[CLUE-Talk] Looks like our brains match \w+

[Dennis J Perkins]

> On Thu, 2003-09-25 at 09:52, Jef Barnhart wrote:
> > English has always been evolving. If I were you Zonker I would just get
> > used to it. There are several things that are against you, and everybody
> > for that matter.
> 
> I'm not against the evolution of English, I'm against blatant disregard
> for existant rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation -- there's a
> difference. 

Traditionally, literacy has slowed down the rate of change in a language.  The 
literati tried to conform to written texts and enough of the masses tried to 
emulate them.

Now we are seeing blatent disregard for parts of our culture and civilization.  
Maybe this is what characterized a silver age from the prior golden age?  Did 
Rome go thru this?



> This is the most worrisome. Slang and "youth culture" (whatever that is)
> hasn't, in the past, prevented people from using proper spelling,
> grammar and such in other contexts. If my 17-year-old brother wants to
> shnizzle nizzle his way through conversations with his friends, that's
> fine -- so long as he can write a college essay in proper English. 

My nephew was making up his own meaning for words he didn't understand and 
didn't see anything wrong with it.  His mother and I did tho, especially when 
one of the words he redefined is offensive to many people.


> 
> I would be curious to know whether other languages are suffering the
> same problems. If it's a byproduct of the English language -- which is
> pretty much a mutant mutt of a language anyway -- and the American
> culture, or if this is a world-wide trend. 
> 
> Zonker
>

I don't know if they are suffering from the lazy sloppiness that many Americans 
have in communication, but they are suffering from an onslaught of English.  
The French government keeps releasing lists of approved French words and bans 
the use of English or Franglais in official documents.  It's probably a doomed 
effort, but many English words look garish in French.