Quote:
Originally Posted by Nisgeis
To true. Its about thyme people new were there apostrophe's should go. Eye say chute the lot off them's. Buy ewe no its about communication. Ass' long as thing's our clear and easy too reed then witch off us is too say that its' bad. Four ewe, it may bee wired but four other's its not grate but ass' long ass' its red OK, its understandable. Ewe no watt eye mean, sow watt is the problem?
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Yes, that is a commonly used argument. I'll leave it to Geroge Orwell, a far greater exponent of the English language than I can ever expect to be, to reply (I changed some font to bold type for emphasis):
A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly.....: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.
.......
The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose
George Orwell, 'Politics and the English Language', 1946
There you go....
Cheers