> kinda lonely here
But Father Steve, your prescriptions are always more welcome than a doctor's pills! Suggestions on form of language based on sense, clarity, and euphony will rarely divide those with a love of language, I suspect.
What grates on those who love language but realise it is a
fluid expression of people's thoughts and feelings is to hear those prescriptivists at work who would try to enforce arbitrary 'rules', which are often founded on a completely irrational or mistaken analysis of how language has been formed. It is also notable that many prescriptivists are actually complaining about changes in their society about which they feel angry or upset, rather than about language
per se.
I am indebted to Richard H at the w/o board for pointing out this interesting discussion with Geoff Pullen, who imho gets this balance of
accurate description (which includes noting that certain forms of language are markers of social groupings and so on) about right:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/ling/stories/s546929.htm
