Yeah, I’ve got a prescription for you…
Published by Becky S September 2nd, 2004 in style & grammarHaving a weblog sure is a good way to develop thick skin. Since starting Good Grief!, I’ve been accused of being a poisonous cynic, called a bitch, insulted by the ice cream man, and cyber-stalked by short-shorts guy.
But now, someone named Mike is calling me a prescriptive grammarian. Oh, the horror!
In linguistics prescription is the laying down or prescribing of normative rules of the language. This is in contrast to description of language, which has no normative component. For example, a descriptive linguist working in English will try to describe the usage, distribution, and history of ain’t and h-dropping neutrally, without judging them as good or bad, superior or inferior. A prescriptivist (one who is prescriptive), on the other hand, will judge whether or not these forms meet some criterion of intelligence, rationality, aesthetics, or conformity to a standard dialect, and, if not, will condemn them, prescribing that they not be used.
Allow me to clarify my position. You’ve gotta know the rules before you can break them. Will I mock so-called writers who, in their pursuit of “art,” are too lazy to learn the structure and foundation of their language? Hell, yeah. But would I condemn smart and lively writing on the basis of rules alone, without considering variables such as medium, subject, and audience? Of course not!
Prescriptive grammarian. Well I never!
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That short-shorts guy sure is creepy…he must be some computer geek without a life.
I feel sorry for him.
its almost as bad being called a crack whore. Almost–not quite.
sincerely,
descriptive grammarian extraordinaire
Hi, Becky. Sorry if I offended you.
I don’t disagree that some “rules” of grammar exist to help achieve clarity in writing, a task that’s hard enough even when sentences are well formed. However, and as I’m sure you probably noticed, I, too, have definite opinions about exactly which “rules” actually promote this goal, and which are just dogma. I suspect you and I differ on this issue. One day of these I’ll write up a blog entry on that topic, probably mostly for my own amusement.
That said, and _pace_ Lynn Truss, mocking others’ bad grammar in a blog (and it is fun! I agree!) doesn’t seem to accomplish much, it seems to me. The offenders never seem very thankful to have their errors noted, the ingrates.
Peace,
– Mike
On the contrary, I was honored by your mention. Most everything written here is tongue in cheek; I was totally not offended.
Thanks for stopping by–I look forward to your grammar “rules” entry!