Comments on: For who the bell tolls http://www.sourapplesblog.com/2008/10/28/for-who-the-bell-tolls/ Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:05:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: elliott http://www.sourapplesblog.com/2008/10/28/for-who-the-bell-tolls/comment-page-1/#comment-11 elliott Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:40:56 +0000 http://elliottcallahan.com/blog/?p=29#comment-11 The point of the article is that certain prohibitions imposed by so-called grammarians are unreasonable, because they are not real. The evidence I give in support of this point is that you can't always follow these rules and sound intelligent, even if you want to. The point is NOT that we should abandon all grammatical rules whatsoever. I am not saying that "package the who you send to did?" and, "unghh ghhh gug *click*" should be acceptable ways of asking "Who did you send the package to?" but I am saying that "To whom did you send the package?" and, "Who did you send the package to?" are. They are both English, neither is more right than the other, and to claim that one ordering of words is somehow superior makes you a jerk. Especially when the rules you propose cannot even be applied to some sentences, and still be called "English." Ungrammaticality, to linguists, is when an utterance is not recognizeable as part of your Language. http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/archives/001816.html The point of the article is that certain prohibitions imposed by so-called grammarians are unreasonable, because they are not real. The evidence I give in support of this point is that you can’t always follow these rules and sound intelligent, even if you want to.

The point is NOT that we should abandon all grammatical rules whatsoever.
I am not saying that

“package the who you send to did?” and,
“unghh ghhh gug *click*”

should be acceptable ways of asking

“Who did you send the package to?”

but I am saying that

“To whom did you send the package?” and,
“Who did you send the package to?”

are. They are both English, neither is more right than the other, and to claim that one ordering of words is somehow superior makes you a jerk. Especially when the rules you propose cannot even be applied to some sentences, and still be called “English.”

Ungrammaticality, to linguists, is when an utterance is not recognizeable as part of your Language.

http://158.130.17.5/~myl/languagelog/archives/001816.html

]]> By: Joe Blfstyk http://www.sourapplesblog.com/2008/10/28/for-who-the-bell-tolls/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Joe Blfstyk Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:45:45 +0000 http://elliottcallahan.com/blog/?p=29#comment-10 Our language is a growing, flowing organism which evolves daily as we strive for a more perfect union of minds. (Here, I'm paraphrasing a linguist friend of mine.) Who can forget those poetic and prophetic words of Johnny Cochran: "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit." Eventually, as we evolve we should be able to eliminate all but the simplest grunts and tics. Even now, I find I can have a complete and intimately satisfying conversation employing just three monosyllabic exhalations -- Yo, sup, dawg. Our language is a growing, flowing organism which evolves daily as we strive for a more perfect union of minds. (Here, I’m paraphrasing a linguist friend of mine.) Who can forget those poetic and prophetic words of Johnny Cochran: “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit.” Eventually, as we evolve we should be able to eliminate all but the simplest grunts and tics. Even now, I find I can have a complete and intimately satisfying conversation employing just three monosyllabic exhalations — Yo, sup, dawg.

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