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#prescriptivism

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Stan Carey<p>I don&#39;t think any punctuation marks need protecting, by the way. The Apostrophe Protection Society, for example, is a dogmatic organisation with an appetite for shaming people and no apparent understanding of the apostrophe&#39;s diverse history and continuing mutability.</p><p>Punctuation patterns ebb and flow and change with the times. If people see the need for a particular mark, they&#39;ll keep using it.</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/punctuation" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>punctuation</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/semicolon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>semicolon</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/apostrophe" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>apostrophe</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>writing</span></a></p>
Stan Carey<p>On the blog, a review of the linguistics book &#39;New Horizons in Prescriptivism Research&#39; <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2025/04/24/book-review-new-horizons-in-prescriptivism-research-2024/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">stancarey.wordpress.com/2025/0</span><span class="invisible">4/24/book-review-new-horizons-in-prescriptivism-research-2024/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>books</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/BookReview" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>BookReview</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>linguistics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/sociolinguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>sociolinguistics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/research" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>research</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/EnglishUsage" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>EnglishUsage</span></a></p>
Stan Carey<p>A thing about language that a lot of people don&#39;t know is that you can dislike a usage intensely – a pronunciation, a piece of grammar, etc. – without presuming to reject it on behalf of all people, in all places, for all time</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/words" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>words</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/EnglishUsage" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>EnglishUsage</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>grammar</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/LanguageChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>LanguageChange</span></a></p>
Georgiana Brummell<p>Annoying Words I've Seen Today<br>Actionable, deep dives, scaling back, impactful, attitudinal, rolling back, orgs.</p><p>Other Annoying Words/phrases<br>Game-changer, level up, ramp up, kick off, hack (when used about everyday life i.e. cooking hack) ,elevate (hackneyed), Circle back, combo, info, typo, y'all, deets, specs, app/apps (this may be the proper word for mobile applications), pics, photos, faves, legit, adorbs, etc. There are many, many more. This is just a small sample. This is also why I generally can't tolerate more than ten minutes reading modern articles or associating with people who speak and write in this manner. It gives me a headache, sometimes literally (and yes, I do use that word in its proper sense). I fully understand why those with manual dexterity issues, etc. would write shortened words and such. But for the rest of us, there is no excuse. Yes, there are normal abbreviations, but these go well beyond that into sheer laziness. As for the corporate and sports rubbish, when did that start? Why must everything be a game-changer? When did we begin living in a video game that we started levelling up? Have we all become scuba divers that we take deep dives into everything? How did combination turn into combo, when there is only one o in it? Why must everyone, including professionals, write words such as info and photos, to say nothing of the use of emoticons, emojis, etc. in so-called business letters? Speaking of which, when did it become appropriate to call people who are not your friends or family by their first names without their permission, instead of addressing them properly i.e. "hey, Georgiana" instead of "Dear Miss Brummell" or "Dear Madam"? Then, there are those who forget to follow at least one of the rules regarding numbers in a sentence. Either you begin using numerals after ten or, as I do, after 100. "I put 2 cups on the is not proper usage. If I wrote all of my thoughts about such things, I would rival Captain Jesse in rambling and length, but suffice it to say that I am utterly disgusted by all of this modern nonsense, and even more so by bad English in general (good/well, lay/lie, me/I, double negatives, singular they, etc.) being accepted and even promoted by educators, both of native English students and of English learners!</p><p><a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=abbreviations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>abbreviations</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=cCorporateSpeak" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cCorporateSpeak</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=English" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>English</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>grammar</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>linguistics</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=netspeak" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>netspeak</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=textspeak" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>textspeak</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=words" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>words</span></a> <a href="https://friendica.world/search?tag=writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a></p>
Stan Carey<p>The Strunk cost fallacy:<br /><a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2025/01/22/the-strunk-cost-fallacy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">stancarey.wordpress.com/2025/0</span><span class="invisible">1/22/the-strunk-cost-fallacy/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>books</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/EnglishUsage" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>EnglishUsage</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/blog" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>blog</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/neologisms" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>neologisms</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>grammar</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a></p>
Sentence first<p><strong>The Strunk cost&nbsp;fallacy</strong></p><p>Myths have serious sticking power. This is true not just of the myths of antiquity but also of more modern and niche types, like the <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2017/10/03/a-to-z-of-english-usage-myths/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">myths of English usage</a>. It seems that nothing will ever stop people peeving pointlessly about <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/how-awkwardly-to-avoid-split-infinitives/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">split infinitives</a>, <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/dont-never-tell-nobody-not-to-use-no-double-negatives/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">double negatives</a>, <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/fear-and-loathing-of-the-passive-voice/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">passive voice</a>, <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/singular-they-you-and-a-senseless-way-of-speaking/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">singular <em>they</em></a>, &amp;c.</p><p>One thing that makes usage myths sticky, and spready, is that when we’ve gone to the trouble of learning something, we’re often reluctant to <em>unlearn</em> it, even in the face of contradictory truth – especially when that knowledge gives us a pleasurable feeling of authority or expertise. Renouncing it means accepting that we’ve wasted our time, so instead we double down.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/strunk-white-the-elements-of-style.jpg" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>This makes it a form of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_cost#Fallacy_effect" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>sunk cost fallacy</em></a> or <em>sunk cost effect</em>. The term is from economics but has spread to more general use. I’m about to spread it further, with a goofy twist: Doubling down on a bogus rule of language use because you’ve invested time or cognitive effort into learning it is hereby known as the <em>Strunk cost fallacy </em>(or <em>Strunk cost effect</em>).</p><p>Regrettably, there is no way to include E. B. White in the coinage without spoiling the pun, but both he and William Strunk Jr. bear some responsibility for promulgating a range of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211030010349/https:/lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/LandOfTheFree.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">egregious misunderstandings</a> about English grammar, usage, and ‘correctness’.</p><p>The dogmatic tone in those authors’ influential <em>Elements of Style</em> also fuels, among some of its devotees, intolerance of non-standardized dialects and informal varieties of English, because readers gain (or strengthen) the impression that in language use there can be only one right way. This is another fallacy, an insidious and socially toxic one.</p><p>If you find evidence that you have a mistaken belief about language use – it happens to us all – then my advice is to heed that evidence. Instead of allowing your defences to reject the possibility that you’ve wasted your time learning and maybe promoting a falsity, embrace the opportunity to revise your beliefs. Don’t fall for the Strunk cost fallacy.</p><p>In closing, here’s a related piece of snark:</p><blockquote><p>Accidentally typed “Strunk and Why” and this sums up my feelings better than any tired rant I might muster</p><p>— Stan Carey (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5umbpor2jx3i4a7g5gureesq?ref_src=embed" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@stancarey.bsky.social</a>) <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:5umbpor2jx3i4a7g5gureesq/post/3l6nom3awzw2c?ref_src=embed" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Oct 16, 2024 at 20:33</a></p></blockquote><p>(I tried embedding an equivalent <a href="https://mastodon.ie/deck/@stancarey/113318772254514245" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mastodon post</a>, but it didn’t work the way Bluesky’s did. I’m using both platforms for now.)</p><p>* * *</p><p>A few other coinages you might like: <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/whoms-law-of-hypercorrection/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Whom’s Law of Hypercorrection</a>; <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/introducing-indo-european-jones/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Indo-European Jones</a>; <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/scary-quotes/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">scary quotes</a>; the <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/introducing-the-apostrophantom/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">apostrophantom</a>; the <a href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/the-typographic-oath-for-editors/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Typographic Oath for editors</a>.</p><p><span></span></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/books/" target="_blank">#books</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/e-b-white/" target="_blank">#EBWhite</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/grammar/" target="_blank">#grammar</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/humour/" target="_blank">#humour</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/language/" target="_blank">#language</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/neologisms/" target="_blank">#neologisms</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/peevology/" target="_blank">#peevology</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/phrases/" target="_blank">#phrases</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/prescriptivism/" target="_blank">#prescriptivism</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/the-elements-of-style/" target="_blank">#TheElementsOfStyle</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/usage/" target="_blank">#usage</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://stancarey.wordpress.com/tag/william-strunk-jr/" target="_blank">#WilliamStrunkJr</a></p>
Stan Carey<p>The people most likely to complain about grammar are the people least likely to distinguish it from style, register, spelling, and usage.</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>grammar</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/EnglishUsage" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>EnglishUsage</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/fallacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>fallacy</span></a></p>
Court Cantrell prefers not to<p>Concerning <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>grammar</span></a> &amp; <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/spelling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>spelling</span></a>, I no longer adhere to <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> as I once did. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Descriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Descriptivism</span></a> dovetails far better with my acquired understanding of language as a living, growing, metamorphosing creature that *will not* be contained or constrained by any rules we humans try to place upon it. </p><p>However. </p><p>Choices such as</p><p>orientate<br>conversate<br>nucular<br>alot<br>realitor<br>michievious<br>definatly<br>apart of</p><p>will never fail to make me wither away a little on the inside.</p><p>Sorry, y'all. 😆🖖</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>language</span></a>!</p>
Jim Donegan 🎵 ✅<p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/SimnonRoper" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SimnonRoper</span></a> - <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Descriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Descriptivism</span></a> and <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Prescriptivism</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-bsOXbMNY" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-bsOXbMN</span><span class="invisible">Y</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Philosophy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Philosophy</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PhilosophyOfLanguage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PhilosophyOfLanguage</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Language</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Linguistics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Linguistics</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/SoundChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SoundChange</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Class" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Class</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Normativism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Normativism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Morality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Morality</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Anthropology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Anthropology</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Religion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Religion</span></a></p>
Greg Pfeil<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://social.rossabaker.com/@ross" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>ross</span></a></span> You should be prosecuted <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> – even MLA finally kicked the 2-space recommendation like a decade ago.</p>
Ergative Absolutive<p>I'm reading a student paper where the expression 'at the behest of' is used repeatedly to mean 'at the expense of', and it's getting on my nerves.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/whinging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>whinging</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/prescriptivism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prescriptivism</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/wordsMeanThingsDammit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>wordsMeanThingsDammit</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/butImALinguistTho" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>butImALinguistTho</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/EVEN_SO" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EVEN_SO</span></a>!!!</p>

#Introduction (since I am still new here): I am a linguist at Freie Universität Berlin, working on #Dutch and other #Westgermanic languages (#German, #English, #Afrikaans, #Plattdeutsch etc.). My focus is on #morphology and #LanguageChange, mostly from a #contrastive perspective. Also interested in #sociolinguistics and the relationship between language and society. #StandardLanguageIdeology and #prescriptivism are central topics in our #Graduiertenkolleg on #normativity at #FUBerlin.

Continued thread

Alright here's my rant about #prescriptivism, you asked for it

A pet peeve of mine is people misunderstanding what literal and figurative speech even are

When people complain that "'literally' is used to mean 'figuratively'", they are belying that their theory of communication is overly reductive to the point of being demonstrably false