GrodsCorp

Lachlan Connor, MIA

Tuesday 29 May 2007, 6:09 pm

The Editor

Categories: Blogosphere, Lachlan Connor, Independent, Politics

Tags: English, IainHall, LachlanConnor, language

It’s Tuesday and the latest episode of Lachlan Connor, Independent is nowhere to be seen. In fact, I’ve been largely absent from this website recently with almost zero posts or comments in my name over the last week. But, Jesus, it’s been busy at work. I’m afraid that report writing will cause Lachlan to be a few more days yet; perhaps next week due to ~~Jacob~~ Billybob’s wedding on Friday. But in the meantime I urge you to go read the transcript of a great Radio National Perspective in the context of those bloggers who try to excuse their poor English by crapping on about the language being a “living, evolving creature.”

The English language is a living, breathing, constantly evolving beast. As exciting as this is for many of us, we must recognise the difference between new words, expressions and ways of communicating, and incorrect grammar bred from laziness, ignorance and stupidity.

23 Comments

Bruce (Tuesday 29 May 2007, 7:01 pm) #

But the English language is constantly evolving. There’s no static set of rules and no authority to mandate them.
Bridgit Gread (Tuesday 29 May 2007, 7:43 pm) #

Oh yes, it’s certainly evolving . It’s just that some people are ‘evolving’ it more than others … mainly because they can’t use the damn thing in the first place.
The Editor (Tuesday 29 May 2007, 7:47 pm) #

What Bridgit said.
Jangari (Tuesday 29 May 2007, 10:33 pm) #

If I can weıgh ın on thıs, as a lınguıst, Englısh (ın fact, all natural human languages and possıbly even non-human languages too) are organıc systems that are constantly evolvıng and only slow down ın theır flux due to self-professed grammarıans parrotıng on about ‘bastardısed Englısh’ and so on, whıch takes the guise of - at the best of times - poıntless and - at the worst of tımes - harmful rules and constraınts about ‘grammar’ such as not splıttıng ınfınıtıves and the passive voice should not be used.

However, thıs fact ıs all too often flouted by wrıters who show frequently themselves to be unable to conform to the conventıons typıcal of the standard, formal dıalect of wrıtten Englısh. Puttıng an apostrophe insıde the possessıve ıts or usıng the wrong pronoun due to a long-distance dependence ıs not lınguistıc evolutıon, ıt’s just bad composıtıon.

That saıd, thıs Dr Ron’s concern for ‘tıttles’ ıs dısturbingly sılly. I hate the thıngs, clearly.
John Surname (Tuesday 29 May 2007, 11:15 pm) #

My congratulations to Jacob/Billybob!
Gnome Chimsky (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 1:36 am) #

Hi Jangari. I love your name. Its linguistical qualities are universal and I must ask for a grant to do further research on it. Jangari…okay I just got it… forgive me and correction to my last. After syntactic analyses and careful investigation, the splitting infinitives to your cut and paste are based heavily on the border between grammatical and ungrammatical constructs in a language resulting in pragmatic reasoning that is heavily influenced on early childhood trauma. If you had written that comment on Grods around say um…1955, I would not have had to spend five years researching my book ‘Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory…’

‘P.S Do you think Theodore Kaczynski aka the Unabomber still wants to blow me up?
rdb (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 6:44 am) #

mipela no got savy long dispela tok tok bilong man na mary long dispela blog
Jangari (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 9:00 am) #

Gnome, you should know that Chomsky doesn’t do research! He rejects empiricism altogether as it completely refutes just about everything that he claims.

Rdb, I love a good bit of Tok Pisin.
Bruce (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 10:43 am) #

Oh yes, it’s certainly evolving . It’s just that some people are ‘evolving’ it more than others … mainly because they can’t use the damn thing in the first place.

Incorrect. They are just mutating it a bit more. Before it’s evolution, their mutation has to be naturally selected as well… ;-)
Bruce (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 10:45 am) #

ın fact, all natural human languages and possıbly even non-human languages too

I was going to say that… But I forgot… :(
Christine Keeler (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 12:38 pm) #

Aim on ur comptr, screwin up ur english
Bridgit Gread (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 2:23 pm) #

Incorrect. They are just mutating it a bit more.

The English language is a beautiful thing; it is not a mutation. Watching people butcher it then explain their ignorance away as ‘evolution’ is a bit like ‘upskirters’ suggesting they are contributing to common law.

Before it’s evolution…

Looks like you are doing your bit too.
Jangari (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 2:25 pm) #

Bridgit, Bruce meant that ‘before it is considered evolution, mutation takes place’, rather than ‘before the evolution that belongs to it’, or ‘before its evolution’.
Bridgit Gread (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 2:43 pm) #

In the words of other language-mutants, “Like… what-EVER!”
rdb (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 2:56 pm) #

Thanks Jangari.
silpheed (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 6:26 pm) #

I am against literary abortions interposed in our lexicon as much as the next man, the Queen’s English must be preserved at all costs, otherwise words will have no stuff and like heh I was all yahhhhh and she was like nuh uh and lol k c u b4 bb gr8 k bai.
Bruce (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 6:58 pm) #

Looks like you are doing your bit too.

I was waiting for someone to catch my “evolution of it’s”!

I was thinking of writing it as “it’s-evolution”, but that would have been to obvious a pun. Nice catch on the subtlety BG.

(Tt was subtle wasn’t it?)
Bruce (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 7:03 pm) #

Oh, BG thought I made a possesive “it’s” rather than “its” boo boo.

Before it’s evolution

Take this as meaning “before it qualifies as evolution…” or “before it is considered to be evolution”. That being said, “it’s evolution” was still a deliberate pun as well.
Bridgit Gread (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 9:53 pm) #

Well I’m just confused now. I wonder if Esperanto is this ambiguous.
Bruce (Wednesday 30 May 2007, 10:54 pm) #

Esperanto was designed, it didn’t evolve ;-)
rdb (Thursday 31 May 2007, 7:27 am) #

dispela pisin em i goodpela samtin e no got punctuation
Bruce (Thursday 31 May 2007, 11:53 am) #

Speaking of languages and punctuation, what language is “;-)”?
Bruce (Saturday 2 June 2007, 9:56 pm) #

Well, I’m getting grilled over my deviant use of the English language lol.

Who assigns my penance?