Random Thoughts On The Decline Of English

Fred On Everything ^ | 010504 | Fred Reed

[Archangelsk]

Indeed.

[Archangelsk]

Ping

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[baltodog]

"What we have lost we will be a long while in getting back."

Wrong. What we have lost will never be found. How sad.

[antiRepublicrat]

Apparently I'm not alone. Good.

[Age of Reason]

Malicious guttersnipes.

[Diogenesis]

He be makin' ebonics seem double-plus-ungood.

[jigsaw]

Well, Fred, these days it all depends on what the meaning of is is.

[Consort]

But how in Ebonics does one say, “The entropy of a closed system tends to remain the same or to increase”?

Ebonics:
The entropy o' uh closed system tends ta remain da same or ta increase what 'chew trippin foo'

Jive:
Da entropy o' some closed system tends t' remain da same o' t'incraise.

[centurion316]

I cannot agree more. Where is Gwendolyn Ritchie (Columbus HS, English, circa 1963) when we really need her? The art and practice of the language are fading away before our very eyes. How will the generations yet born be able to communicate in some meaningful way?

Faint hope remains, however, on this forum. I recently misused the word "misogyny" when I meant to use "miscengenation". The lateness of the hour, the effects of copious amounts of Jack Daniels, and my reliance on Microsoft's Spellchecker were my only excuses -- they were flimsy defense. But, I was quickly and firmly set straight by fellow freepers. Light the torch and hold it high. Welcome those who choose to come close to the light, and share the knowledge. We shall prevail.

[Professional Engineer]

ping

[Wonder Warthog]

"Indeed."

Yea, verily, and forsooth!!!

[Ophiucus]

The author omitted the their, there, and they're confusion. That misuse drives me abso-freaking-lutely nuts.

[freedumb2003]

But how in Ebonics does one say, “The entropy of a closed system tends to remain the same or to increase”?

Tings stays the same. O' dey gets worser.

[BeerSwillr]

I dunno, I think ol' Fred's kinda good with them thar words an' all that kinda stuff.

[Billthedrill]

Beautiful essay, rather better than Fred has been wont to produce of late. Good writing requires a decent vocabulary, built slowly by reading the works of better writers, which is one reason Fred might ask "Are there real writers out there under fifty?" Of course there are, but they are rather rare. They seem to occur most often in poetry - Shelley and Rimbaud come to mind as examples of very young poets who displayed an artistry with language that they developed with astonishing rapidity in their tragically short span of years.

But essayists, now they're another matter. Montaigne, the master and progenitor of them all, did not flower until quite late in life. This, I think, may be a consequence of the clarity of thought born of long practice and the fund of life's experience that the really good essayist brings to bear on his subject, which are the fruits of maturity.

But I don't think the appreciation of writing as a high art has diminished any more than the appreciation of painting or sculpture; it was, as Fred suggests, always the characteristic of a self-selecting elite rather than a self-proclaimed and undeserving one (that, parenthetically, has given the odor to the term "elite" that it currently quite rightfully carries), and it is a taste that must be cultivated. It may be that an age of instant gratification such as the television offers tends to obscure the existence of the more patient appreciations, but kill them off altogether? Never! Why else would anyone write this sort of composition? Why would anyone think it worth offering to an audience of readers, and why would anyone think it worthy of comment?

I don't always - well, often - agree with Mr. Reed, but he can certainly craft a well-turned phrase. Thanks for posting!

[FreepLady]

As an English major, reading the above makes me sad. Fred is saying what I have thought for years.

[nopardons]

What a sad and wonderful article.

And there is NO such word as " ANYWAYS "; it does NOT exist, no mater how many times FREEPERs type it. :-(

[bonfire]

What REALLY drives me nuts is all the commentators on TV saying "Take a listen...". It sounds so stupid to me.

And why does EVERYONE say "Where are you AT?" Good grief!