atw: Re: Pronounseeashun
- From: John Maizels <jmaizels@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:54:42 +1100
At 10:19 6/01/2012, you wrote:
To the fundamentalists who want to stick to the so-called rules they
were taught at school: will you continue to use an en dash (and do
you use the en dash now) to indicate that you are treating a
multiplicity as a singularity when almost no-one knows what an en
dash is used for and most have never even heard of an en dash?
Well, there seems (dangerously) to be two religious discussions
running here in parallel.
* the right of the majority to impose their will on the
minority. That never bothered the English-speaking minority who
colonised civilisation after civilisation and installed English in
preference to whatever was spoken locally by the majority.
* the hierarchy of accepted/convention/rule/law. Driving on the
left is a law in Australia, and in that way you don't die. Driving
on the left is also law in many parts of Asia, modified by local
convention which dictates that you position your vehicle where the
other people aren't, and in that way you don't die. Seems to be
equally effective when practised correctly. Despite the equivalence
of the law, the two rule-sets are incompatible, and convention takes
precedence.
It seems we agree that, as professional communicators
* we use language which best engages the intended audience
* we use rules as appropriate
* we break rules if necessary, or if we feel that's appropriate
* we can choose to use correct forms within our own community, and
just because a construction is right, it isn't wrong.
John (who is about to drive up the F3, and might purchase some
organic water if the sign is correct enough to attract our attention)
Other related posts:
