Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
The world is a different place now, it is appropriate that the writing should also be different and I think history will judge accordingly.
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The world is certainly different than it was in Charles Dickens's day, but I think that only justifies so much. Sure, the vocabulary changes, social norms change, and absolutely it would have an effect on science fiction. But word choice still matters (even if the words are different) and things like sentence structure, grammar, etc., still matters. To cite one example that drives me nuts in modern language: the abuse of the word "literally". e.g.,
"He was literally burning with rage."
Um, no, he wasn't -- unless his rage somehow caused him to spontaneously combust. For some reason (and I admit this is something I probably need to get over) it annoys me when people use the word "decimated" to mean "destroyed". To "decimate" means to kill 1 out of every 10.