Why is "hopefully" bad English? -- was "Re: assumably"

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I've always been puzzled about "hopefully" being dismissed as bad English.
The German equivalent is "hoffentlich," which is not only perfectly acceptable but seems to be used more than "ich hoffe" (= I hope).

Gerald Cohen

> ----------
> From:         American Dialect Society on behalf of RonButters at AOL.COM
> Sent:         Sunday, September 26, 2004
> Subject:           Re: assumably etc.
>
        <snip>
> Nobody seems to be teaching that HOPEFULLY is "bad English" in the snazzy high  schools that my students pass through.
        <snip>