On 22/03/2011 2:00 PM, Nunya Bidnits wrote:
I reject the idea that articulate people have to eliminate certain words
from their vocabulary because a very small percentage of people are so
ignorant that they would take offense at them because they think that it
sounds like another word.
The the best known incident involved an aid to the mayor. Similar
incidents have occurred at high schools and universities. These are all
situations where people should be expected to have enough of a
vocabulary to be familiar with the word and to distinguish.
I would suggest that an articulate and educated person should be
entitled to complain about the inappropriate use of a word, but a
ignorant person with limited vocabulary is not entitled to complain
about the use of perfectly valid word because they think it sounds like
another word. Rather than chastising smart people over their appropriate
use of language, they should simply let the complainant know that they
are mistaken and that their personal ignorance does not justify a
complaint.
I reject the idea that articulate people have to eliminate certain words
from their vocabulary because a very small percentage of people are so
ignorant that they would take offense at them because they think that it
sounds like another word.
The the best known incident involved an aid to the mayor. Similar
incidents have occurred at high schools and universities. These are all
situations where people should be expected to have enough of a
vocabulary to be familiar with the word and to distinguish.
I would suggest that an articulate and educated person should be
entitled to complain about the inappropriate use of a word, but a
ignorant person with limited vocabulary is not entitled to complain
about the use of perfectly valid word because they think it sounds like
another word. Rather than chastising smart people over their appropriate
use of language, they should simply let the complainant know that they
are mistaken and that their personal ignorance does not justify a
complaint.