Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Curiously Searching For the Adverb



At the beach yesterday during the storm.


For years now I have been watching the media and everyone else misuse the English language.


I know, I must be getting old. But since my formal early education was heavily drenched in grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure, I cannot help but notice that the English language is changing, and not for the better, I feel.


It was pretty wild.


For example, the adverb. You know that part of speech that describes an activity/verb. Let's say I feel very strongly about this. Some people today would say that they feel very strong about this too.


See what I mean. Both sound differently when you say them. One, the first one, is an adverb, while the other is using an adjective in place of the adverb. It doesn't work because adjectives describe nouns not verbs.


Sophie didn't enjoy it at all!


Another common one is the use of safe instead of safely. We see it around here all the time.....'Drive safe!'.......instead of 'Drive safely!'


I think that  language-usage is changing alongside everything else in our culture. Not necessarily a bad thing some of the time but when it comes to the language.....that is a different story as far as I'm concerned.


I realize that languages change over time and evolve to reflect the culture of which it represents. We lose some words and gain others. 
She wanted to get back to the car.


We learn to communicate in different ways using technologies that are ever-evolving at a very fast rate.


We learn ways to get the message out in a more precise and quick manner. The language is bound to change.


                  So we did.
So, am I naive in wanting to 'hold on to the past'? Am I really saying that I don't want things to change because this will mean that I am getting older?


Yes and no, probably. I like to hear the language spoken properly by a person who has a sound knowledge and grasp of it.


Let it evolve, yes. Let the foundation remain intact. Otherwise it could crumble.





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