Who ruined English: Brits or Yanks?

Kory Stamper:

Two weeks ago, there was a literal brouhaha over news that English dictionaries around the world had finally given in and ruined English by entering the hyperbolic and figurative meaning of "literally". While people flapped their hands and began to eulogize our fine language, lexicographers battened down the hatches and waited for the storm to pass, as it would. The death of English was literally (senses 1 and 2) old news to us.

As far back as the 15th century, English speakers were bemoaning the shortcomings of their language. The earliest worries were that English simply didn't have enough words in it: England's own poet laureate whinged in 1545 that his native language was so full of difficulties that he didn't think he'd be able to find the "termes to serve my mynde". By the 1700s, the idea that unless upright citizens who cared about grammar stepped in, "good" and "proper" English might dwindle into nothing was already well established.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 24, 2013 1:02 AM
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