Lil'tip I don't think this article supports your argument very well. The blunders of a few uni-students hardly says anything definitive about literacy as a whole. Lord knows stranger things have happened when you couple crunch studying with binge drinking
Quote:
Originally Posted by inBOIL
QFT. I've noticed an increase in the pride and arrogance with which people misuse the English language. It's as if they're too cool to do it the right way, and anyone who expects them to communicate properly is being unreasonable. This attitude is particularly grating when their improper usage results in miscommunication. It's as if they're saying "I'm going to speak/write however I want and if you can't understand that's your problem."
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Well what exactly is
the right way and who gets to create and maintain that definition? It's like the argument for hath versus has - our language is exactly as live as we are and with all of the social and cultural underpinnings inherent in our use of language, there are plenty of instances in which the use of the sort of english that's commonly taught in public schools is the
wrong english to use.
In the same sense that your clothes define you, the words you select define you. Certainly you wouldn't wear a three piece suit on poker night.
Besides, I'm sure their arrogance is rather pale in comparison to the sort of arrogance it must take to write dictionaries, teach english courses, and assert that standard written english is the very best of them all.