RE: Death of the English Language

[Carl Distefano cld@xxxxxxxx]

In reply to Patricia McLaughlin:
I feel for writing teachers; you're a brave bunch. I'm tempted to
agree with you about "begs t.q." and other tortured expressions ("as
such" springs to mind), just as sometimes, in exasperation, I feel
like joining the group that wants to ban the apostrophe altogether.
But, in the end, I feel that this would be a capitulation -- to
mediocrity, to know-nothingism, to sloppiness -- to all the vices that
plague what passes for discourse in this brain-fried age. The best we
can do, I think, is to keep calm and carry on, explain patiently to
those who would listen, and deliver the occasional knock on the door
in the dark of night to egregious violators. (I'm speaking
metaphorically, of course. I draw the line at actually dragging
offenders off to prison, though sometimes I wish I could. After
confiscating their earphones.)

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx