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	tez 2010-12-05 05:17 am UTC (link)
	I think a LOT of people need to learn how dictionaries -- and language -- work. (Reply to this)(Thread)

ladybirdsleeps
2010-12-05 05:34 am UTC (link)

It's not that hard, is it?

I brought this up in a previous rant over language use in FFR, but it's an observation that's stuck with me ever since I first noticed: People are so goddamn authoritarian when it comes to language.

visp is a perfect example of it. There are right ways to speak and wrong ways to speak and that's that. You can't question the rules, man -- that makes you a hippie and an idiot.

I don't know about

visp, but a lot of people who are like this are otherwise not particularly authoritarian. It makes me suspect that the reason this kind of attitude hangs on is because it's one of the few remaining ways that they can (acceptably) create a superior identity for themselves.

... I really should stop ranting.

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tez
2010-12-05 06:23 am UTC (link)

As far as I'm concerned, the only time I ever get authoritarian about the English language is when it's required -- meaning academic and business communications. (I will completely admit to being an absolute pedantic ass when it comes to proper English in business communications. If you can't proofread your shit when there's money on the line, then I can't take you seriously. I am also a pedantic ass when it comes to formatting and font usage. The stories I could tell about some of the crap I've seen...)

People will find the strangest things to be superior over. I always thought that semantic drift was one of the neatest things about languages; they're always evolving to accommodate changing situations and cultures. But then again, I imagine you're probably right in that people like to feel superior, and just about every other thing out there will...well, make you sound like a privileged asshole. So people get superior over their use of their native tongue.

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ladybirdsleeps
2010-12-05 06:46 am UTC (link)

There are a lot of rules you have to follow in a professional setting. Not all of them are logical, but if you're ignorant of those rules or just don't pay any attention to them, it does say something about how you approach your job. It's like showing up to a professional office job in jeans. It's not like wearing jeans will suddenly make you unable to do your work, but it does show you as the type of person who doesn't "get" it.

Catchester and visp are like those people who insist that even if your office doesn't care whether you wear pantyhose and no one else in your office wears pantyhose, you must still wear pantyhose because not doing so is somehow objectively wrong.

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tez
2010-12-05 06:54 am UTC (link)

Right -- and really, even in a business communication your English doesn't have to be AP Style Guide perfect. It just needs to be crisp, clearly understandable, and proofread to have no glaringly obvious errors in grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling. It also can't be multicolored/multi-fonted, which I saw once and it made my head hurt. I admit to being in a field that relies heavily on first impressions, and I want mine to be a good one.

I really hate those people, honestly. So many rules -- language among them -- are subjective. It makes you wonder what else they get so regimented about, you know? Are they that authoritarian to everyone they deal with?

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bubosquared
2010-12-07 11:01 am UTC (link)

Dear

visp,

Bite my shiny hippie arse.

No love,
Melle

(Seriously, is there something in the water or something? Because someone pulled the "Allow me to share with you this dictionary defintion of the word "transitive," which somehow makes my point ("All monotheists believe in the same god, by definition, and if they/you claim they/you don't, they/you're lying or stupid") and proves I am Right and you are Wrong, neener neener" bollocks, completely with link to wikipedia, and WTF, people?)

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