Quote:
Originally Posted by CazMar
Thank goodness we don't have a "language police" in English! That is what makes it such a widespread language, very expressive and flexible. You can create new words, new terms. It absorbs words from other languages freely. As an Australian I write using a mixture of English English and American English spelling, Aboriginal placenames, odd bits of Italian and various other words that work their way into my speech. I prefer it that way and don't really care that I don't even speak the way my grandparents spoke, never mind the 18th century. I can understand English from the time of Chaucer, but I don't need to speak that way.
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I think we're mixing ideas here. Correct grammar has nothing to do with speaking like you're in the 18th century. Its about using the words in the language properly.
When I was growing up, it was drilled into me head that "ain't" is not a word. It is slang. If you take the contraction apart, you do not get actual words. Now, "ain't" is actually in the American English dictionary, and that drives me nuts.