quote:

ORIGINAL: Sundowner

If we narrow the range of words we use do we risk losing clarity?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sundowner
I'm now not clear about my attitude to language; I think I just instinctively worry about losing the greater clarity which can come from a wide vocabulary used consistently.

You must have a LOT of time on your hands.

One could use any of the synonyms above in its appropriate place and convey pretty much what I wanted to communicate.

In that case, how do synonyms reduce clarity? Or are you saying that they increase it?

At the two ends of the spectrum, arts and science, maybe it does matter; to enjoy the richness of phrasing which a poet employs to stir the emotions, for the scientist to use the precision which distinguishes between warming and boiling.

i think i've heard that the English language contains more words than any other language, by a fair margin. Just what are you afraid of losing?

But for the hoodie to tell you that a bloke is like well out of order innit - does it matter if his communication skills are limited? Is it like the vowel-dropping - a little harder to follow but you get the gist.

From a linguistic perspective, all dialects of English are equally rule based and logical, even if there is only one Standard English. Having said that, you are free to speak however you want. You are free to correct other people's English usage. And they are free to tell you to piss off, because all dialects of English are equally rule based and logical. i dunno. i don't much care what you do, really.

Do you feel we should worry about the "correct" use of grammar and vocabulary or are we now in a world where we should focus on the elegant economy of txt speak?

i don't text because i think it's stupid. i try to use English correctly. However, i frequently speak Spanish, and i know my grammar and vocabulary aren't perfect. Mostly i just settle for being understood.

quote:

If we narrow (restrict, limit, reduce, confine, focus) the range (variety, choice, series, assortment, array, sort, collection) of words (expressions, phrases, language) we use (employ, utilise, exercise, apply, exploit, draw on, avail ourselves of) do we risk (endanger, imperil, expose, chance, hazard, gamble, stake) losing clarity (clearness, lucidity, simplicity, precision, intelligibility, transparency)?  [Thank you Roget]   And does it matter? One could use any of the synonyms above in its appropriate place and convey pretty much what I wanted to communicate.

quote:

ORIGINAL: TotallyDude
<
<
As Jangles might have said to Pickwick, "Which I mean ter say, boss, is I've come across plenty of homeboys in Brooklyn with dreadlocks and a syrupy patois who can work the language in ways old respectable bald heads forgetful of their sins would only be able to envy."

quote:

Good example, the word apocalypse, is from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means 'to reveal'. Until the bible this word had no connection at all with armageddon or end of days. That's why religious fundamentalists scare me, because they don't take into account the evolution of words.

quote:

"I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions." - George Orwell

quote:

ORIGINAL: TotallyDude

quote:

"I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions." - George Orwell

I love that Orwell essay. I don't agree with you entirely about text speak, since I enjoy using it from time to time in order to camp out an ironic pose either to delight people who are delighted by that sort of thing or to irritate easily irritable enemies.

I'm perhaps naturally overly predisposed to camp though. I find it a safe pose to adopt to stave off the nausea of living in a world full of replicas and images.

quote:

To use irony after my last post, OMG that is a great line!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: TotallyDude

quote:

Good example, the word apocalypse, is from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means 'to reveal'. Until the bible this word had no connection at all with armageddon or end of days. That's why religious fundamentalists scare me, because they don't take into account the evolution of words.

You seem like a good egg, but I'm afraid I don't see what the evolution of the word "apocalypse" from a Greek origin that didn't have precisely the same meaning has to do with discrediting religious fundamentalism. Can you explain this connection in more detail please? The Dude loves to learn!

quote:

So look at the bible or whichever religious text. When we read it today, we are looking through the lens of the present into the past. We are reading and interpreting it using present day meanings and uses of words. Do we take into account these words probably don't mean the same things as they used to? Or are we saying this is what it's saying which is the same then as it is now! End of discussion!