Here come the language police!

mr. robinson

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When we don the mantle of writers we must accept responsibility as guardians of the language. Our readers expect us to use language properly and learn how to write by reading what we write. Moreover, those who know how to write can be jarred from our narrative if we are clumsy. This thread is dedicated to promoting good writing by protecting our most valuable tools: words.
Each has a specific meaning or meanings. When we misuse them they are corrupted and can be lost forever. Sure, language evolves over time, words gain new meanings and some lose their usefulness. But that should not happen because we are sloppy or careless about how we use our tools. You would not try to pound a nail with a screwdriver so you should choose your words with as much care so you may write with precision.
For instance, supermarkets have destroyed the difference between less and fewer, words that share a general meaning. But specifically, fewer is used when you can count the items and less when you cannot: There are fewer pickles in the jar than there were last night. There is less sand in that pile. (Notable exception to that might be Dustin Hoffman’s character in “Rain Main” who might actually say there are fewer gains of sand in that pile.”
So here is a place to talk about words you treasure and words that are misused to your annoyance. We all have blind spots, we all make mistakes, so in the spirit of colleagues helping each other grow, I will begin. Please add your pet peeves or recent discoveries.

A recent thread begins "I'm presently doing groundwork…”
Aaargh!
Presently may already be a lost cause. It is so widely misused that some dictionaries now list its secondary meaning as “at present.”
Presently once meant “shortly” or “soon” as in “I will return presently.” But it has been bastardized to mean “currently,” a perfectly good word. Why do we need two words meaning “at present” and one less that means “soon?”
Frankly, tight writing would dictate that you use a simpler word, like “now.”
Better still: "I am doing groundwork…”
Am is now. Write with economy and communicate more clearly.
Now I will climb down off my soapbox, and hope someone will climb up on it to defend the language … and lambaste me as well when I deserve it.
 
To be honest, I’d rather use the word currently to mean currently and not presently. However, I still translate the word presently as currently and not to mean soon. 🌹Kant👠👠👠

At one time, gay meant happy, queer meant strange and a rainbow was a promise from God to man that he wouldn’t flood the earth with water again. Language and meaning evolve.
 
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I favor good grammar and style and punctuation, but I think the language is more robust than you give it credit for. I'm less concerned about "erroneous" word choices like "presently" than I am with poor, punctuation, spelling, and grammar, because irregular word choices like "presently" don't mar the reading experience as much as other kinds of errors do. For me, anyway.

I find, too, that the more I write the more I realize how difficult it is, and the more I appreciate the infinite number of creative choices a write can make as he goes along.

I remember starting a "pet peeve" thread shortly after I started posting in this forum, and I caught some flak for it. I didn't understand it at the time, but I do now.
 
I fear that what has not yet been mentioned is syntax and different grammar in different locations.
A good example is "Pissed". As I understand it, in [parts of] the USA, this means angry, whereas of here in the UK, 'pissed' mean getting drunk.
For angry read 'pissed off'.
 
Just to make a small point

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
 
Let's discuss "pedantic".

Pedantic and Pedagogy are two words that are used in German and do not have the same meaning as in UK English. They are described as 'false friends' in that they look similar but have real differences.

The UK words mean routine, uninspired rote teaching. In German the meaning is the art and science of how to teach, without the UK overtones of incompetence. An Institute of Pedagogy would be ridiculous in the UK, but equates to a Teacher Training College in Germany.
 
"Guardians of the Language"

Is this in the Marvel Superhero universe?

I want to be Word Lord.
 
Fewer in the sewer make less of a mess.

But I digress. Some professional writers (they get paid elsewhere) post castoffs to LIT. The rest of us write and post for our own self-satisfaction. We may claim we do it for readers or posterity or whatever, but that's bullshit. We work only for ourselves. We (ab)use language any fucking way we want. We are not licensed by the Language Board to produce words, with penalties for violations. Only Laurel's rules matter here.

Bird, bird, bird. The bird is the word.
 
For instance, supermarkets have destroyed the difference between less and fewer, words that share a general meaning. But specifically, fewer is used when you can count the items and less when you cannot: There are fewer pickles in the jar than there were last night. There is less sand in that pile. (Notable exception to that might be Dustin Hoffman’s character in “Rain Main” who might actually say there are fewer gains of sand in that pile.”

This "rule" was made up in the late 18th century and has never been universally observed. There are examples of "less" for countable nouns going back at least to 888 AD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fewer_versus_less

In my experience, it's mostly invoked by people who get pleasure out of correcting others. I've been reading for many years and have never encountered a case where the "less"/"fewer" distinction made a noticeable difference to comprehension.

Can anybody suggest an argument for how this rule improves the language? We seem to do just fine using both "more time" and "more apples", so why is it a problem if somebody uses "less" with both those nouns?

As James Nicoll put it: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle (sic) their pockets for new vocabulary."
 
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