Re: New York Times on the PSAT Glitch

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 6/1/03 5:36:57 PM, JMB at STRADLEY.COM writes (quoting
GEOFFREY NUNBERG in THE NEW YORK TIMES):


> In recent decades, the defense of usage standards has become a flagship
> issue for the cultural right: the people who are most vociferous about
> grammatical correctness tend to be those most dismissive of the political variety.
>
It may be a flagship issue," but I disagree with the conclusion that those
who are "most vociferous about grammartical correctness" are right-wingers
(which is what Nunnberg SEEMS to be saying -- what he means by "those most
dismissive of the political variety" is anybody's guess, but in the context it at
least SEEMS to refer back to "the cultural right").

The notion crosses all political boundaries that the language is
"deteriorating" and that schools are producing students whose knowledge of "the language."
This is especially true, in my experience, among academics -- even those who
profess to teach literature.