Between You and I the English Language is Going to the Dogs

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• published: 14 Mar 2014
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http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/between-you-and-i-the-english-language-is-going-to-the-dogs/ Filmed at the Royal Geographical Society on 5th March 2014. The English language is going to the dogs. "Between you and I" is just one of the howlers those of us with linguistic sensibilities have to endure. The distinctions between words such as 'infer' and 'imply', and 'uninterested' and 'disinterested' are disappearing. Americanisms such as 'gotten', 'different than' and 'can I get..?' abound. Every office resounds with horrible new jargon such as 'going forward', 'deliverables', 'touch base' and 'heads up'. Infinitives are split, participles dangle. Language is based on established practice and rules. When the rules are continually (and that isn't continuously) broken, the language suffers and those who care suffer too. That's the line taken by the so-called sticklers in this debate, but they are mistaken according to laissez faire linguists. English wasn't set in stone by 19th-century grammarians -- the kind who decreed it's wrong to split an infinitive in English just because you can't in Latin. Language changes but that doesn't mean it's in decline. Traditionalists may argue that digital technology has a pernicious effect on language, but in fact children who text a lot have higher rates of literacy. And it's hard to deny that Facebook, Twitter and email have enriched the expressiveness of our language: ten years ago who could have written "OMG he's RTd my selfie!!"