The importance of correct English in communication.

in english •  4 years ago 

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A lot of people take umbrage with my sometimes fastidious and often aggressive insistence that people get their words and, to a slightly lesser extent, grammar right.

I'm not going to let up on that. If you don't like it, that's your problem.

Yes, at times I make mistakes. English is a difficult language. I would challenge anybody who has corrected my wording, my spelling, or my grammar to point to a time when I took offence to the correction. If you can point to one, I'm sorry.

Yes, language is born and of an emergent order; and, they evolve. Just last night I was having a discussion with a friend about how ridiculous some time travel movies are for having modern English speakers communicate with English speakers from the 15th century with no trouble. Yet, there's still an importance to call things by their right names.

Discussion and debate needs communication. Oftentimes, when one person uses a word or phrase and the rebuttal contains a similar but different word or phrase, the rebuttal can sound valid while actually dodging the point entirely.

I'll stray away from the most recent controversy to something that's strangely more innocuous: the uses of the words "murderer" and "homicide" in discussion. It's nearly undeniable that people often use these words interchangeably; but, there are times when using them interchangeably is downright immoral. A homicide can mean anything from Jeffrey Dahmer to accidentally hitting a cyclist with your car. Murder is much narrower.

We all know the frustration of saying "In general..." only to be met with, "Well, not always." People play with language to make that asinine retort more stealthy. It should be clear that neither the accidental nor intentional misuse or conflation of words or ideas ever help us to find truth.

Usually, when I use one word rather than another, it's because I'm using the word that I believe is the most correct to express my position. I assume the same of all of you. I expect you to take me at my word, nothing more and nothing less. I try to treat you the same way.

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