this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Especially in English, which is incredibly idiosyncratic.
I have an English degree so obviously I care about this shit. But I’ve spent enough time in the world to understand that there is more than one kind of education. I know brilliant sofrware programmers who might fuck up less/fewer. They’re not stupid. They have lots of education. I’m an idiot compared to them when it comes to logic and math. I have a friend who’s a master gardener, accomplished photographer, welder, electronics teacher, small business owner, IT technician, and a really good cook. He probably screws up a word here and there. He’s vastly more educated and intelligent than me.
So yeah… we should all just back off on being pedants about grammar and vocabulary rules, just a little bit.
An English major that's not a dirty prescriptivist?!? I thought it was impossible.
Yep. Especially as there is a lot more than simple "pedantic" grammar rules (or stylistic prescriptions as they so often are) to be "educated" about when it comes to English as a language, good practice for both speaking and writing, and of course language in general.