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Re: few questions for the RAT PACK
> And I stand by my "their." You wanna piece a me?
>
> And yes, I AM in a freshman comp class. As a teacher.
>
> Love and kisses-
>
> Melissa Hillman
Okay...here we go...( and NO, you don't intimidate me with your
teacher-status...I can't throw a rock without disturbing a FLOCK of
graduate-degree english majors)
1. Congratulations on your knowledge of the collective linguistic heritage,
including your aparrent understanding of the origin and use of words. I
grant that certain words, over time, have fallen into disuse, and for good
reason- this was never an issue. I also grant that language is a fluid
thing, and also that one should 'write for one's audience' ie; take care
with things like Pronouns to avoid obscuring the issue at hand.
2. If I sound snippy, it's because MAINLY I was accused of ...'using
predominatly the 'he' prounoun' , which is not only an outright
misstatement, but is somewhat inflammatory to point out in a public forum.
In FACT( if we MUST pick these nits)...I did use the 'hip and cool' THEY
'predominatly'. I only used the pronoun 'HE' twice, and then when I was
also referring later to two examples which were specifically , yes, Male (
if only because they were the ones that came to mind...)
3. Since you seemed to miss the main point, I will reiterate plainly- the
Pronoun 'HE' is niether antiquated, nor in any way inaccurate. Again, out
here in the real world, professor, 'HE' is considered not only acceptable ,
but STANDARD for referring to a non gender-specific case. And although it is
fallen into disfavor, 'HE' is hardly an'new ' word, or even being used in a
new way, so I doubt Mr. Webster is rushing to his word processor to 'update'
the dictionary just because some people want it that way. And I can't
remember the last time I noticed 'conservative wailing and gnashing of
teeth' over changes in the dictionary, either, even socio-culteral
references, ESPECIALLY when it comes to theanguage shifts to which you
refer. it is primarily the 'academic right' that does the teeth gnashing and
wailing.
4. My comments on L's level of education and trustworthiness, I grant, may
have been a bit heavy handed, but I stand by the point I made. 'SHE' ( am I
using the pronoun correctly , professor?) accused 'ME'. 'She' was incorrect,
and what's more, served to demonstrate one of the original points I tried to
make in a very subtle way before. As a friend of mine who is a professional
writer says 'alot of people think they can WRITE just because they can sit
down at a keyboard and get someone to print thier drivel.'. I wasn't just
disagreeing- I was correcting a statement and an accusation that were just
plain wrong. Furthermore, when I , as an intelligent and educated person,
read stuff like that, my response is one of mistrust.
5. Air temperature is a relative measurement. For your edification, 'full of
hot air' is one of those newfangled uses of language you are so fond of-
it's called a euphemism, The straighforward definition of which I am too
much of a gentleman to state here.
6. One should probably only stand by words they can spell and use correctly
( as long as we're picking nits). it's 'Thier', professor.
peace and Love-
Skip
----- Original Message -----
From: <Impacttheatre@aol.com>
To: <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2001 12:51 AM
Subject: Re: few questions for the RAT PACK
>
> In a message dated 3/31/01 8:00:46 PM, skipworthy@hotmail.com writes:
>
> << And I AM being as kind as I can. >>
>
> Really? You sound kinda snippy to me.
>
> In any case, the language is in a constant state of flux, despite the many
> attempts to codify it at its various stages of development. We managed to
> drop "thee" and "thou" when levels of politeness became less important to
> English speakers, or perhaps more important, as everyone then became
included
> in the "polite" form "you" (corresponding to the modern Spanish "Usted").
>
> The attempt to drop the antiquated and thoroughly inaccurate "he" for what
is
> now popularly stated as "they" or academically stated as "s/he" isn't
really
> so bad, now is it? This sort of garden-variety language shift is exactly
why
> dictionaries are updated on a regular basis. It's not just to include
words
> like "dotcom."
>
> Language is important. It shapes what we think. In my opinion, "they"
and
> "their" and etc in this vein will become standard usage in the next
hundred
> years or so, despite the academic and conservative wailing and gnashing of
> teeth that generally accompany changes in the language.
>
> Attacks on one's level of education, trustworthiness, and air temperature
are
> uncalled for.
>
> It's actually easy to be nice to people. It makes everything easier.
> Bloviating about someone's personal characteristics when in actuality you
> simply disagree with their position is, um, uncool. Dude.
>
> And I stand by my "their." You wanna piece a me?
>
> And yes, I AM in a freshman comp class. As a teacher.
>
> Love and kisses-
>
> Melissa Hillman
> Artistic Director
> Impact Theatre
> P.O. Box 12666
> Berkeley, CA 94712-3666
>
> (510) 464-4468
> http://www.impacttheatre.com
>
> "Action Movie: The Play" plays until April 21st!
>
>
>
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