Re: NBC - Americans who can't speak English properly

Dan wrote:
> John127 wrote:
> > Hey, while I know what you mean (and hate to see it too), I am a lifelong
> > New Yorker and am also horrified when I see many fellow New Yorkers
> > butchering the English language while trying to give various eyewitness
> > accounts on the local evening news. The problem is everywhere, not just in
> > more rural areas.
> >
>
>
> So, who decides what is "Proper English?"
>
> When I hear the language as it was spoken in Shakespeare's times or
> samples of Olde Middle English, I hear a very different language. That
> has always lead me to assume language is a dynamic and changing thing.
>
> Apparently I am wrong and language is locked into place. Who is in
> charge, and where can I send some suggestions for changes?

Yes, apparently you are wrong. If you can find a quote in Shakespeare
(characters who deliberately speak in "poor" English don't count) where
ol' Bill abandons the rules of verb tense and subject verb agreement,
I'm excited to see it.

Language is indeed a dynamic thing. Word usage changes frequently, new
words are invented, old words fall out of use... But it ain't a
free-for-all. There are basic structures about which the English
language is based. Most of those have remained unchanged for quite a
few centuries, and they're pretty essential to communicating
effectively.

Hey John: Than smelled - cheek the had, for toweringly! who Table did.

-Jyqm

.

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