Wiring problem ??

[securespark]

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-thesaurus/terribly

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, we know that - but it is the people compiling dictionaries who think the same as John and just give in.

That is - a majority being wrong makes it right.

I am arguing against that and saying they should have been corrected before that situation is reached - otherwise we will get to the stage where all sentences must begin with "so" or "like you know what I mean".

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I wondered if he thought terribly good was the opposite of terribly bad but sadly I see I am too late and already in the dictionary terribly is said to mean very.
This is the utter nonsense to which I object.

Do you have any other pacific examples?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Rubbish. How can using words which actually mean the opposite be a result of that.

"Let" used to mean "prevention". Ever come across the phrase "without let or hindrance"?

 

[JohnW2]

Yes, we know that - but it is the people compiling dictionaries who think the same as John and just give in. That is - a majority being wrong makes it right. I am arguing against that and saying they should have been corrected before that situation is reached ...

If one wants to prevent language evolving then, yes, such things "should have been corrected before that situation is reached", since any 'change' would, more-or-less by definition, be regarded by you as something 'incorrect that should be corrected'.

However, I'm not sure who (other than seemingly yourself) actually wants to prevent all evolution of language. As I understand it, academic English linguists do not. Indeed, a substantial proportion of English PhDs appear to be in one way or another related to such evolution.

Many of the things we discuss are essentially faits accomplis. You criticise the dictionaries for 'giving in', but what are your criteria for deciding whether something is (now) correct or incorrect - the dictionaries of some specific time in the past, or what?

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

Do you have any other pacific examples?

Sure:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pacific+examples&t=ffnt

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Clearly any retrospection is always going to be problematic.

But as a general principle, if one person uses a word incorrectly, uses the wrong word to describe something, (where the "correctness" is both recorded in dictionaries and universally accepted) should the entire world immediately accept the new use as correct?