You're kidding, right?

[Freitag]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/04/AR2010060403296.html

I am aghast. Especially since this effort is spearheaded by a former educator.

Maybe Fez was right about Northern Virginia.

Mahoney says that it obstructs 40% of the American population from learning to read. Really?

[Hottub]

this ma b the dummest thing ive herd in a wile.

[Freitag]

this ma b the dummest thing ive herd in a wile.

yer keedin, rite?

[Furtherman]

Dum e s

[KnoxHarrington]

This iz rillee dum.

Seriously, I am not comfortable with the spelling bee being a nationally televised "sporting event", but that doesn't mean that I want to say "Fuck it, just spell shit however you want."

[HBox]

NEWSFLASH! Small group of crazy people advocate crazy things.

MORE AT 11

[ChimneyFish]

If they don't like it, they should go back to Phoenicia.

[pennington]

Simplifying the spellings of some words is not a bad idea. But language is fluid, these things tend to take care of themselves. Example, thru for through.

[Freitag]

NEWSFLASH! Small group of crazy people advocate crazy things.

MORE AT 11

But I want more NOW!

[KC2OSO]

Simplifying the spellings of some words is not a bad idea. But language is fluid, these things tend to take care of themselves. Example, thru for through.
I always thought 'boro" was a shortening of 'borough'. Is that true?

As Ron said a few weeks ago, language and spelling will devolve into a series of grunts fairly soon. I think he was half-kidding.

[pennington]

I always thought 'boro" was a shortening of 'borough'. Is that true?

From our friends at Wikipedia:

Boro has several meanings:

* Boro, New South Wales, a locality in Australia
* Boro (Formula One) was a Dutch Formula One constructor.
* Boro, Togo is a village is the Kara region of Togo
* Boro is a local nickname for English towns which end with the sound 'brough' such as Middlesbrough and Scarborough.
* Middlesbrough F.C.
* An informal, shortened form of the political division type borough, used both in the names of some towns, but also as official county level subdivisions in the Northeastern United States, especially Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
* Boro is also a variant spelling for the Bodo (community) people of northeast India
* Boro Isaac Adaka - a celebrated Niger Delta nationalist and Nigerian civil war hero.
* Boro is a variety of rice grown during the dry season in Bangladesh


Texting is changing how people write too. I think most people from say age 50 and younger know what BTW, FWIW and IMO mean.

[StanUpshaw]

What the fuck is so sacred about our language? Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?

Assholes like you squashed the metric system.

[SatCam]

What the fuck is so sacred about our language? Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?

Assholes like you squashed the metric system.

these colors dont run

[hanso]

spicka dee english

[sailor]

Simplifying the spellings of some words is not a bad idea. But language is fluid, these things tend to take care of themselves. Example, thru for through.


Yeah, just try reading Chaucer nowadays.

And shouldn't it be "beeleev" anyways?

[Kevin]

http://angiesophy.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/6a00d8341c556453ef00e54f1ad8238833-640wi.jpg

[StanUpshaw]

Simplifying the spellings of some words is not a bad idea. But language is fluid, these things tend to take care of themselves. Example, thru for through.

Yeah, just try reading Chaucer nowadays.

You think we went from Chaucer to modern English via organic changes?


I'll give you a hint. We didn't.

Research: Chancery Standard

[Chigworthy]

Researching Chancery Standard is a bore-o.

[StanUpshaw]

Researching Chancery Standard is a bore-o.

Yeah well, that's linguistics for you.

[sailor]

You think we went from Chaucer to modern English via organic changes?


I'll give you a hint. We didn't.

Research: Chancery Standard

in large part, yes, I do. Regardless, I dint have a problem with language changing to meet people's needs.

[A.J.]

This ranks up there with that ebonics debate a few years back as another attempt to institutionalize stupidity.

[zentraed]

English spellings really are a mess. I guess we have too many language influences. I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I felt like I could spell any word I could understand.

[Penelope]

Ur geting wyrried over nuthing. May-b speling is 4 fagits.

[StanUpshaw]

This ranks up there with that ebonics debate a few years back as another attempt to institutionalize stupidity.

What's really stupid is you irrationally preaching to maintain the sanctity of the English language, like you're some Kansas biblethumper trying to keep evolution out of the school books.

Did you even give this a moment's thought? Can you really give any sort of defense for continuing to teach such an illogical hodgepodge language? I ask again: Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?

[A.J.]

What's really stupid is you irrationally preaching to maintain the sanctity of the English language, like you're some Kansas biblethumper trying to keep evolution out of the school books.

Did you even give this a moment's thought? Can you really give any sort of defense for continuing to teach such an illogical hodgepodge language? I ask again: Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?

I gave it a moment's thought when I learned to spell in school: like everyone else before and after me managed to do.

So now we're going to rewrite the entire English language because we only now realize that spelling is sometimes awkward?

[pennington]

English spellings really are a mess. I guess we have too many language influences. I took two years of Spanish in high school, and I felt like I could spell any word I could understand.

Check out from 2:55 on:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/osK2qKA5pZw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/osK2qKA5pZw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

[MisterSmith]

This ranks up there with that ebonics debate a few years back as another attempt to institutionalize stupidity.

What's really stupid is you irrationally preaching to maintain the sanctity of the English language, like you're some Kansas biblethumper trying to keep evolution out of the school books.

Did you even give this a moment's thought? Can you really give any sort of defense for continuing to teach such an illogical hodgepodge language? I ask again: Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?

Placating the lowest denominator is not really a good idea as far as the overall health of society. It isn't so much about the "sanctity of the English language" as it is not wanting to bow to mediocrity. Learn the correct way and not except a bastardized version.

However, use of a utilitarian form certainly has its place. Most people do it now anyway in personal communication through text messages, emails, etc. It is accepted as part of everyday life.

Common use and official standards are two different areas. If you want to use a shorthand form to write a note to your Mom, go ahead. But if you are writing a resume or term paper, you certainly should be using proper, standardized language and spellings. It is part of being in an educated society.

Long story short, we shouldn't be "dumbing things down" as a culture. Advancing as a society means raising the standards rather than lowering them.

[A.J.]

Check out from 2:55 on:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/osK2qKA5pZw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/osK2qKA5pZw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

I was thinking of the exact same scene too.

While we're at it, let's not just change the spelling of words: let's also get rid of homonyms and heteronyms. For example, "bow". What is it? A thing that shoots an arrow? The front part of a ship? Something you do in front of nobility? It's all needlessly confusing.

[brettmojo]

What's really stupid is you irrationally preaching to maintain the sanctity of the English language, like you're some Kansas biblethumper trying to keep evolution out of the school books.

Did you even give this a moment's thought? Can you really give any sort of defense for continuing to teach such an illogical hodgepodge language? I ask again: Why wouldn't you want to make changes that improve its utility?
Cuz it's dumm.

[Tenbatsuzen]

Long story short, we shouldn't be "dumbing things down" as a culture. Advancing as a society means raising the standards rather than lowering them.

Lock the thread, because that's about the best thing said.

[StanUpshaw]

How completely one adheres to some set of arbitrary standards is the factor that determines how advanced a society is?

[ChimneyFish]

I long ago forgot how to speak German, so I was thinking:

Is English the most asinine language on the planet????

[torker]

I long ago forgot how to speak German, so I was thinking:

Is English the most asinine language on the planet????

9.

[celery]

Lock the thread, because that's about the best thing said.

Beat me to it.

Mistersmith wins.