[thelist] OT (verbage)

Martin martin at members.evolt.org
Sat Aug 19 06:37:17 CDT 2000


Garvan Walshe wrote on 17/8/00 6:10 pm

>By all means let us invent new words, invent
>new meanings for existing words and preserve the unique greatness of
>English, which is that it's a living language with no Academie instructing
>us in the use of oldspeak. Yet we *should* disparage people who invent
>horrible and clunky phrases like your "Let's russian-doll this" (an
>excellent example) because that is the only way to prevent them ruining the
>language. Conversely, when someone invents a usage we like, we should spread
>it far and wide.

This is an evolutionary approach, which (in a less pressured manner) is
actually how languages develop anyway. Good, useful neologisms and
adaptations of usage spread and gain a permanent place in the language.
Bad ones don't.

Cheers
Martin

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