“Shoddy prose today bespeaks intellectual insecurity: we speak and write badly because we don’t feel confident in what we think and are reluctant to assert it unambiguously (‘It’s only my opinion…’). Rather than suffering from the onset of ‘newspeak,’ we risk the rise of ‘nospeak.'” — Tony Judt, “Words”
Lol
Touché.
And why don’t we feel confident? It seems language is going down the drain (or maybe teaching is making me pessimistic). I find myself debating breaking certain grammar rules just because it will “sound right” to most people reading. But then it always bothers me.
I don’t know why we don’t feel confident. Blame it on the Revolution of ’68 and round up the usual suspects.
By the way, is there any way to subscribe to your posts by email? Saw the RSS feed, but I’m unfamiliar with how it works.
Jennine, I don’t know of any way. I haven’t poked around in all the corners of this software to see what switches can be thrown. Best I can say is bookmark the page in your browser and drop by anytime, we’re always open.