eggcorn

[Rex W. Stocklin]

At 10:26 AM -0700 5/19/05, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:

>that depends on what you mean by "accept".  everyone who studies
>english usage recognizes that "ain't" is very widespread, and has
>been for a long time.  everybody also says that it's non-standard.
>
>on the other hand, stranded prepositions and split infinitives have
>been standard english (at least in certain contexts; in some
>contexts, they are in fact obligatory) for centuries, and this fact
>is recognized by everyone who studies formal standard written
>english as it is actually produced by practiced writers.  the
>blanket "rules" against these constructions are inventions without
>basis in fact.
>
>no one proposes such a thing.  many features of english are like
>"ain't": very widespread, but stably non-standard for long periods
>of time.  they are, however, none of them "mistakes" the way
>malaprops (of either variety) are mistakes.  people who use these
>features aren't aiming for something else and getting these instead.
>they're saying (or writing) exactly what they mean to.
>
>on the other hand, a huge collection of language changes begin in
>"mistakes" of one kind or another.  everything called "reanalysis"
>and "grammaticalization", in particular, turns on some people
>mistaking aspects of the gramars of  people around them.

Uh, I purposely use "ain't", which I never intended to position as a
malaprop. My bad, if it was took that way. (Yep, we talk like that in
Indiana...I want OUT!!!!) I was merely citing a trio of obvious
examples of rules that, certainly, the laic think are still enforced.
Then I expressed my personal experience that words LIKE nuculer"
aren't universally embraced by the letterati. At least it is my
impression that there was some debate still extant between the
prescriptivists and the descriptivists over the proper diction of the
word. I am not sure how well regarded the Vocubula Review is in this
forum, but while I do not agree with ALL of his criticisms, I cite
Robert H. Fiske's article as at least one source of grammatical
discord over the state of our language vis-a-vis the laxness with
accepting any ole thing folks say just because a lot of 'em say it.
Lemmings jump over cliffs to their deaths you know. And y'all know
about flies and shit. If *I* had a child I'd want him/her to trust in
their desktop authority in verbal guidance, if so sought.

>such innovations begin life as minority options (and may be
>disapproved of), then catch on and spread rapidly, and eventually
>become part of the standard language.

And, ahem, ain't THAT the beauty of such an elastic medium as
language? The ability to be augmented by either deliberate or
spontaneous coinage. But as I tried to state in my last missive, I
personally find it hard to accept some of it. See, I adore MOST of
the language coming from the rap culture (they certainly keep us
whitebreads on our toes, n'est-ce pas?) and begrudgingly acknowledge
the ebon/Southern likes of "teef", "axe", "pacific", "strinph",
"poosh", and even "eksetera" (Lord knows its a hard word to
pronounce, A for effort). But, dammit, personal politics
notwithstanding*, I cannot bring myself to take seemingly educated
men saying that verbal bete noire "nuculer". Now...

*After all, Blue Papa Bear Jimmy Carter also sez it that way. ;-) So
it strikes boaf (oops) sides of the aisle. Hell, I even heard a GOP
hero of mine, one Ricard Lugar, say it that way and he's mos def a
north of the Mason/Dixon feller. As for the Southern dialect
argument, I don't buy it, I've known several educated Southern gents
and a few gals as well who get the word right. Pride in the Southern
dialect is right fine and not at all uncalled for. In fact to a
person those folks would pronounce it "nucleah" I'm hip with THAT! A
showcase of the wonderful Southern roll of the "r" sound. But to put
a vowel where none exists, if that makes me an uneducated snob, well
piss on it all.

Surely you guys are the experts in this, but I've always wondered how
much words like "teef" and "troof" are a result of culture as much as
they are a result of bad discipline in speech mechanics (of course,
given the priority meted out to education for minorities and the
poor, it, indirectly, IS cultural).

>arnold, saying very elementary things about language

I'm sorry for being such an unschooled participant, perhaps you might
wanna skip my posts in the future. I've kicked this horse enough as
it is. Peace Out....


The nuculer age, darkness in the era of science diction,
Lexy
Fishers, IN

>As I understand it, most grammarians widely accept "Ain't" now, as
>they do prepositional sentence caps. As well as split infinitives.
>But I have yet to read or hear any groundswell take on acceptance of
>just any malaprop being accepted because of widespread misuse.