Rant: English - Are standards declining?

[reason 3]

Yes, english is getting dummed down.

Yes, i think you already mentioned that.To be honest you actually mentioned that our mods need an English lesson.

 

[KelThuzad]

Yes, i think you already mentioned that.To be honest you actually mentioned that our mods need an English lesson.

Please don't start, matey. You'll get your ass kicked by the same thing you are critisizing.

 

[reason 3]

Please don't start, matey. You'll get your ass kicked by the same thing you are critisizing.

Ok,then i'm sorry...
I just couldn't say nothing..
Anyway, you could ignore my post above.

 

[KelThuzad]

That's not the point. There were already alot of topics like "Our mods need to learn English", and people erally got some problems after that. So.. that's an advice, not insult.

 

[Deleted member 157129]

Seriously, everybody uses slang now. This is the declining of English standarts, but everyone likes it.

This is complete bull, not everyone use slang, and OBVIOUSLY not everyone like how English is declining, else this topic wouldn't even exist. It is as if you're trying to claim that you know better than I, how much I like declining language, and how much slang I use.

 

[KelThuzad]

Fine, maybe I overraged. Not slang. The short words, the new made-up words, I think most people use them.

 

[Kwah]

Speaking as one of said mods, I don't need an English lesson.

Also - English is NOT 'declining'. Why does removing old words and adding new ones = getting worse? Every society, everywhere has used slang. This is not unique to modern English.

 

[busterkomo]

Speaking as one of said mods, I don't need an English lesson.

Says one of few native English speaking mods.

 

[TwistedImage]

Can you, hawk, honestly say that the general population's skill at writing/speaking English is not declining?

 

[Kwah]

Can you, hawk, honestly say that the general population's skill at writing/speaking English is not declining?

Yes. It's a statistic that they ARE going up, so /facepalm.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

Fine, maybe I overraged. Not slang. The short words, the new made-up words, I think most people use them.

People have been "making up" new words since the beginning of time. This isn't some kind of stupid trend, and it certainly doesn't hint at the "decline" of anything.


This entire thread is just an excuse for someone to pile heaps of unwarranted self-importance on themselves because they type what they consider "proper" English on this website.

 

[Teh_Ephy]

Excuse me, but I got a perfect subscore on the writing portion of the ACT. My self-importance is perfectly warranted.

 

[MySpaceBarBroke]

Excuse me, but I got a perfect subscore on the writing portion of the ACT. My self-importance is perfectly warranted.

1. Stfu faggot

A) Correct as is.
B) STFU FAGGOT
C) STFU, faggot!
D) stfufaggot
E) Rethink post.

 

[Deleted member 157129]

Yes. It's a statistic that they ARE going up, so /facepalm.

Though that is merely because English is being continually simplified. If English can be written any way you want, then a natural consequence is that the average skill in English communication rises statistically. I mean, non-native speakers that know a total of ten English words, would go under the category of skilled English speakers. While I, for instance, would end up in this group of evil (foreign) conservatives.

It's the same problem in Norway, heck even your essay at school is written on a damn computer these days, grammatical mistakes are impossible. Thus you will never have to learn grammar, just get a grip on the most essential words, and the computer does the rest for you. It's not odd that people stop learning language, I just don't like it. I got bad language, my vocabulary lacks severely, yet I am able to express myself in a civilized manner, and when people get worse than me, I really understand why people complain about my language. I have to use so many words to explain what I really mean, because I don't know that one perfect word that would explain it all out of context. These new kids don't even realize what a context is.

This is how old words disappear, kids can't see why you'd like two words that mean the same thing, so they go with the one they learn first, or the easiest one, and forget about the other. When no one use the words daily, they are taken out of the dictionaries, they are unneeded. What will remain in the end is such a basic language you'll laugh at how you complained about immigrants talking silly. I don't want to end up there. I like a colourful language.

 

[PurplePoot]

The Word grammar checker is terrible, and most people ignore it anyways.

Most people still don't have a clue about proper English grammar, and the rest of us still make a lot of mistakes.

 

[The_wand_mirror]

That's right, america is setting the standards while we are the origin.

Btw, fucking street language here in holland. Probably also happening other countries but man, I can't understand a damn thing those guys say it's a whole other language.

 

[KelThuzad]

Is this the only thing you really care about? English Grammar? What about those faggots on the streets (like 16 years old) that drink till they shit out of their mouth, smoke 3 packs a day, etc., what about those fucked-up 12-14 year old girls that dress as hookers and have an IQ of less than a banana?

Grammar is fine as it is, it is EVOLVING, but in a good way. New people, new words, new meanings. And American english is different from English because there are absolutely not the same people.

 

[Megafyr]

Actually, the english we know today as correct english has evolved through immigrants who brought new words. So I mean, complaining about new words and new grammar sounds like you think english has always been the same until now. Anyway, my point is language changes, and words like "LOL" and "OMG" will probably be words that you find in your british english dictionary in about hundred years...

 

[Deleted member 157129]

Meh, the Word grammar correction works just fine for Norwegian, you don't get a new, awesomely intellectual sentence when you press correct, but it does become a correct sentence and your teacher can't complain about it. I always wrote on paper, there is no correction available. Neither did we have dictionaries. Heck, I still write exams on paper. Now what you need to learn in school is "this is the power button, these are letters, this one here with the broken arrow is the return-key, it makes a new line, the long one here at the bottom is a space, it makes a space between words and the left-directed arrow atop the return-key is the backspace-key, it is used to erase the last key you pressed", then you're taught a set of essential words and given a simplified dictionary to make out sentences with.

Actually, the english we know today as correct english has evolved through immigrants who brought new words. So I mean, complaining about new words and new grammar sounds like you think english has always been the same until now. Anyway, my point is language changes, and words like "LOL" and "OMG" will probably be words that you find in your british english dictionary in about hundred years...

Nah, they're already there.
Of course it has changed, I'm not claiming to talk or write the original form of English (though I'd most certainly prefer to if it was available and plausible for communication, but then everyone had to learn it). I'm just saying that I don't want it to be even more simplified.

 

[Megafyr]

I'm just saying that I don't want it to be even more simplified.

I do not think that is something you can avoid.