# Predict changes in English grammar/usage over the next 100 years **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522 "2009-08-15T15:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/1 "2009-08-15T15:09:48Z")
By 2019, I predict that… 1. _Me_ will have become an archaic pronoun like _thee_ and _thou_. For the objective first person singular, everyone will say _myself_. 2. All plurals will be marked with an apostrophe + s. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/2 "2009-08-15T16:03:52Z")
I’m guessing you actually mean 2109, rather than 2019. I believe that by 2109, dialect will be very strongly connected to ‘subculture’. There are already dialects such as ‘Chinglish’, ‘lolspeak’, and ‘1337’, and I think these and similar dialects will enter everyday speech and make it potentially possible to figure out someone’s hobbies and interests just based on the way he or she uses English. The English language will continue to expand, to specialize, and to adopt words from other languages and cultures as immigrants continue to move into the United States and England. The word ‘disabled’ will have the same connotation that the word ‘retarded’ has today. Or possibly as ‘moronic’ or ‘mongoloid’, since we are talking about 100 years. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/3 "2009-08-15T16:44:46Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > I’m guessing you actually mean 2109, rather than 2019. :smack: Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/4 "2009-08-15T16:59:15Z")
I suspect that the language won’t actually change much at all. Universal public education through high school, combined with widespread access to movies, television and other recorded speech, will probably keep the language frozen. New technologies will generate new vocabulary (and slang), I’m sure, but beyond that, I would expect almost no changes. **Skald** - why would “myself” replace “me”? It’s far more cumbersome. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/5 "2009-08-15T17:03:35Z")
The euphemism treadmill will certainly keep churning along, especially with terms related to mental and physical disabilities and race, but otherwise I don’t any change in grammar. Vocabulary, certainly. English is backwards compatible – we can easily understand something written 50 or 100 years ago – but could someone from the 1950s or 1900s be able to read and comprehend everything in a newspaper or business magazine from today? Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/6 "2009-08-15T17:04:00Z")
After texting all those years, I predict that evry1 wll spl like ths. U no wht i mean? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/7 "2009-08-15T17:26:27Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I suspect that the language won’t actually change much at all. Universal public education through high school, combined with widespread access to movies, television and other recorded speech, will probably keep the language frozen. New technologies will generate new vocabulary (and slang), I’m sure, but beyond that, I would expect almost no changes. > > **Skald** - why would “myself” replace “me”? It’s far more cumbersome. I don’t **want** _myself_ to replace _me_; I agree that it’s both cumbersome and stupid. But I frequently hear people avoiding _me_ to say, for instance, “He gave it to myself.” I think someone opened a thread on the topic the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/8 "2009-08-15T17:30:33Z")
> [@Dusty\_Rose](#): > > After texting all those years, I predict that evry1 wll spl like ths. U no wht i mean? I know what you mean, but I disagree. Abbreviated spelling works for text messages, true, but there’s a pressure to avoid in in business and other writing because of its inherent ambiguity. Does _ml_ mean _male_, _mail_, _mall_, or _mill_? Does _spl_ mean _spell_ or _spill_? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/9 "2009-08-15T17:32:05Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > why would “myself” replace “me”? It’s far more cumbersome. No need to ask why it _will_ happen, it already _is_ happening. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to see that become standard usage by 2019. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/10 "2009-08-15T17:34:36Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I suspect that the language won’t actually change much at all. Universal public education through high school, combined with widespread access to movies, television and other recorded speech, will probably keep the language frozen. New technologies will generate new vocabulary (and slang), I’m sure, but beyond that, I would expect almost no changes. We already saw this to some extent with the invention of the printing press. After it came on the scene, written language quickly became much more standardized and slow to change than it had been before. Most of the predictions here seem to be based on the assumption that current trends will continue to extremes. This is known to be a bad standard for forecasting the future and should be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/11 "2009-08-15T17:38:04Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > We already saw this to some extent with the invention of the printing press. After it came on the scene, written language quickly became much more standardized and slow to change than it had been before. > > Most of the predictions here seem to be based on the assumption that current trends will continue to extremes. This is known to be a bad standard for forecasting the future and should be avoided. :rolleyes: Dude (or dudette): this is a freaking message board in a thread started by a poster known for being a goofball. Don’t take it so seriously. Also consider the changes in meaning of the terms _make love to_ and _gay_ in only hte past sixty years, if you think language is going to be frozen any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/12 "2009-08-15T17:38:56Z")
> [@Dusty\_Rose](#): > > After texting all those years, I predict that evry1 wll spl like ths. U no wht i mean? I think yer close, but I think Dolton Edwards was closer, and he wrote [this](http://www.ecphorizer.com/EPS/site_page.php?issue=7&page=29) in 1946. my guesses are all things that I (and others) do now yer in place of your prolly in place of probably saying “lol” and “rofl” and other abbreviations as words unto themselves (incorporating written lolspeak and 1337$p34|{ in spoken word, not just text) I also think we’ll continue to see the co-opting of foreign language words into English, as has been happening for hundreds of years. ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/13 "2009-08-15T17:46:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I know what you mean, but I disagree. Abbreviated spelling works for text messages, true, but there’s a pressure to avoid in in business and other writing because of its inherent ambiguity. Does _ml_ mean _male_, _mail_, _mall_, or _mill_? Does _spl_ mean _spell_ or _spill_? Ahhh… there’s pressure _now_. But what about 100 years from now? I’m sorry, but I’ve seen Idiocracy, and think it’s a true vision of the future. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/14 "2009-08-15T17:52:26Z")
I’d like to predict that the apostrophe will disappear. People have trouble with it precisely because it’s useless. The words “its” and “it’s” are the same in speech, so they would do fine the same in writing. Similarly, I think all the “problem” words, like lie, lay, lied, laid, and lain will sort out and become regular verbs. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/15 "2009-08-15T17:53:01Z")
> [@Dusty\_Rose](#): > > Ahhh… there’s pressure _now_. But what about 100 years from now? I’m sorry, but I’ve seen Idiocracy, and think it’s a true vision of the future. 😃 > [@](#): > > Unaware of what year it was, Joe wandered the streets desperate for help. But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valleygirl, inner-city slang and various grunts. Joe was able to understand them, but when he spoke in an ordinary voice he sounded pompous and faggy to them. **Idiocracy** is prolly the best crappy movie of the last ten years. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/16 "2009-08-15T18:12:25Z")
Double negatives will lose any stigma on them (yay for us teaching EFL/ESL) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/17 "2009-08-15T18:12:55Z")
“u” will replace “you” . Now, me \*,…I think U is the ugliest thing in the world— a sure sign of the limited mental capacity of today’s youth, and the end of the civilization. But at least it’s reasonable and unabiguous. And it’s already a legitimate word in Dutch. \*(NOT “myself”, dammit. I ain’t giving up without a fight… and ,oh, yeah, keep off my lawn, too) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/18 "2009-08-15T18:15:22Z")
Ending a sentence with a preposition will be something up with which everyone will put. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/19 "2009-08-15T18:21:20Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Ending a sentence with a preposition will be something up with which everyone will put. Ending a sentence with a preposition has been totally acceptable in American English for 50 years. And I believe, in British English also, in all the books that I know of.\* \*(yes, that was deliberate… 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522/20 "2009-08-15T18:49:26Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Ending a sentence with a preposition has been totally acceptable in American English for 50 years. > And I believe, in British English also, in all the books that I know of.\* > > \*(yes, that was deliberate… 🙂 ) I agree that it’s acceptable. That doesn’t prevent some people from wagging their fingers about it anyway. My point is that the naysaying will finally end. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/predict-changes-in-english-grammar-usage-over-the-next-100-years/506522.md?page=2)