The word 'off' is not synonymous with the word 'from'

[Twiglett]

harrumph

my pet peev is "bored of". think I read somewhere that on the internet, this is now used more than "bored with". Shudder.

You can get both in the same phrase, as in 'him from off of the telly'

And then of course we get into "usage" arguments, where people want to argue that something is becoming "correct" simply because people who don't know any better are using it wrongly.

Hello! Can anyone hear me?

THERE ARE NO RULES FOR ORAL ENGLISH. NOONE WROTE IT DOWN. THERE IS NO BIBLE.

The key is: can you communicate? Can you make yourself understood? Does your language help you present yourself socially in the way you wish?

For example, do you say 'hOWse' or 'hOOse'? Which is 'correct'? Well, 2 regional variations, obviously. Interesting fact: hOOSe is in some cases more correct because that would be the original pronunciation before a really interesting vowel shift (honest) that didn't take place in northern dialects - so you could say 'hOWse' is the corrupted version.

Effie! I have found my MN descriptive linguist soulmate!

UQD - you do know I love debating this stuff with you , so:
And then of course we get into "usage" arguments, where people want to argue that something is becoming "correct" simply because people who don't know any better are using it wrongly.

How do you feel about double negatives? Or the split infinitive...

And Effie - did you get out your MEOSL notes as well?

Diclaimer: I have done little on medieval phonology since graduating a decade ago. But it was fun . And my modern linguistics info is a bit more up to date (though not much)

and I still have Strong Views on the Norman Conquest (the bastards)

Cool. Between us, we have a fair amount covered. Bring it on, prescriptivists!

I feel I have Been There And Done That with all of this, and will only end up repeating myself.

No, I don't want a row, UQD, just an acceptance that language does evolve. Of course you don't have to like it, and there are things which are stylistically foul, or communicatively poor. Have you read any Jean Aitchison's books? I'd be geuinely interested to know what you think of her arguments.

@ 'fuck from'

Shouldn't the usage argument be called the abusage argument?