Dave Kraige is completely right about perfectly good words being stolen from the English language (" 'Gay and 'straight' stolen from language," Jan. 31 letter). I am sick and tired of explaining to my friends, when I announce that I need a tool, that I am really getting a screwdriver and not a socially impaired individual from my closet.

And that said screwdriver is really an implement for use with screws and not a concoction of orange juice and vodka. Oh, the hilarity when I then have to explain that I'm not talking about sex. When I tell them to stop acting like a bunch of hysterical second-graders, things really get ugly. We should all deplore this wicked abuse of the English language!