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RE: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions?
Subject:RE: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions? From:eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 12 Jul 2005 09:39:40 -0400
bounce-techwr-l-106467 -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com wrote on 07/12/2005 04:10:52 AM:
> I believe there's historical precedent for it back in the 14th and
> 15th centuries, but if it was standard usage then (and I don't know
> that to be the case), that certainly seemed to have changed by the
> time you and I turned up. I also believe there are examples from
> Shakespeare and others that are offered as "proof" that the usage
> is correct.
With all due respect, that position is exactly what makes strict
grammarians so ridiculously funny and all the conniptions, hand wringing,
and woe about "appalling", "erroneous", and "sinful" language use
downright pathetic.
Who's the great guru that decides that all changes to a language stop at a
certain point in history? Surely no one in their right mind can argue that
all changes and evolution in the language through the 14th and 15th
centuries until sometime arbitrary time in the 18th and 19th are
acceptable but any regression back to older usage or development of new
usage is illegitimate.
If there's going to be an argument about grammar, at least base it on
plausible and defensible grounds. In the case of "then", show conclusively
that it neither matches prescriptive grammar, nor common usage AND it is
unclear to a significant number of readers.
In the case of singular they/their, the example given is rather pathetic.
Surely other simple rules can be pointed out to determine whether the last
word is plural. Even if their was only ever plural there could very well
be legitimate reasons for both a plural and singular ending. No? Granted
the event of many graduates receiving a single (that is one copy only)
diploma is probably remote. But, it is actually an interesting question.
Is "diploma" referring to the number of copies handed out or the number of
titles given out? If all graduates were receiving the same title?
Whatever. Isn't language FAR more about communication and understanding
than it is about rules? Taken to either extreme both communication and
understanding are lost.
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