prescriptivist "among"

[Victor Steinbok]

Texas "new and improved" educational standards have been roundly
criticized for a number of reasons--some valid, some not--including
extolling virtues of McCarthyism. But I haven't seen anyone look at the
/language/ of the actual standards.

My first reaction was that some prescriptivist nitwit did a global
search-and-replace from "between" to "among". So we get gems like these:

1st Grade Social Studies:

> (2) History. The student understands how historical figures and other
> individuals helped to shape the community, state, and nation. The
> student is expected to:
> ...
> (C) compare the similarities and differences among the lives and
> activities of historical figures and other individuals who have
> influenced the community, state, and nation.
>
> (3) History. The student understands the concepts of time and
> chronology. The student is expected to:
> (A) distinguish among past, present, and future; ...

It's rather blatant abuse of one of the classic prescriptivist canards.
In fact, even most prescription-driven recommendations that go beyond a
single sentence include "use 'between' following 'differences'".

Note--I have not consulted any of the regular usage references (still
don't have the volumes). But this is pretty straight stuff.

     VS-)

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