• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Bob Kelly Writer

Making You Look Good On Paper

  • About
  • Writing Services
  • KellyGram
  • Quotations
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact

Watch Your Language!

September 20, 2018 by Bob Kelly

“One of the hardest notions for a human being to shake is that a language is something that is, when it is actually something always becoming.”

~ John McWhorter

Among the English-speaking nations of the world, there’s been a long-standing debate about which of these nations uses our not-so-common language properly. George Bernard Shaw, famed Irish playwright of a century ago, once commented: “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.” And his contemporary, Oscar Wilde, noted: “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.”

In 1956, “My Fair Lady,” a musical based on Shaw’s play, “Pgymalion,” opened on Broadway. With music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, it would become one of the most popular Broadway musicals in history. In it, Professor Henry Higgins, played originally by Rex Harrison, sings about how poorly the English language is spoken everywhere. Its title: “Why Can’t the English Teach Their Children How to Speak?”

The lyrics include this lament:

“Oh, why can’t the English learn to set
A good example to people whose
English is painful to your ears?
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears.
There even are places where English completely
disappears. In America, they haven’t used it for years!”

Were he alive today, Professor Higgins would probably find little reason to change his mind. Nevertheless, this ever-changing language of ours can still transport us to the heights, as well as the depths. As award-winning author Rosalie Maggio reminds us: “Language doesn’t belong to grammarians, linguists, wordsmiths, writers, or editors. It belongs to the people who use it. It goes where people want it to go, and, like a balky mule, you can’t make it go where it doesn’t want to go.”

 

Primary Sidebar

Post Archives

  • ► 2019 (2)
    • ► January (2)
      • Shot Down by Amazon!
      • Thoughts for the New Year
  • ▼ 2018 (59)
    • ► December (1)
      • Happy Birthday to Jesus - and Me!
    • ► November (4)
      • The Power of Questions
      • The Apostrophe Protection Society
      • Listen to Your Writing
      • Change of Address
    • ▼ September (8)
      • Leaving Readers Dangling - and Confused
      • Strategic Incompetence? There's a Word for It!
      • Watch Your Language!
      • Getting His Words Mixed!
      • Logophobia - and Other Diseases!
      • The Straight Scoop!
      • The Joy of Lex
      • The Proofreader’s Role
    • ► August (6)
      • Schmoozing? Or Losing?
      • Celebrating Bad Writing
      • What’s Up?
      • Feeling Unappreciated?
      • Completed at Last
      • A Must Read – Times Two!
    • ► May (7)
      • Favorite Words
      • Preparing a Book Proposal
      • Quintessence – Part 2
      • Quintessence – Part 1
      • Resources for Writers
      • The Power of the Tongue
      • “Reasons” not to Change
    • ► April (8)
      • Paronomasia? Say What!
      • The Biker
      • New Books
      • Condoughlences
      • Tax Time
      • A Sense of Humor
      • I’m Glad You Asked
      • National Humor Month!
    • ► March (9)
      • Play Ball
      • Banished Words
      • The "Fighting" Irish? I Object!
      • My Friend Patrick and Me - Part 2
      • My Friend Patrick and Me - Part 1
      • Opening Lines!
      • David Wins - Again!
      • Three Strikes and You're Out!
      • How Readable Is Your Writing? (Part 2)
    • ► February (7)
      • How Readable Is Your Writing? (Part 1)
      • Writing: The Preposition Position
      • Words: Loaded Pistols
      • Twenty-six – That’s All You Get!
      • Want to Write That Book? What's Stopping You? (Part 2)
      • Twenty-six – That’s All You Get!
      • How’s Your Deportment?
    • ► January (9)
      • Why Do We Quote?
      • Down with Literacy
      • A Little Bit More
      • The Ghostwriter’s Role
      • ‘Tain’t What You Say!
      • Adjectives and Banana Peels
      • Note Worthy
      • Painting Word Pictures
      • Words – A Love Affair
  • ► 2017 (3)
    • ► December (3)
      • New Year’s Day – a Vial Experience!
      • The New Year
      • The Reason for the Season!

Copyright © 2021 · Author Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in