[Humour] The continued drop in English language standards.

Bakero said:

As it says in my post, the earliest recorded use of disinterested is the "incorrect" one. ie. the meaning that people now like to dispute.

Here's more on the subject from Merriam Webster:

. Disinterested and uninterested have a tangled history. Uninterested originally meant impartial, but this sense fell into disuse during the 18th century. About the same time the original sense of disinterested also disappeared, with uninterested developing a new sense—the present meaning—to take its place. The original sense of uninterested is still out of use, but the original sense of disinterested revived in the early 20th century. The revival has since been under frequent attack as an illiteracy and a blurring or loss of a useful distinction. Actual usage shows otherwise. The "free from selfish interest" sense of disinterested is still its most frequent sense, especially in edited prose; it shows no sign of vanishing. Further, disinterested has developed an additional sense—"no longer interested"—perhaps influenced by the "deprive of" sense of the prefix dis-, that contrasts with uninterested. when I grow tired or disinterested in anything, I experience a disgust — Jack London, letter, 1914. Still, use of the "not interested" and "no longer interested" senses of disinterested will incur the disapproval of some who may not fully appreciate the history of this word or the subtleties of its present use.

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Waynflete said:

That’s interesting, and as I said I appreciate that usage changes back and forth over time. But I maintain that it is a shame if words with two separate meanings become conflated so that they effectively mean the same thing. It reduces the utility and precision of language.

It would be interesting to know what proportion of arguments boil down to misunderstandings based on imprecise language...


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Bakero said:

Meanings change, words fall out of fashion, new words appear. English is as rich as it ever was. Language is always in flux but people seem to be perturbed by changes in their lifetime. Who reads Elizabethan texts and rues the changes that have occurred since then?

In Old English like (lic) meant body. Perhaps, at the time people found it sad that it came to mean similar to. We had another word for body though, so it it didn't matter and like continued to develop apace and adapt into the wondrously flexible word we have today. I'm sure in a 100 years people will be lamenting the loss of the 20th/21st century quotative use of like.

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portlock seagull said:

Completely disagree. One of the reasons for the Great Education Bill in the 19th century was to standardise English. Spelling, grammar and so forth. Huge problems existed before then, amongst the literate not just the illiterate. ‘Talking the same language’ is worth it’s weight in gold. And you need standards for that. Imagine following signs to the ‘Sick Bay’, only to find it was ‘well wicked’ rather than a place to receive immediate medical attention! It’s important for society to function properly that standards exist. And language is enormously important in that respect. We simply can’t communicate effectively or efficiently without. It’s something to uphold not denigrate or even underestimate. Unless someone’s too lazy to learn, or believes it should be changed according to their own narcissistic reasoning - but that doesn’t mean everyone should lower themselves to, well, a lower standard. IMO obviously.

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Simster said:

Could.would of.
There/their/they're
Your/you're


It's probably time to introduce a new "Brexit Simpletons English Dictionary". Oxford University are probably a bit tied up with publishing their own version of the language as it is properly written, so we'd need an appropriate educational establishment to print this new one. Is there a particularly shite poly in the vicinity of the idiot gammon "turkeys for Christmas" stronghold that is Grimsby?

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Garry Nelson's teacher said:

Excuse me, old boy, but shouldn't Oxford University be referred in the singular (is/its) rather than the plural (are/their)? I suspect a possessive apostrophe might be required in Simpletons too. (Those who live by the sword...…...…….)

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Simster said:

You know, I did wonder whether I should of checked my literacy.

Obviously it took a re-joiner to pull me up on my errors though.

Edit: Oxford University is a collection of colleges anyway - I'm not sure whether singular, plural or either is correct in this instance.

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Simster said:

You know, I did wonder whether I should of checked my literacy.

Obviously it took a re-joiner to pull me up on my errors though.

Edit: Oxford University is a collection of colleges anyway - I'm not sure whether singular, plural or either is correct in this instance.

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bobbab5 said:

Why do all BBC football presenters say Manchest United and Manchest City?

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Herr Tubthumper said:

A friend of the lady recently moved to Totnes, which I found out is in the West Country. She joined a Facebook group for people who live in the area and now spends her days deciphering their posts due to their appalling grasp of English. Without fail each and every post is littered with misspellings, grammatical errors and incorrect punctuation. The irony is not lost that a lot of these linguist retards are, well, let’s say a bit patriotic.

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Herr Tubthumper said:

A friend of the lady recently moved to Totnes, which I found out is in the West Country. She joined a Facebook group for people who live in the area and now spends her days deciphering their posts due to their appalling grasp of English. Without fail each and every post is littered with misspellings, grammatical errors and incorrect punctuation. The irony is not lost that a lot of these linguist retards are, well, let’s say a bit patriotic.

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Neville's Breakfast said:

You are such a snob Mr Tubthumper

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LowKarate said:

Maybe that’s what they was meaning.

So like they could of wanted to go to Selhurst than Fratton Park, then went to both.

The times they are a messed-up.

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