the word "gift" to a verb. As in, "God has gifted us..." That still drives me nuts, even though it's been around for several years.

I'm all for our language growing, evolving and developing. Further, I know I mess up grammatically (and in many other ways) regularly. These two examples, however, are going to be my line in the sand. I'm not going to name names, but you folks who use "choral" as a noun know who you are. I'll listen if you want to try to convince me it's an okay thing to do, but you'll have to do some fast talking.