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My last word, I promise (and I'll even link the debate to technical communication):
Someone wrote:
>Historical evidence shows usage, not necessariy >correct usage
Our current idea of "correct" usage is based on a set of arbitrary rules defined 300 years ago by a group of men who had no training in etymology or historical grammar.
They imposed "logical" rules of mathematics and Latin onto a language which did not conform to these rules. Yes, English was in desperate need of standardization, and these men should be commended for recognizing the fact.
But we should not be unbendingly bound to their rules of usage.
I would venture to say, in fact, that historical usage is "correct usage" because it shows how the language is really used by the millions upon millions of people in the world.
As technical communicators, we are often concerned with usability and "intuitive" interfaces. We introduce our readers to a set of standards and then build upon those standards to extend their knowledge.
Our documents fail when we violate those standards and disregard the "intuition" that we've developed in our readers.
The same is true of language. When children learn to speak, they learn the interface - and develop an intuition for using that interface. Then, they go to school and have to unlearn what they have learned (to quote Yoda) - they are told that the intuition is wrong. Thus, grammar classes are doomed to failure before they begin - because they violate a carefully cultivated intution. In fact, grammar classes tend to cause more confusion than they solve.
Of course, it is necessary to learn a standard form of the language to facilitate communication between the various sectors, but again, that standard should be intuitive.
English is moving toward simplification and ease-of-use. That's a historical fact. While writing lags behind speaking in this trend, writing eventually does fall to the demands of ease of use. As a writer, I have to be aware of the trend, and embrace it if it means I can more effectively meet my audience's expectations.
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Jeff Hanvey: http://www.jewahe.net
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