THE PROFESSOR’S PET PEEVES
Writing is language; language is words.
It often seems to me these days that the English language is under assault. But then maybe I’m just an old professorial fuddy-duddy. Language evolves, doesn’t it? Isn’t the Oxford English Dictionary and, indeed, aren’t all dictionaries merely history books detailing the way particular words were used at particular times?
The battle among word mavens in essence comes down to tradition versus usage. Must we stick to the traditional use of a word or does the way words are used today establish their true meaning?
My answer is: Yes. We should stick to the traditional use of words or we should accept the ways words are used in contemporary times to establish their meaning.
Continue reading in the September issue of the Screenwriting Tips Newsletter…
