English is "diminishing"

[Laurence Horn]

>Wow, thanks for passing this along.
>
>Still, this piece is so poorly argued and violative of the linguistic
>principles it pretends to defend that I wonder whether it's intended as
>parody.

No, I think it's a deadly serious but poorly written undergraduate essay.

"The movie "Clueless" is based on Jane Austen's novel "Emma,"
although students and adults alike fail to regard Austen's prolific
work as the mother of literary offspring."

Two parts oblivion with a dollop of delusional, stir until completely
mixed, add in a pinch of hostility,...

What can you say?

LH

>
>
>On 2/4/08 10:03 AM, "Andrea Morrow" <aandrea1234 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>>  I teach business communication, and I subscribe to an online headline
>>  news service that supposedly brings me "the top headlines in the
>>  field" (according to the service's copy).
>>
>>  One of today's headlines was "English Language Still Diminishing in
>>  Quality".  As we all know, this has been such a familiar complaint,
>>  it's a wonder English hasn't diminished right out of existence.  Turns
>>  out, the headline is from a college newspaper editorial, with such
>>  statements as: "Wave goodbye to the days of extant originality and
>>  herald the proximity of clones thinking similar ideas."  Here's the
>>  link:
>>
>  > http://theapp.appstate.edu/content/view/3060/41/
>>
>>  I only mention this because it feeds the common (mis)perception that
>>  English is somehow endangered - and it came to me via a supposedly
>>  professional channel that is said to capture the latest ideas.
>>
>>  Andrea
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org