Good English and Bad

The topic of this blog post pertains to an article written by the one and only, Bill Bryson. Aptly titled ‘Good English and Bad,’ the article examines and discusses the hallowed yet seldom considered ‘dogma of English,’ which was modeled by 17^th grammarians to be based off of the now dead language Latin. Conceptualized in Ancient Rome, Latin is widely considered to be the “most admirable and purest tongue.” In the article Bryson denotes the sheer absurdity of individuals who have imposed Latin and other antediluvian rules upon English delineating these rules to be an ancient oddity amongst the adversely modernizing language of English, “… Anglo Saxons English would now be unable to describe the modern world …” (pg. 198). The overarching purpose of the article is to invalidate to misconception that bad English is defined as the non-adherence to certain grammatical rules and structures but instead the imposition of rules irrelevant to our current society that negatively stultify the use of the English Language. Bryson exposes these unintelligible rules through the means various examples concluding, “English grammar is so complex and confusing for one very simple reason that its rules and terminology are based of Latin – a language with which it has precious little in common,” (pg. 196).  Bryson associates the cause of this issue with a select sect of venerable individuals within society, who are apoplectic at the very thought of tampering with what they consider to be the codified integrity of the English language. Clinging to ideals no longer relevant today, Bryson’s attributes the imposition of these superfluous rules as obstinate deeming it a “pointless affectation of usage that is without the support of any recognized authority of the last 200 years.” (201).

Opinionated by nature, Bryson presents two sides to his argument advocating the seamlessly lost beauty of the English language. The beauty of course being it flexibility; aside from the Latin derived rules whose restrictions belie its usage one of the felicities of the English Language is its adaptability. Drawing a interesting juxtaposition between English and French, Bryson illustrates the rigidity of French which is fraught with various rules regarding tense and subject contrasting it to English through the comparison of “Likening French to the sever and formal Gardens of Louis XIV, he contrasted it with English, which he said was ‘laid out seemingly without any definite plan …’ “ (198). By examining the history of the English language Bryson develops the argument that as there is no ‘appointed guardians for the English language’ all pre-existing rules if seldom considered are unnecessary, as there is often little basis behind them. This means that their relevance is based of their standard of usage, if not a major factor it is ipso facto not a major rule. Therefore with rules and words constantly changing and evolving to suit the needs of today the distinction between good English and bad English are to an uncomfortably large extent matters of prejudice and conditioning.  

In my own life, a friend who is a few years younger to me posed an interesting question, he inquired upon the need for rules if the point made is communicated effectively. This resonated with me as it stirred up many other questions within me regarding the importance of register and tone. In regards to how does his (Bill Bryson) discussion make me feel about my own lapses in grammar? The answer from my perspective is that it brought me to the realization that as long as my point is understood and not formatted in a fashion that is glaringly wrong, there is no issue. Lapses in grammar though not ideal are not a life altering experience and are to be expected as the human brain is fallible and does make mistakes. In addition it is worth restating the primary purpose of language as discussed before of is communication, therefore if bombarded with rules the accessibility of the language is stultified as communication would be negated by minute discrepancies founded off a language (Latin) no longer relevant today.

As keen readers would have noticed there is no new WOW word included in this post, however the choice was executive decision based off my discretion as this post in my opinion is quite thought provoking and should be kept standard with no extra glib.

*Note I didn’t even include any of my lovable sarcasm!