Why has the English language become so corrupt?

Question

Why is it that even intelligent people have lost the ability to spell and use the English language correctly? Is it really that hard to write the whole word? Is it hard to use apostrophes? What about when speaking? Is it so hard to put a 'g' at the end of your words? (I'm from the South.) Why is it that even college students don't know the difference between "its" and "it's?" I can barely read things written online anymore because they are shortened into the type of speech people use in text messages. Do people ever read books anymore? What about the English teachers? Are they at fault? I personally was taught very little grammar in school. My English teachers seemed to think that literature was much more important. Is that why American youth are so awful at English?

I was helping some other students in my technical writing class the other day, and their writing skills are laughable. What has happened to our language?

It must be VERY hard to use English correctly.

I guess I didn't make myself very clear. It isn't that the changes bother me... I dislike the fact that people can no longer spell and don't know how to use words properly. I understand that new words are made and languages change, but I can't understand why people can't spell things right. I also hate it when people misuse words. You can't make a word mean what you want it to, even with the evolution of a language. I doesn't work that way.

"I doesn't work that way." Ha. I mispelled something. What a hypocrite, huh? i kno i rlly ned to lrn to spel rite.

Answer 1

You've never been to Australia, have you? Australians do to the English language what New Zealanders do to sheep.

Answer 2

warning may have errors: I think we should blame teachers. I wrote papers all the time in high school. I would only ever use spell check. It was not until I got into college that I realized how bad my writing really was. I have worked hard to do my best to work hard and use all the grammar skill I have learned through out the years. I also have a theory that the reason people don't read as much is because when they do read it is bad. People read advertisement and internet bad grammar everywhere. SO why should they they expect any better from a book. Plus there is a whole lot more in books then there are in a myspace message, or a sign for food. so why all the effort. Well all this is just an idea that I have come up with. I am not sure how true it is, but it might be the reason for the sharp declinein grammar skills.

Answer 3

It's not the language that's become corrupt, the problem is that our standards are looser. I think this is partly because of the general deterioration of education in the US, and also partly because more and more people in the US today are foreign born and speak English as a second language, and it's not considered polite to correct them.

When I went to school, back in the day when TV was black and white, cars all had 8 cylinders, and you had to be 18 to get a tattoo, we were told that the amount of money we would make in our lifetimes would be directly proportional to our mastery of English syntax, spelling, and punctuation.

I took this lesson to heart and was careful to learn all these skills. And all my life, every job I've had, it's been my job to look over the memos and letters of my boss, who couldn't put together a proper sentence or spell 'cat', but made more money than I did. 8^<

Answer 4

English is what is known as a "living" language, unlike Latin which is considered dead. Some words fall out of use while new ones are made. Some punctuation falls out of use while other means are used for the same result.

I am horrified with some of the stuff I see at this site. It is so bad that it is very hard to figure out just what the questioner asked. Guess that will keep me from Alzheimer's.....doing these puzzles every day!!!

Answer 5

When do we take a snapshot of the English language and say "this is the way it is from here on?". Language is a living evolving thing. You wouldn't understand an Englishman speaking perfect English 1000 years ago. Language changes, embrace it!

Answer 6

The language is not corrupt. It is what it is. It is not possible for a language to be "corrupt", since this requires some mythological "pure" language, which has never existed. Instead, the idiosyncratic and illogical orthographical conventions of English are not well-observed.

Stop whining about it. From my perusal of historical documents, the standardization of orthography that you blindly worship is actually an aberration when it comes to English. It is almost entirely confined to 19th and 20th centuries. Therefore, if anything is "corrupt", by the standard of history and imprimis of ancient honor, it is "correct" orthography.

Answer 7

No the english language is not corrupt it is very screwed up. Some words we think are english are actually used in foreign languages i can't think of any examples of the top my head right now, but when i do get one i'll give it to you.

Answer 8

It's not corrupt. It's evolving and all those little regional variations will over time, become different languages. The only way to keep a language pure is to have it become extinct.

Answer 9

It's just simpler to say things shorter online. Even intelligent people spell things shorter online. I dunno why you would go through all that trouble to abbreviate something when it takes longer to spell it wrong than it does to spell it right though.