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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Gordon wrote on Wednesday, May 08, 2013 2:24 PM,<br></span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'>> Some of us are prescriptivists, believing that English should follow certain rules. Others of us are descriptivists, believing that English should be whatever is common usage. Most of us are somewhere in between, depending on the issue at hand. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>I believe that language needs to evolve and change with usage. Otherwise, Shakespearean wouldst yet be bespoken anon.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>But when I say “usage”, I of course mean *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>my</span></b>* usage. If I don’t know about some obscure word usage parameters, then I tend to interpret them as being nitpicky and pedantic. And while I concede that “pedantic” may be correct, it is the most annoying kind of correct!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>On the other hand, where I happen to use words correctly, I expect other people to use the same words correctly. It seems ludicrous for me to have to relearn a word usage that I have been using correctly, just because most people use the same word incorrectly. Otherwise, I would have to say that my head would “literally” explode, even though I know that it wouldn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>On the other other hand, it seems dishonest to stubbornly use a word “correctly” while simultaneously knowing that 99% of your audience will misinterpret what you are saying. That seems to be deliberately sabotaging the conversation towards some goal other than successful communication.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>So there is no good answer I can see. All communications will soon be impossible. Death of the Internet is predicted. Grammarggedon is upon us!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>--<br>Harvey Newstrom <www.HarveyNewstrom.com><br></span></font><a href="http://harveynewstrom.com/index.html"><font size=2 color=black face=Calibri><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black;border:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:1.0pt;background:#CCCCCC;text-decoration:none'>CISSP CISSP-ISSAP CISSP-ISSMP CSSLP CISA CISM CRISC CGEIT IAM</span></font></a><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p></div></body></html>