Oh, so sad. Descriptivists are neither winning or losing, but they do describe what speakers/writers of the language are saying or writing at any one time, without judgment of correctness or incorrectness. Prescriptivists are neither winning or losing, but they try to stipulate how the speakers/writers of a language should speak or write. Most descriptivists I know can speak and write standard English as well or better than most prescriptivists I know. The big difference between the two camps is the excuses or reasons that prescriptivists invent or inherit to explain why one usage is better than or to be preferred to another. It's been said before, and will probably be said again.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.