YALP!

[gnomi]

At one of the panels at EPICon, a panelist referred to "trends in grammar." This, I'm told, made me look like I was about to commit homicide. But then a conversation over lunch with d2leddy made me wonder if I was being too narrow in my thinking. Thus, a poll:

[Poll #945951]

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Trends in narf! Trends in poit!

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

If there were not trends in grammar, style, and usage, we would all still be shprakken þuslike. The difference between a hardass prescriptivist and a loosey-goosey descriptivist is a factor of 1,000 in the time scale.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'd disagree with your assessment of language change as a "trend" in grammar. I agree that there are styles in usage and style.

[bbennett.livejournal.com]

All I know is it makes me bitter and angry that it's becoming acceptable to say you're "nauseous" instead of "nauseated" just because so many people have used it RONG for some many years.

(Also, I don't know know enough about the definitions of the two to intelligently answer number 3, so ignore my response on that).

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely on "nauseous" vs. "nauseated."

As for the definitions, the prescriptivist tells you how language should be used; the descriptivist tells you how people are using the language.

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

If Dictionary.com is to be believed, people have been RONGly using "nauseous" for 400 years. At what point does it become correct usage?

I'm mostly a descriptivist, but can occasionally be pedantic. But this is the first time I've ever heard anybody assert that "nauseous" meaning "affected with nausea" is incorrect usage.

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

Some physicists think Capital G may change over time. To me that sounds like a trend in Gravity.

[willa-writes.livejournal.com]

Er, please ignore the comment I just posted and deleted. That was Willa-Puts-On-Her-B**ch-Hat. I'm calmer now. :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Heh. I got a copy of it in e-mail, and I agree completely.

[willa-writes.livejournal.com]

*grin* I think after having spent time with the Torquere folks in person, I'm starting to develop a set of testes that may in time develop a brass covering...

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

All I'm gonna say is we've got this big old tub of brass polish here, should it come in handy

[willa-writes.livejournal.com]

*makes mental note of where to borrow in future*

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

I'm disappointed that Prescriptive and Descriptive didn't have check boxes. Or an option for both. ;-)

[jencallisto]

Yes, me too. I ended up going for "more of a Prescriptivist" because I think of that as my basic instinct and a fair part of my training, but I've been expanding into Descriptivist territory for a while now, and have no plans to stop. I think both are useful and nifty.

[tapuz.livejournal.com]

I'm prescriptive by profession, but descriptive by nature and by academic training :-)

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

Trends in Gravity, Time and space strike me as aspects of the same principle.

Of course, trends in Narf! Poit! and μ₀ make and entirely different conversation.

Don't get me started on trends in Aleph_null!

butbutbut...

[arfur]

all trends exist in time! :-P