David Damerell <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<o1E*
[email protected]>...
> Simon Mason <
[email protected]> wrote:
> >
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/zrage.htm
>
> "Road rage is a modern-day phenomena" - ugh.
>
> [But, thank you.]
Phenomenon indeed. Yet when we point out these errors to the local journos, they protest that we're
old stick in the muds who let our grammatical accuracy get in the way of their freedom to use the
English language as a canvas where they can paint their word pictures. See below
"A Letter criticising me appeared in the Mail last Saturday from a Mr Don Canty (which, incidentally
is one of the most beautiful names I've ever heard, I love anything Cant or Canty). Anyway, this
Canty fella writes to the Mail appalled at "columnists' slapdash English" claiming it undermines the
Mail's commendable contribution to education. "They seem to suffer from an involuntary 'hey' twitch
as well as incorporating 'gotta', 'gonna', 'come on', 'thingy', 'I mean' and 'blokes' into their
semi-literate offerings."
Mr Canty urges me and the Adams woman...oops! Sorry, Adams woman and
I...to "refrain from using colloquialistic familiarities" and hold back on "slang-based ingratiating
bonhomie".
Woooooo! Big words! Hey, chill out Mr Canty. Don't get a babby's head on about it. And while you're
waiting for the steam and froth to die down, maybe you should check whether colloquialistic is a
real word or whether you made it up.
(I love it when people criticise my writing style or grammar and then go and make a daft mistake
themselves. Let him what is without sin cob the first stone.)
But seriously, Mr Canty, I believe language is alive and fluid. It is constantly moving and
changing, and this movement is, for the most part, driven by common use.
Language belongs to the people, it can't, and should not be, boxed in.
I agree children should be taught formal usage and construction (the basics of the craft), but
they should also be encouraged to use the medium of language to express themselves. They should
be allowed to push back the boundaries and see what they can express through the rhythm and
colour of language.
I use a colloquial style not because I'm some divvy who doesn't know better, but because I want
readers to hear and identify with my voice. I want to stand out from the rest of the Mail - to be
more opinionated and provocative, funnier, less formal.
So thanks for writing Mr Canty, I am genuinely pleased you read the columnists (even
what's-her-name) and that you are so engaged by the paper you have made the effort to write in. But
I think I speak for both of us when I say "soz, but we ain't gonna change."
---------------------------
I call it sloppy, but they are no worse than the journos at the BBC who often commit such
errors as:
None of the players were injured... The media is biased ... All stratas of society...
but what do I know, I've no English O level. Simon Mason.