Zizi, thank you for your considered comment. I believe that you have a valid and interesting point.
It is, of course, indisputable that the way a language is used will be affected by many factors, including schooling, status, educational level, extent of discourse and challenge, the depth or specificity of the concepts one wants to convey, whether it is academic, factual, fictional, informational or for enterrtainment and etc.
Particular regions will also produce varying dialects and colloquialisms and even different accentuation on the meaning of particular words.
Then there is 'slang', i.e. simple adulteration, abbreviation, mispronunciation, invention, modification and deliberate misuse of terms that often involve suggestions to do something, if not impossible, certainly never achieved nor likely to be achieved.
I'm not sure whether it is fortunate or unfortunate that what I wrote has caused so much focus on my views about language use that other and perhaps even more important aspects of what I wished to convey have been as good as lost. -
My inadequate ability to communicate adequately must be at least partly responsible for that, which suggests that I simply don't know about what I wrote. However, in mitigation, I suggest that another cause of this is my statement that "I do not accept the abominable version of English that is common to the United States." - Clearly, this has offfended many and I apologise for that.
My statement was a personal view, apparent, I think, if taken in context. It was not an attack on any individual US person but rather a ruing of what I consider to be, for many reasons an unnecessary degeneration and distortion of the language. Some of it caused by ignorance and probably as much or even more by conditioning - which is perhaps to what you refer in your comment about your time in the USA.
I accept that languages are fluid and that words are added and removed and may change meaning over time. I have no problem with that in itself for there are usually sound reasons for that happening.
However, as in most behaviours, there is usually a not insignificant difference between how we express ourselves in mannerisms, jokes, throw-away lines, prejudices and speech when we are among intimates or friends and when engaged in public discourse or formal activity.
I have experience of active service in the military and can 'swear like the proverbial trooper' and sometimes do. However I tend to do it when I've hit myself in the head by careless placement or use of a tool or some similar collision with an inanimate object which causes me to exclaim. I don't swear at people and very rarely do so in public or when teaching or in other formal engagements.
I come from a place where a distance of only a few miles may result in difference in accents and colloquialisms that make the language almost unintelligible to a visitor from elsewhere. So, yes, I understand the truth of the many responses that have raised this sort of issue. I simply think that they miss the point and are more reactionary than thoughtfully critical.
... and that, really is my point and I would, I think, have made it more clear had that been the total focus of my 'rant', rather than simply a pet frustration.
In your case, which I think applies to many, including myself who no longer lives in my country of birth and schooling, my view is that one can and almost always will absorb common usage by those around you, at least if that lasts for any considerable period. That's fine. It's not easy if one doesn't 'fit in' and anyway, much of that change will insert itself into your mind quite insidiously and without your really being conscious of it.
However, that need not mean throwing out or ignoring the structure of the language and simply using it sloppily on all occasions. Grammar and vocabulary and punctuation and spelling are what make nuanced and precise and accessible communication possible. Their appropriate application can give many clues as to meaning and intent, logical truth or logical fallacy, genuine or false motivations and underlying beliefs and prejudices.
So, I see a place for both the loose, everyday speech and writing and their more formal expression. However, as Beethoven said, and I paraphrase:
"It's not wrong to ignore or break the rules providing that one understands the rules first."
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
#BORC
