Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]My good man, I claim it and I took NINE years of grammar in the Catholic schools and from there went on to spend my adult life immersed in the requirements and pleasures of English. There are many many more expert than I but I'm no slouch. So I know you ain't right. I would add -- and this is going to infuriate people -- that to my mind the only vivid and creative new developments in the English language in my lifetime have taken place in the context of urban culture and its tremendously inventive, sly, colorful new forms of speech. Of course, 'standard' English is meant for those in power; those without power have to speak in code. Thus, in the U.S.,black English since at least the mid-19th century has been, quite intentionally, only marginally comprehensible to whites. So when people complain about irregular speech and bad grammar and such they are not talking about Mark Twain's vernacular, Casey Stengel's, or Yogi Berra's. INVARIABLY they are talking about people whom they view, or whom they want to depict, as below them socially. On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 1:39 PM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu>wrote: > I have heard this "bourgeois preoccupation" anecdote before. > > Yes, of course language evolves, and English probably more than most, but > that does not mean that there are no rules. People who claim that are > simply > too lazy to learn and apply them. > > Nathan > > Nathan Wajsman > Alicante, Spain > http://www.frozenlight.eu > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.nathanfoto.com > > Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > > > > > > On Mar 12, 2010, at 3:38 PM, Vince Passaro wrote: > > > oh puhleeze. as a teacher of mine once said, a world-respected scholar in > > the history of modern english -- "spelling is a bourgeois preoccupation." > > english has no academy and no formal set of rules, and almost every > > grammatical so-called rule you were taught in english has numerous > > exceptions. it is a fluid and changeable language and this is a crucial > part > > of its vigor and its beauty. > > > > i hope i've impacted someone on this. > > > > actually, i hate 'impact' as a verb. but i don't claim it's a rule. i > just > > claim people who use it aren't my friends, and when i've had to work for > > them i've been miserable. > > > > vince > > > > On Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 3:37 PM, Greg Lorenzo <gregj_lorenzo at > > hotmail.com > >wrote: > > > >> > >> Nathan Wajsman writes: > >> > >>> > >>> Is it considered "modern" to write without verbs and discarding rules > of > >> punctuation etc.? > >>> > >>> I suppose he fancies himself a present-day James Joyce with a camera > and > >> his stream of consciousness. > >> > >> > >> I consider it, along with non-use of capital letters, a sign of an > improper > >> education. > >> > >> > >> > >> Greg Lorenzo > >> > >> Calgary, Canada > >> > >> _________________________________________________________________ > >> Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. > >> http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469228/direct/01/ > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Leica Users Group. > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >