I am unilingual English. I have tried to learn other languages such as French and German, but alas, to no avail. Nonetheless, having determined that English is my one and only language, I decided some time ago to make the best of it. I, therefore, set out to master my language to the best of my ability and to use it as effectively as possible. Apparently a lot of people don’t feel this is necessary.
A few years
ago, an English teacher made the statement that grammar and spelling were no
longer necessary because the language was evolving too fast. Many people also feel that sticking to the
rules of grammar stifles creativity. Their
belief being that creativity can only be truly encouraged by ignoring all the
rules. The result is that a lot of
written works of “art” these days are unintelligible to the average reader. Only a select few critics say they are able
to interpret these magical words and phrases, thus making themselves “indispensable”.
The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he
really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good.- Robert Graves
There is no
doubt that language evolves and it should not be any other way. Language, to be effective, must be able to
express the thoughts and actions of the current society. Shakespearian English could no more describe
the present than could ancient Greek. But note that Shakespearian and Greek, as
well as Latin and ancient German, are the roots to our current English. But to be effective and precise, the evolution
must adhere to some norms of structure, grammar and spelling. Otherwise, we could not communicate. And let’s face it, language is all about
communications. Creativity is a
byproduct. And to be effective, communication must be understandable to the
audience to which it is directed. You
can use LOL and OMG as long as all of the people you are communicating with
understand what those mean.
Some years
ago, I served as an exchange officer with the US Navy. When I arrived there, I was overwhelmed by
the vast number of acronyms that they used.
When I asked how to interpret these acronyms, I was directed to look
them up in the DICNAVAB, which was no use whatsoever, since I didn’t even know
what that meant. It turned out to be yet
another acronym, this one for the Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations.
I have come
to love and respect the English language as probably the most important and
powerful tool that I have. Love, because
it allows me to convey so many thoughts and emotions. Respect, because it allows me to convey the precision
that is sometimes required in, for example, engineering. Without language, both written and spoken, we
would never have emerged from the stone-age caves.
As an
author, I learned how to use both the formal language and the odd quirks of the
spoken language. These are usually quite
different. Where, in the formal language,
an author might say, “I saw the tree over that river”, in the mouth of a poor
country person, it might come out as, “I see’d yon tree over that there
river.” They both say the same thing,
but the context calls for a totally different way of expressing it. However, the important thing is that both
statements convey the message effectively.
So, protect
your language whatever it or they may be.
They are your tools to express your love for someone you care about; to
express your description of something beautiful or ugly; to make sense of the
instructions for your new smart phone; to describe the instructions of how to
make that smart phone; to write that story you always wanted to tell; and, to
read the letter from your publisher that they will, in fact, print your
story. Language, such a wonderful all
round tool.
I wish people who have trouble communicating would
just shut up.- Tom Lehrer
Her virtue was that she said what she thought; her
vice that what she thought didn't amount to much.
- Peter Ustinov
- Peter Ustinov
