Resisting Change

Incorrect or Forward Thinking?

   Sometimes I can't help but think Who made up this rule? Mostly, we all simply accept the rules we've been taught and abide by them, even going as far as to belittle those who don't do the same. Like I've mentioned before, I was one who belittled to make the written world a better place and for quite a while, but now I'm one who only does it to show how things need to change.

   Below is a picture I took while I was out and at an establishment, which I will not mention the name of due to me not asking them for permission to do so. There are a few things that look wrong. We've been taught that the technical errors in the photo are wrong. Take a look and see how many you can spot. 

   I found two on this bulletin board. I want us to consider for a moment if these are really wrong. I'll keep away from "Birthday's" because I can't think of a good reason why an apostrophe would be inserted there, but "Anniversarys" is technically not wrong. We add an s to most things to make them plural, and sometimes es. Instead of changing the y to an i and adding es, why not simply add an s? It's simpler, people will have no problem understanding it, and if you think about it, it looks more natural. The sound of the y doesn't change from anniversary to anniversaries, so why should it change physically to an i when becoming plural?

   This is just one example. There are many words in which the y changes to an i in the plural or when changing the tense. Dry, fly, try, but not tray, play, tie. Not birthdays and mondays, but category and carry. There are patterns and I do recognize them, don't get me wrong, but this is one of those rules that doesn't make much sense. 

   What do you think - is this a rule that can go, or one that we need to keep? What are some grammar or spelling rules that you can't find much sense in?

Current Change

The English Writing System

     Language changes every day, whether we as speakers realize it or not. New words are made up and old and new words disappear; new phrases emerge and others grow old and fall from use. As a native speaker of whichever language you speak, you have a right to push this change forward or to halt it, though completely stopping or slowing this change is impossible. I believe that as long as other native speakers of your language understand, you have a right to speak however you wish. When it comes to writing, however, there have to be conscious rules that everyone can understand and judge, and that is why English teachers choose to be "grammar Nazis." These rules are similar to the unconscious rules of speech, though some people disagree and others support wholeheartedly these restrictions on natural expression, though the natural rules of speech are undisputed among the populace.

Image from http://sarolta.wordpress.com/category/call/blogs-wikis/page/2/ .

    Language has interested me since high school. In preparation for college, the high school I attended recommended that students take two years of a foreign language, so I took French and found my niche. I took three years of French courses in high school and went to college and earned my bachelor's in French studies. While in college, I also studied German and English in which I have minors, and Spanish and Japanese. It is in college that I determined where I stand on modern issues concerning language, writing, and language change.

Accepting Change

     A lot of people I know hate change. They think it's inconvenient and annoying. It makes them go out of their way to accommodate. I personally don't mind change at all, partly because I realize change is the only  constant in life, partly because change has been a big part of my life, and partly because though sometimes change does make things harder, a lot of the time change makes things easier. 

     When I was ten, my parents bought a new home and we moved. That change was better, since we were moving from a trailer (with built-on additions to accommodate five growing children, a couple of them nine years apart) to a double wide. Instead of us all having to share rooms with one another, we each got our own room. And instead of my parents' bathroom having the only shower and bath, the new place had three full bathrooms. Though us kids had a rough time with the move, leaving the only home we knew and all, the improvements made it easier. The move and change of space was a good thing. And who doesn't want a bigger home, right?

To Laugh at Change

Wifi Is Now A Word, Says the Dictionary. 

    

Image via http://961wodz.com.

   One day last week, I witnessed a few sports hosts laughing at a Dolphins' fan for "Undefeated... Unforgotten" tattooed on his abdomen. They thought it was funny that a man would paint a non-word (one that is not in the dictionary) across his stomach. Yet within a minute or two they announced a CD entitled "Grrr" without a hint of humor. I was confused, and upon asking my husband for clarification on this matter, he was also at a loss for an explanation. 

Image via http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com. 

     Please visit http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/unforgotten and then tell me that unforgotten is not a proper word. Or perhaps you would prefer to do a Google search yourself to find if unforgotten is indeed a word. Please do whatever you need to assure yourself. Do the same with grrr, which spell check highlights as incorrect. Grrr is not really a proper word, but onomatopoeia, a sound word, or possibly slang. Whatever grrr is, it takes a little more convincing in a Scrabble game than unforgotten, which even spell check recognizes as correct. For an example of the convincing needed to call grrr a word, see http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/grrr.

Constant Change

 The English Writing System

     Language changes every day, whether we as speakers realize it or not. New words are made up and old and new words disappear; new phrases emerge and others grow old and fall from use. As a native speaker of whichever language you speak, you have a right to push this change forward or to halt it, though completely stopping or slowing this change is impossible. I believe that as long as other native speakers of your language understand, you have a right to speak however you wish. When it comes to writing, however, there have to be conscious rules that everyone can understand and judge, and that is why English teachers choose to be "grammar Nazis." These rules are similar to the unconscious rules of speech, though some people disagree and others support wholeheartedly these restrictions on natural expression, though the natural rules of speech are undisputed among the populace.

Image from http://sarolta.wordpress.com/category/call/blogs-wikis/page/2/ .

    Language has interested me since high school. In preparation for college, the high school I attended recommended that students take two years of a foreign language, so I took French and found my niche. I took three years of French courses in high school and went to college and earned my bachelor's in French studies. While in college, I also studied German and English in which I have minors, and Spanish and Japanese. It is in college that I determined where I stand on modern issues concerning language, writing, and language change.