4 ms·

The rules of grammar aren't gospel. Writing was meant to approximate spoken language and when spoken language changes you would expect written language to chan

The rules of grammar aren't gospel. Writing was meant to approximate spoken language and when spoken language changes you would expect written language to change too. Grammar rules are a lagging indicator of accepted speech. I enjoyed the article and didn't think it fixated on anything, really. It described an artistic style that is based on the cultural experience of a particular group and has values consistent with that group. By your reading we should criticise Dante's inferno for being fixated on guilt, anti-science and hard to understand, rather than appreciating it for what it is

javert 6y ago
I definitely think there is a correct way to write and speak. (I don't always succeed, but I try.) I think we should criticize Dante's Inferno for being fixated on guilt and being anti-science. If it is hard to understand (I don't remember)--in the sense of intentionally being obscure just to be obscure--we should also criticize in that grounds. By the way, there's nothing wrong with fixation as such. At least, I didn't intend to use the word in such a way. It's just that I'm tired of the fixation on race in our society. It's fine if people have something new and helpful to say, but most people don't. P.S. Upvoting you b/c your comment is gray and I think it's a reasonable and helpful comment and doesn't deserve that.
- mkoubaa 6y ago
  There is no morally correct way to write and speak, but there are ways to write and speak that are effective for a given audience. For instance an effective explanation to a five year old is much different than an effective op-ed. The writing and grammar rules which we are taught at a young age are effective for getting good marks on school essays. It is becoming apparent that they are not necessary or effective for writing a national bestseller. I haven't even talked about regional or national dialects. If you think there is such thing as a correct way to write, who governs that? What right do they have to impose it on people who speak a different dialect? I think the real problem in this case is that the reader of this article has a different expectation of the standard of writing than the writer did. Is the customer always right? How can a writer ever please all readers? Should they even try to?

javert 6y ago

I definitely think there is a correct way to write and speak. (I don't always succeed, but I try.) I think we should criticize Dante's Inferno for being fixated on guilt and being anti-science. If it is hard to understand (I don't remember)--in the sense of intentionally being obscure just to be obscure--we should also criticize in that grounds. By the way, there's nothing wrong with fixation as such. At least, I didn't intend to use the word in such a way. It's just that I'm tired of the fixation on race in our society. It's fine if people have something new and helpful to say, but most people don't. P.S. Upvoting you b/c your comment is gray and I think it's a reasonable and helpful comment and doesn't deserve that.

mkoubaa 6y ago
There is no morally correct way to write and speak, but there are ways to write and speak that are effective for a given audience. For instance an effective explanation to a five year old is much different than an effective op-ed. The writing and grammar rules which we are taught at a young age are effective for getting good marks on school essays. It is becoming apparent that they are not necessary or effective for writing a national bestseller. I haven't even talked about regional or national dialects. If you think there is such thing as a correct way to write, who governs that? What right do they have to impose it on people who speak a different dialect? I think the real problem in this case is that the reader of this article has a different expectation of the standard of writing than the writer did. Is the customer always right? How can a writer ever please all readers? Should they even try to?