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But is whats happening now "evolutionary"? What improvements are being made?
The words "evolve" and "improve" don't necessarily mean the same thing, and improvement is not necessarily the result of evolution. For example, the fish that live in dark caves that evolved to become a species with no eyes. Hard to call that an improvement. Or ratite birds that evolved wings that were incapable of sustaining flight.
The word 'evolve' is often used to describe changes in a language, and in the case of language, evolution generally does imply improvement. In that the language gradually becomes more user-friendly to the people using it. For example, the reduction in the number of irregular form, or clustering all nouns into the same declension.
I work in an OR, a professional environment. Other staff members (who are professionals) in my opinion do not speak correctly. Substituting "axed" for "asked" and taking "l"s completely out of words. Now I'm from New York so we speak a little differently to begin with but this is a little far. The issue is everyone seems OK with it. Is this being allowed at schools? Opinions please.
My sister, who's three years younger than I am, was permitted to ask whether or not spelling "counted" by the time she got to high school--a question that I was not, since it had always been a matter of policy that, in fact, spelling DID count. Once schools stopped insisting that students actually learned how to spell, that's when the decline set in. I don't believe that environment or evolution has anything to do with it--it's a simple case of permitting educational standards to fall by the wayside.
That's just it--for some reason kids are not being taught, no, forced, to spell and write correctly anymore. When I was in school the teacher embarrassed people for, ready?, not underlining a book title. Now it seems one can type or write absolutely anything and it's acceptable. Well, it's not acceptable. It makes people look lazy and stupid. Messy writing gives the message that they just don't care. I don't see how this is going to change, sadly, but I am getting ready to bring a marker with me everywhere and fix all the signs that are wrong. It sounds like a shallow or meaningless topic when there are bigger problems in the world, but it's something that should be easy and automatic and all of a sudden it has vanished.
reading this thread from the list of threads, i thought the talk would be here about English losing its #1 status as an international language the "decay" is yet to come...
Last edited by GINATSVALI; 07-02-2009 at 04:57 AM..
I work in an OR, a professional environment. Other staff members (who are professionals) in my opinion do not speak correctly. Substituting "axed" for "asked" and taking "l"s completely out of words. Now I'm from New York so we speak a little differently to begin with but this is a little far. The issue is everyone seems OK with it. Is this being allowed at schools? Opinions please.
Of course it's being aloud. I seen that memorandum about it. Irregardless, it's best to just mind you own business. I could go on and on here, but i really aint in the mood.
Last edited by Stratford, Ct. Resident; 07-02-2009 at 05:45 AM..
Of course it's being aloud. I seen that memorandum about it. Irregardless, it's best to just mind you own business. I could go on and on here, but i really aint in the mood.
UUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Thats exactly it! I had another "professional" ask me yesterday "where you got that?" I said I didn't "got" anything. Do people realize how uneducated they sound? "oh I axed her" Oh really you axed her and she's still at work? Thats dedication. If I was having a procedure done and someone was speaking like that to me I'd reschedule.
As dress has gotten more and more casual, regardless of the occassion, so has our language.
Would you have been surprised to hear slang , if you went to our village clerk's office, when the woman you were facing was dressed in short shorts and a crop top?
It sounds like a shallow or meaningless topic when there are bigger problems in the world,.
Actually, there aren't very many bigger problems in the world. The way Americans use their language reflects a general contempt for the members of the society in which we live. And it reflects a general disregard for the fundamental principle of education and scholarship as a path to logical and rational thought and progress.
This general contempt and disregard for other people's interests and our own behavior is being perpetuated by our assumptions that we are the policemen of the world, not merely expecting people to follow our example, but compelling them to do so under force of arms. That makes it a very big problem indeed.
The world being shaped and controlled by people who systematically reject propriety and embrace disorder and simply refuse to learn is a frightening menace.
Last edited by jtur88; 07-02-2009 at 07:33 AM..
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the "decay" is yet to come...
. I seen
in the mood.
