The New York Times has thrilled me once again with an interesting article about language. John McWhorter, a linguist, argues that the degradation of the English language is partly the fault of 1960's culture.
As a linguist, he says, he knows that grammatical rules are arbitrary and that in casual conversation people have never abided by them. Rather, he argues, the fault lies with the collapse of the distinction between the written and the oral. Where formal, well-honed English was once de rigueur in public life, he argues, it has all but disappeared, supplanted by the indifferent cadences of speech and ultimately impairing our ability to think....Intriguing. Posted by Julie Young at November 16, 2003 09:38 PM