The harsh reality?

[Casiopea]

"The plain fact of the matter is that English has been saddled with a number of rules which do nothing more than reflect the prejudices or lack of knowledge of people not trained in the scientific study of language. What is most amazing, however, is that the public still consider these rules to be inviolate."

Read more:

http://personal.ecu.edu/southardo/history.htm

[Red5]

Interesting. I'll be looking forward to this discussion.

[Tdol]

I'll be abck to add more when I've had time to read it, I have added the link, though.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

"The plain fact of the matter is that English has been saddled with a number of rules which do nothing more than reflect the prejudices or lack of knowledge of people not trained in the scientific study of language. What is most amazing, however, is that the public still consider these rules to be inviolate."

Read more:

http://personal.ecu.edu/southardo/history.htm

I'm not so sure about the second part of that statement. Many people quite readily violate those rules and do so on a daily basis.

:D

[Tdol]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Read more:

http://personal.ecu.edu/southardo/history.htm

2a. “‘Standard English’ is the kind of language which people should use for all occasions. ‘Standard’ means most servicable and negotiable and therefore most correct.”

I think some would disagree with this. Many would say that Standard English is preferred in some occasions, especially formal ones. Personally, I'd say it would be inappropriate to use Standard English in all situations for an NES.

[Tdol]

I'm not sure that 'prejudices' and 'lack of knowledge' should be so closely linked.