Athalia
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2010
- Posts
- 1,211
I came across this book recently:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693773-bad-english
I recommend it highly. It discusses many words that are considered non-standard English, or misused in writing, and traces their origins. For example, "enormity" referencing great size rather than great evil) actually started out with the former definition as the standard one, and only came to mean the latter one in the last couple of centuries. All too often, the grammarians of the last two hundred years have tried to have the meanings of common words changed in order to conform with their own preconceptions of what the language should be. The result is that many of the usages that are considered "bad English" are actually the original usages of the word.
So if you insist on using "enormity" to mean "great size," you're in good company.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693773-bad-english
I recommend it highly. It discusses many words that are considered non-standard English, or misused in writing, and traces their origins. For example, "enormity" referencing great size rather than great evil) actually started out with the former definition as the standard one, and only came to mean the latter one in the last couple of centuries. All too often, the grammarians of the last two hundred years have tried to have the meanings of common words changed in order to conform with their own preconceptions of what the language should be. The result is that many of the usages that are considered "bad English" are actually the original usages of the word.
So if you insist on using "enormity" to mean "great size," you're in good company.
