An incident recently erupted among members of an online writers group regarding the appropriateness of modern changes to the accepted rules of English grammar. The opinions seemed to lean toward accepting the proposition that language that changes with the times is a healthy, 'living'' language. I have no quarrel with that. But to make inept and needless changes that obviously weaken the existing language and make it less effective is downright foolish.
To consider and even to discuss such nonsensical suggestions as combining the three distinctly different forms of the terms to, too, and two is ludicrous. To attempt to derive the proper meaning, the meaning that is meant within a sentence, from context alone, will work neither easily nor satisfactorily.
In the past I have cautioned the same writer to stop using the word infer when he actually means to write imply, only to have him reply that it makes no difference because everyone knows what he means no matter which of the words he uses.
Infer and imply. These two words originally had distinct meanings, but have now become so misused that most people no longer distinguish between them. If you want to avoid pissing off those of us who know and properly use the two terms, use imply in your writing when something is being suggested without being explicitly stated and infer when someone is trying to arrive at a conclusion based on evidence. “Imply” is more assertive, active, such as: "I 'imply' that you need to revise your manuscript" and, "based on my implications, you "infer" that I didn’t much like your first draft."
Another mistake (in my opinion) that same writer has often made is to fail to differentiate in his writing between the terms, there, their, and they're. Again, when he writes such an example as, "There ineffective actions proved they're inability to get their." And then when the mistake is pointed out, the writer defends his usage with, "You seem to think I don't know the difference." Implying he had made the mistake purposely.
Well . . . I don't know why the writers group chose to take seriously his suggestion that rules of grammar do not count any longer. Or why I even care. It matters only that I try to recognize the difference between good writing and bad writing, between composition that can be easily and clearly understood by the reader and that which can not. That's what counts.
Is it not?
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On March 1, 1961, newly elected President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order establishing the Peace Corps. It proved to be one of the most innovative and highly publicized Cold War programs set up by the United States.
During the 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Americans—especially young people—flocked to serve in dozens of nations, particularly in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Working side by side with the people of these nations, Peace Corps volunteers helped build sewer and water systems; constructed and taught in schools; assisted in developing new crops and agricultural methods to increase productivity; and participated in numerous other projects.
The program continues to function, and thousands of Americans each year are drawn to the humanitarian mission and sense of adventure that characterizes the Peace Corps.
Also:
On March 1, 1966 Venera 3, a Soviet probe launched from Kazakhstan on November 15, 1965, collided with Venus, the second planet from the sun. It was the first unmanned spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet. Four years earlier, the U.S. probe Mariner 2 was the first spacecraft to pass close enough to Venus to take scientific measurements of the planet, discovering surface temperatures in excess of 800 degrees Fahrenheit on its surface. Then, in 1970, Venera 7 became the first spacecraft created by humans to soft-land on Venus, successfully sending back images and data for 23 minutes before succumbing to the extremely high temperature and atmospheric pressure found on the planet's surface.
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WORD FOR TODAY
decimate [DESS-uh-mate]
1. to select by lot and kill every tenth man
2. to exact a tax of 10 percent from
3.
a. to reduce drastically especially in number
b. to cause great destruction or harm to
Decimation (Latin: decimatio; decem = "ten") was a form of military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers. The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning "removal of a tenth".
A unit selected for punishment by decimation was divided into groups of ten; each group drew lots, and the soldier on whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades, often by stoning or clubbing. The remaining soldiers were given rations of barley instead of wheat and forced to sleep outside the Roman encampment.
Because the punishment fell by lot, all soldiers in the group were eligible for execution, regardless of the individual degree of fault, or rank and distinction. The leadership was usually executed independently of the one in ten deaths of the rank and file.
The meaning of decimate has changed over time due to its frequent misuse by the masses. The word decimation is often (counter to historical use) now used to refer to an extreme reduction in the number of a population or force, much greater than the one tenth defined by the "deci" root. It is frequently used as a synonym for the word "annihilate" which the OED lists as meaning "to reduce to non-existence, blot out of existence".
Born March 1, 1954
Age: 58 years old.
Age: 58 years old.
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American film director, producer and former child actor.
He came to prominence playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years. He appeared in the films The Music Man in 1962, American Graffiti in 1973 and The Shootist in 1976, the latter during his run on Happy Days.
Opie Taylor
Born March 1, 1927
Age: 85 years old.
Age: 85 years old.
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". Throughout his career he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes.
Born March 1, 1954
Age: 58 years old.
Age: 58 years old.
Catherine Bach (born Catherine Bachman) is an American actress. She is known for playing Daisy Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard and Margo Dutton in African Skies. In 2012, she joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Anita Lawson.
Born March 1, 1947
Age: 65 years old.
Age: 65 years old.
Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey) is a Canadian actor, comedian, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the patriarch on the ABC television series Growing Pains.
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"People who cannot distinguish between good and bad language, or who regard the distinction as unimportant, are unlikely to think carefully about anything else."
--B.R. Myers
Note: Brian Reynolds "B.R." Myers is an American associate professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, a contributing editor for the Atlantic, and an opinion columnist for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
"It matters only that I try to recognize the difference between good writing and bad writing, between composition that can be easily and clearly understood by the reader and that which can not."
ReplyDeleteDear Gene, If you eliminate the word only from the above statement, then we agree. As well, it matters to me when the nominative leader of said writing group supports the mistaken and stubborn "advocate of purposeful grammatical errors." Leaders of writing groups who promote such foolish and careless scribblers display their own weaknesses as purported masters of the craft.
You are right, of course, when you note that there are other things that matter. But I have learned that sometimes it is better (for me) to let some of those things drop instead of pursuing them. Hopefully, this is one of them.
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