Prescriptivist and descriptivist language

[BitterPill]

Only when I deem it convenient, of course.

Works for me.

 

[EatTheRich]

I also quite enjoyed Shea's "Shakespeare or rap lyrics" quiz, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The examples he chose (without the answers for now):

1. The music, ho!
2. But if you don't, I'll unsheathe my Excalibur, Like a noble knight.
3. Holla, holla!
4. This is the proper way man should use ink.
5. Let's beat him before his whore.
6. Welcome, ass, Now let's have a catch.
7. I live by the sword, I take my boys everywhere I go.
8. Never name her, child, if she be a whore.
9. The money that you owe me for the chain.
10. Pay me back when you shake it again.
11. Holla, ho! Curtis!
12. Sabotaged, Shellshocked, rocked and ruled, Day in the life of a fool.
13. Now the tables turned, but I remember they used to clown me.
14. Every square inch of it, that he chose for himself, is the best part.

Answers to Shakespeare vs. rap lyrics quiz:

1. Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
2. Gangstarr, "Step in the Arena"
3. Shakespeare, King Lear
4. Big Daddy Kane, "Taste of Chocolate"
5. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
6. Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
7. Geto Boys, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
8. Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor
9. Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors
10. Nas, "You Owe Me"
11. Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew
12. Public Enemy, "Brothers Gonna Work It Out"
13. Mack 10 and Gerald Levert, "Money's Just a Touch Away"
14. Wu-Tang Clan, "Wu-Revolution"

 

[BitterPill]

Answers to Shakespeare vs. rap lyrics quiz:

1. Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
2. Gangstarr, "Step in the Arena"
3. Shakespeare, King Lear
4. Big Daddy Kane, "Taste of Chocolate"
5. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2
6. Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
7. Geto Boys, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
8. Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor
9. Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors
10. Nas, "You Owe Me"
11. Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew
12. Public Enemy, "Brothers Gonna Work It Out"
13. Mack 10 and Gerald Levert, "Money's Just a Touch Away"
14. Wu-Tang Clan, "Wu-Revolution"

My knowledge of Shakespeare, tentative as it is, far surpasses my knowledge of rap.

 

[Arkady]

That said, I have my own pet peeves as well. I prefer the elegance of the old distinction between less/amount and fewer/number, where the former refers to comparisons between collectives of indeterminate number, while the latter refers to countable quanta.

Yep. I'm usually pretty good about observing that one, and when people say "less" when referring to an obviously countable thing, it really strikes my ear wrong.

 

[Arkady]

That said, I have my own pet peeves as well. I prefer the elegance of the old distinction between less/amount and fewer/number, where the former refers to comparisons between collectives of indeterminate number, while the latter refers to countable quanta.

One that doesn't get me is when people use adjectives when they should use adverbs "e.g., 'drive safe.'" My parents were working class, with my dad being career army. Although they both wound up fairly well educated (my mom eventually even got a masters when I was an adult), when I was growing up they still spoke like working class people, with atrocious grammar. They pretty much never used adverbs, and so that sounds perfectly fine to me.

 

[BitterPill]

Yep. I'm usually pretty good about observing that one, and when people say "less" when referring to an obviously countable thing, it really strikes my ear wrong.

It doesn't bother me much when people do it, but when I see Madison Avenue making the mistake, it really, to borrow your phrase, strikes my ear wrong:

https://grammarcops.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/more-or-less-grammar/