this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Literally^1^ no one is harmed
^1^and I do mean literally, in the classical sense
You just had to footnote your one line comment because of language erosion. Take that as you will.
Nice try. Fun fact: Language prescriptivism is at best classist, at worst white nationalist behavior. Take that as you will, and have fun on my blocklist.
Wow that's quite the abrasive response to an off the cuff remark. Have a nice life.
Still it will be hard to break to my mixed race kids that their dad is a secret white nationalist.
Descriptivism is a vestige of pre-industrial society. Prescriptivism is a necessity of universal literacy. Language evolves over time, and one of the ways in which it evolves is how it evolves. Also, if you believe in linguistic descriptivism, you are also required to believe in a descriptivist system of weights and measures, or vice versa, or you're a hypocrite. Thank you for attending my TED talk, I am not taking questions.
???
People hate when you say this but you're right, prescriptivism is a fucking disgusting practice and anyone who supports it needs to take a long hard look at the rest of their opinions and why they hold them.
Yes, as you know it has been historically used to exclude and marginalize groups of people, and it still is!
Rules in languages serve the same purpose as standards in engineering. Sure, you don’t have to follow them. And if you want your home’s piping to use 81/13 inch diameters, knock yourself out. But it’s a pain for everyone who will ever be involved with that mess. And a lot of people are involved in your choice of words and grammar.
You're really comparing language to engineering
STEM brainrot take
Gotta love a civil discussion.
I was able to clearly understand your message even though you defied prescriptive conventions by using "gotta"
Gotta love how language evolves. I'm going to fuck up so many conventions today, just you wait and see!
THEM: don't make language less expressive
YOU: wow you just used a thing that makes language more expressive CHECKMATE
dis opinion bussin blud fr fr ong
I like you
When it comes to grammar and syntax it makes sense though. Common rules help us understand each other.
Except that we're talking about individual words here. It's not as if we're saying verbs are over now or that all sentences have to be all "Shaka, when the walls fell" or something.
You could have made that point without being rude towards the entirety of the STEM community, but chose not to.
You're in a discussion about language but unable to navigate analogy? Or even just be civil and engage in a respectful manner? Maybe sit this one out.
They don't though, because my sentence doesn't collapse and kill several dozen people if I don't use the oxford comma
you're literally making their point for them by (deliberately) misinterpreting what they meant by "harm" in a way that wouldn't be possible if the language was more expressive
Not if I cause them harm.