[geeks] English language [was: power (was Mr. Bill)]

[wa2egp at att.net]

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: adh at an.bradford.ma.us (Sandwich Maker)
>
> " From: John Francini <francini at mac.com>
> " 
> " On 18 Sep 2008, at 11:47, Dan Sikorski wrote:
> " 
> " > Sandwich Maker wrote:
> " >> sadly, if it becomes common enough, the reaction is to change not the
> " >> teaching but the dictionaries.
> " >>
> " >
> " > So, in ten years, "i can haz cheezburger" will be taught as proper
> " > grammar and spelling.
> " >
> " >   -Dan Sikorski
> " >
> " > I accidentally the Grammar.  THE WHOLE THING!
> " 
> " English has ever been thus. Unlike French, which has L'Academie
> " Frangais to dictate What Is Official French and What Is Not, there's
> " no such thing in English, and never has been.  It's a language that
> " has been defined exclusively by usage; dictionaries are constantly
> " trying to catch up to the usage.  Consequently, it is quite the
> " bastard child.
> 
> it always was since its birth.  saxon and danish in the first
> millennium, french in 1066, and probably more than a trace of british
> [welsh gaelic] and latin, even before the renaissance.  then there's
> the large amount of latin and greek borrowed initially for science,
> renaissance french again so that we have both chief and chef...
> 
> some early dictionary compilers, ignorant of the history of the
> english language, have confused things further by 'regularizing'
> similar-seeming words from different ancestries.
> 
> " One wag put it: "English: The language that lures other languages into
> " dark alleyways, clubs them over their heads, then steals their wallets."
> 
> starting with itself...

A language teacher in my school explained English as a fusion between two main languages.  That's why there are many instances of two words for one idea (bury, inter; purchase, buy; etc.)  Makes sense to me.  Yes, it picked up a lot of other words too.

Bob