# Should the integrity of the English language be protected against bastardisation? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 14, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906 "2016-09-14T02:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/21 "2016-09-14T12:22:38Z")
The first post perfectly encapsulates how clear writing is orthogonal to historical traditions. I genuinely can’t tell whether that’s its satirical point, or whether the OP lacks a sense of its own irony. Which, on a meta level, reinforces the satire :). ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/22 "2016-09-14T12:41:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “English is a language that lurks in dark alleys, beats up other languages and rifles through their pockets for spare vocabulary.” Eggsactly what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/23 "2016-09-14T12:42:34Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > ̶L̶a̶b̶o̶r̶ ----------------- LAB **OU** R (…not ennui through laying around) > ̶F̶a̶n̶t̶a̶s̶i̶z̶e̶ ------------ FANTA **S** ISE (…not the volume of a super-sized, high fructose soda) > ̶F̶e̶t̶u̶s̶ ---------------- F **O** ETUS (…not the state or condition of something) > ̶S̶u̶l̶f̶u̶r̶ ---------------- SUL **PH** UR (…not the they way your pet looks after it rolls in mud) > ̶D̶i̶a̶r̶r̶h̶e̶a̶ ------------- DIARRH **O** EA (…not duplicit rhetoric) > ̶P̶e̶d̶o̶p̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ----------- P **A** EDOPHILE (…not foot fetishism) > ̶C̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ---- COULD**N’T (NOT)** CARE LESS (…ummm… what?) > ̶B̶a̶s̶t̶a̶r̶d̶i̶z̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ------ …just …just …no. > > It’s one thing to give the ‘handicapped’ a “Common Core” leg-up in order to bring them up to speed with wider society. It’s an entirely different issue to undermine the fundamentals of a language just to cosset the plebeian masses, who seemingly cannot fashion the neural pathways required to remember a few, facile spelling rules. > > This continuous dilution of the English language by the _Sound-it-out Brigade_, is a slippery slope towards the destruction of the core tenets of the tongue. This _laissez-faire_ apathy regarding the integrity of the language, invariable leads to the “alot”, “bigly”, “wont”, “alright”, “hugely” _et al._ cancerous neologisitic phenomena that, through sheer weight of hoi polloi usage, can even influence linguistics itself – with dictionaries incorporating some of these patently misspelt and often unintelligible terms. > > English is not the conjugation convoluted and superfluously lettered French language; nor is it the arcane, multitudinous runic, _chinois_ communication method of Mandarin. English is actually a very facile language to learn – albeit difficult to master. As such, there is no rational reasoning behind this systematic **dumbing down** of the language, all for little more than to indulge the very demographic whose existence undermines it. To use a _du jour_ analogy (and another Gallicism!), it’s tantamount to allowing the unvetted flooding of one’s society by incompatible foreign cultures and ideologies, and then standing around, scratching one’s noggin, bemused as to why these introduced, unassimilated alloys result in the degradation of that which took generations to refine! Counter-intuitive and self-defeating, to a tee. > > Availing the French as an example once more; the French language attracts actual legislation which serves to protect its fundamentals from the nefarious ‘infection’ of such broached numbskull neologia. Why is it good enough for the French to cherish their diction, but not for the English-speaking world? Why can the French augur the very real dangers inherent in the unfettered dissemination of information the Internet Age entails, yet ‘we’ seem utterly blind to it? Is this also why our governments’ most sensitive secrets are being hacked as I type…(?) (\*rhetorical) > > Conspiracy time (\*the inculcated and inured can stop reading here): > This process of pandering to the lowest common denominator is not exclusive to the field of language. Look at what has been taking place in the **film industry** – mindless rehashes and derivative dross, being the industry cash cow/s; **video games** – a pale, infantile, indulgent, glorified CGI schlock shadow of what the pastime once asked of its partakers; **music** – heard-today / forgotten-tomorrow, two-tone dimwitted ditties with lyrics spanning infantile to disconnect-the-EEG brain-dead… and then comes rap **retches** :smack:; **news media** – dog-wagged and simpleton supplicating, oftentimes barely discernible from ‘celebrity news’ faeces; **food** – the diabolical “fat” scapegoated for everything that ails us… despite the ridiculous incongruity of every product being “99.9% fat-free”, yet the [First] world waddling about in the most obscenely obese state it’s ever been; **politics** – the usurpation of the very _Acolytes of the Asinine_ that the aforementioned factors (_et al._) have conspired to raise from Saruman’s Uruk Hai bilge pits; religion – acceptance of the carnivorously coöpting of science, while simultaneously decry / denying its propositions and, worse yet, vesting itself in notions of “race” and “culture”, in order to afford inane ideology the protections the latter traits duly attract… et cœtera, et cœtera, et cœtera, (-King Mongkut of Siam) > > Thus, I arrive at my to my “red pill” contention: **This richly woven tapestry of ubiquitous dumbing down, pervading all sectors of human society, cannot be pure coincidence (-William of Ockham). This correlation between what one consumes and the product that is barfed up at the end of the process, is not without interplay. We are what we eat, and we have been fed tripe at every “God”-thanked meal, for time immemorial. As such, is it any wonder we are on the cusp of ticking over to ‘12’ on the Doomsday Clock…?** :dubious: > > Something’s definitely not quite right here, and my Spidey senses are tingling, something orgasmic, leading me in a beeline direction of this manifestly Machiavellian subterfuge helming from somewhere in the vicinity of the pernicious poisoning of our language… First we ban purple prose. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/24 "2016-09-14T12:43:19Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > What integrity? GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL for Argentina! **Frodo** wins the thread on the first reply, ladies and gentlemen! What a game! ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/25 "2016-09-14T12:46:15Z")
Language is descriptive, not prescriptive. Deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/26 "2016-09-14T12:56:59Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > It’s one thing to give the ‘handicapped’ a “Common Core” leg-up in order to bring them up to speed with wider society. It’s an entirely different issue to undermine the fundamentals of a language just to cosset the plebeian masses, who seemingly cannot fashion the neural pathways required to remember a few, facile spelling rules. If I may offer a word of advice, your writing isn’t very good, so you may wish to remove the plank from your own eye before pointing out the speck in your brother’s. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/27 "2016-09-14T12:57:04Z")
This is a pretentious brain on Adderall. Any Questions? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/28 "2016-09-14T13:13:05Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > ̶L̶a̶b̶o̶r̶ ----------------- LAB **OU** R (…not ennui through laying around) > ̶F̶a̶n̶t̶a̶s̶i̶z̶e̶ ------------ FANTA **S** ISE (…not the volume of a super-sized, high fructose soda) > ̶F̶e̶t̶u̶s̶ ---------------- F **O** ETUS (…not the state or condition of something) > ̶S̶u̶l̶f̶u̶r̶ ---------------- SUL **PH** UR (…not the they way your pet looks after it rolls in mud) > ̶D̶i̶a̶r̶r̶h̶e̶a̶ ------------- DIARRH **O** EA (…not duplicit rhetoric) > ̶P̶e̶d̶o̶p̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ----------- P **A** EDOPHILE (…not foot fetishism) > ̶C̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ---- COULD**N’T (NOT)** CARE LESS (…ummm… what?) > ̶B̶a̶s̶t̶a̶r̶d̶i̶z̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ------ …just …just …no. > > It’s one thing to give the ‘handicapped’ a “Common Core” leg-up in order to bring them up to speed with wider society. It’s an entirely different issue to undermine the fundamentals of a language just to cosset the plebeian masses, who seemingly cannot fashion the neural pathways required to remember a few, facile spelling rules. > > This continuous dilution of the English language by the _Sound-it-out Brigade_, is a slippery slope towards the destruction of the core tenets of the tongue. This _laissez-faire_ apathy regarding the integrity of the language, invariable leads to the “alot”, “bigly”, “wont”, “alright”, “hugely” _et al._ cancerous neologisitic phenomena that, through sheer weight of hoi polloi usage, can even influence linguistics itself – with dictionaries incorporating some of these patently misspelt and often unintelligible terms. > > English is not the conjugation convoluted and superfluously lettered French language; nor is it the arcane, multitudinous runic, _chinois_ communication method of Mandarin. English is actually a very facile language to learn – albeit difficult to master. As such, there is no rational reasoning behind this systematic **dumbing down** of the language, all for little more than to indulge the very demographic whose existence undermines it. To use a _du jour_ analogy (and another Gallicism!), it’s tantamount to allowing the unvetted flooding of one’s society by incompatible foreign cultures and ideologies, and then standing around, scratching one’s noggin, bemused as to why these introduced, unassimilated alloys result in the degradation of that which took generations to refine! Counter-intuitive and self-defeating, to a tee. > > Availing the French as an example once more; the French language attracts actual legislation which serves to protect its fundamentals from the nefarious ‘infection’ of such broached numbskull neologia. Why is it good enough for the French to cherish their diction, but not for the English-speaking world? Why can the French augur the very real dangers inherent in the unfettered dissemination of information the Internet Age entails, yet ‘we’ seem utterly blind to it? Is this also why our governments’ most sensitive secrets are being hacked as I type…(?) (\*rhetorical) > > Conspiracy time (\*the inculcated and inured can stop reading here): > This process of pandering to the lowest common denominator is not exclusive to the field of language. Look at what has been taking place in the **film industry** – mindless rehashes and derivative dross, being the industry cash cow/s; **video games** – a pale, infantile, indulgent, glorified CGI schlock shadow of what the pastime once asked of its partakers; **music** – heard-today / forgotten-tomorrow, two-tone dimwitted ditties with lyrics spanning infantile to disconnect-the-EEG brain-dead… and then comes rap **retches** :smack:; **news media** – dog-wagged and simpleton supplicating, oftentimes barely discernible from ‘celebrity news’ faeces; **food** – the diabolical “fat” scapegoated for everything that ails us… despite the ridiculous incongruity of every product being “99.9% fat-free”, yet the [First] world waddling about in the most obscenely obese state it’s ever been; **politics** – the usurpation of the very _Acolytes of the Asinine_ that the aforementioned factors (_et al._) have conspired to raise from Saruman’s Uruk Hai bilge pits; religion – acceptance of the carnivorously coöpting of science, while simultaneously decry / denying its propositions and, worse yet, vesting itself in notions of “race” and “culture”, in order to afford inane ideology the protections the latter traits duly attract… et cœtera, et cœtera, et cœtera, (-King Mongkut of Siam) > > Thus, I arrive at my to my “red pill” contention: **This richly woven tapestry of ubiquitous dumbing down, pervading all sectors of human society, cannot be pure coincidence (-William of Ockham). This correlation between what one consumes and the product that is barfed up at the end of the process, is not without interplay. We are what we eat, and we have been fed tripe at every “God”-thanked meal, for time immemorial. As such, is it any wonder we are on the cusp of ticking over to ‘12’ on the Doomsday Clock…?** :dubious: > > Something’s definitely not quite right here, and my Spidey senses are tingling, something orgasmic, leading me in a beeline direction of this manifestly Machiavellian subterfuge helming from somewhere in the vicinity of the pernicious poisoning of our language… Although some maintain a crusty towel hidden under the bed, I have been told others rely on an athletic sock, which is then laundered. For more informal settings, a few kleenex will do, as with a sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/29 "2016-09-14T13:25:55Z")
I’m sort of enjoying the idea that 19th-century spelling reforms are somehow responsible for the dumbing-down of Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/30 "2016-09-14T13:39:15Z")
Where are the slithy toves? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/31 "2016-09-14T14:05:07Z")
Is the OP supposed to be in English? Because I keep trying to parse it and failing… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/32 "2016-09-14T14:05:07Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Irregardless, English is good for all intensive purposes. Good one! Because here’s the point. Sure, the OP is satire, even if it wasn’t intended to be. Yes, every reply here critical of the OP is indisputably correct. No one has written more eloquently in defense of descriptivism than Steven Pinker, yet even Pinker acknowledges that some things deserve correction, because in any given time and place, there really is such a thing as “wrong”. I hasten to add that the good folks at the Oxford English Dictionary [recently informed us](http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/09/yolo-squee-and-scrumdiddlyumptious-added-to-oxford-english-dictionary.html) that “scrumdiddlyumptious” is now officially an English word. So are “YOLO” and “squee”. Thus, you may now feel free to write a letter like the following: Dear Sir: I note with interest that you are seeking a Director of Marketing for your North American operations. I just about squeed when I read the description of this scrumdiddlyumptious job, and I says to myself, you know, you should apply for this, because, like, YOLO, you know? It’s, like, for all intensive purposes the best job ever. My resume is attached. Love, (your name here) ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/33 "2016-09-14T14:10:41Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Irregardless, English is good for all intensive purposes. I’ve hidden a brace of ravenous miniature weasels in a random pair of your undergarments for using that word… As much as the pretension in the OP makes me want to drive a croquet mallet sideways up a random personal orifice of their choice, things like [this](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/04/best-funniest-spelling-grammar-mistakes_n_2409260.html?slideshow=true#gallery/272894/0) irk me, but at least I can get a laugh out of some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/34 "2016-09-14T14:19:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > No one has written more eloquently in defense of descriptivism than Steven Pinker, yet even Pinker acknowledges that some things deserve correction, because in any given time and place, there really is such a thing as “wrong”. > > I hasten to add that the good folks at the Oxford English Dictionary [recently informed us](http://www.cbc.ca/books/2016/09/yolo-squee-and-scrumdiddlyumptious-added-to-oxford-english-dictionary.html) that “scrumdiddlyumptious” is now officially an English word. So are “YOLO” and “squee”. > > Thus, you may now feel free to write a letter like the following: > > Dear Sir: > > I note with interest that you are seeking a Director of Marketing for your North American operations. I just about squeed when I read the description of this scrumdiddlyumptious job, and I says to myself, you know, you should apply for this, because, like, YOLO, you know? It’s, like, for all intensive purposes the best job ever. My resume is attached. > > Love, > (your name here) “Wrong” is, ironically, the wrong word to use here. Rather, I should say it is an imprecise and misleading word to use. Certainly “scrumdiddlyumptious” is a poor word choice for most cover letters. But if you’re applying as director of marketing for the Scholastic Book Fair, an adroit use of the word might be exactly the right thing to do. Similarly, the word “delectable” is by any measure a correct description of a food you enjoy. If Dr. Seuss used the word in the last line of “Green Eggs and Ham,” it would have been a poor word choice. There are absolutely circumstances under which adopting a certain register is wise or unwise. I would never use the word “YOLO” in a grant proposal. Okay, I would never use that word anyway, because I’m an old fart. It would be such an unwise choice that characterizing it as “wrong” would be, while technically inaccurate, a reasonable approximation of its unwisitudinosity. On the other hand, were I explaining how government works to a classroom of kids who don’t know what state they live in, if I start off by using words like “statute” and “zoning ordinance” and “prohibit” and “jurisdiction,” my word choice is every bit as unwise. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/35 "2016-09-14T14:39:45Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Irregardless, English is good for all intensive purposes. It’s the most unique language on Earth! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/36 "2016-09-14T14:47:25Z")
“It’s an entirely different issue to undermine the fundamentals of a language just to cosset the plebeian masses, who seemingly cannot fashion the neural pathways required to remember a few, facile spelling rules.” I feel like I’ve heard this before, from practically every high school English teacher I ever had to endure. They seemingly cannot fashion the neural pathways required to remember a few, facile variations of the words us common folk use. God, high school English made me hate my own language. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/37 "2016-09-14T14:51:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > “Wrong” is, ironically, the wrong word to use here. Rather, I should say it is an imprecise and misleading word to use. Perhaps, but it seems like a reasonable way to describe something that needs to be corrected. You may prefer a different descriptor, and that’s fine. The real point, however you prefer to describe it, is that some usages are worth trying to change, rather than just accepting them because the usage itself is deemed to be its own justification. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/38 "2016-09-14T14:52:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Thus, you may now feel free to write a letter like the following… But you were free to write that before, too. If you want to write a cover letter with the line “i could care less about ignant stuf your gonna give me a JOB” you could do that. It was up to the reader to determine whether they wanted to lend your incoherent, stupid prose any weight. The OP uses correct spelling and grammar but his writing is dreadful; it takes far too long for him to express his ideas, repeatedly uses words that are much better replaced by more common and shorter words, and he doesn’t seem to grasp the different between spelling mistakes, spelling variations, and weirdly incorrect euphemisms. So while he makes no grammatical mistakes, a reasonably informed reader would dismiss it. The purpose of language is to communicate. Poor grammar can get in the way of that, but so too can intellectual masturbation, overuse of jargon, poorly constructed arguments, the use of technically correct but poorly chosen words, or a dozen or more other mistakes. A person who wants to be a professional does need to learn proper business writing, which is pretty close to proper academic writing. “D00d lets make this happen cuz YOLO” is not good business writing. Neither is the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/39 "2016-09-14T15:19:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If I may offer a word of advice, your writing isn’t very good, so you may wish to remove the plank from your own eye before pointing out the speck in your brother’s. Word. As the philosopher André Young would say. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906/40 "2016-09-14T15:21:46Z")
(and BTW, Frenchie here. The dear old \*Académie \*ponders, we humour and ignore.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-integrity-of-the-english-language-be-protected-against-bastardisation/765906.md?page=3)