I could be wrong, but I place a lot of worth on the attention to the way that someone communicates. Things like getting someone's name right, or constructing a sentence better instead of making up a word are important to me.
So you can imagine the angst I have when I hear of a University English Professor politely, but meekly and with a sense of reluctance say that language changes. It has always changed, and it always will.
This is a cop out.
Prior to the internet, words changed due to evolution of efficiency. Words such as 'preventative' or 'authoritative' are contracted to preventive and authoritive without losing meaning. Some words become popularised and others fade into obscurity. Thats all to be expected.
But of late, (and I cant help but to draw a correlation to the internet) it seems that words 'evolve' because people are lazy, ignorant and indifferent.
I personally enjoy learning about the origin and evolution of words and language and I feel as if the sacred nature of the word is being destroyed by the acceptance of en masse miss-spellings and mis-interpretations. By adopting 'alternative' representation we also remove the intent of the word, phrase or sentence.
Not only are words being mis-used and miss-spelt, the bastion of the ignorant extends beyond just words themselves. Miss-heard meanings of acronyms is also common.
Some examples are:
- Head Up Display (HUD) - Referred to as the 'Heads Up Display'
This was patented in WW2 as a means for the pilot to fly and target enemies without having to look down at instruments. It allowed the pilot to fly 'head up'.
'Heads up' refers to the phrase used in casual banter as a means to inform many people (heads) at the same time.
- Changing Tack - Often mis-used as 'Changing Tact
Changing Tact is a mis-heard mimic but sounds right as its often used to describe tactics. It isnt right.
- Champing at the bit - 'Chomping at the bit'
A horse champs on a bit.
- This augers well - Often heard as 'this all goes well
