Arguing About Language

Gary Gutting:

Today I'm going to hopefully beg a question which will incentivize the reader to share their views. Yes, I'm writing about English grammar and usage.

Debates about linguistic norms typically set traditionalists against revisionists. The two sides are particularly entrenched because each is rooted in a fundamental truth: the traditionalists are right that the rules are the rules (for instance, pronouns do need to agree in number with their referents), and the revisionists are right that language does change over time (nouns can come to be used as verbs).

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 17, 2012 1:41 AM
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