Grammar as Class Warfare

There is a pretty interesting review of what looks to be a very interesting new book about grammar in Salon.

The author of the book is apparently suggesting that most grammer rule enforcement (or attempted enforcement) is little more than class warfare. There are also some interesting historical tidbits, for example that the words "donate" and "inaugurate" were considered abominations when they first appeared. (By somebody)

The author suggests that the only sensible rules for grammar are those that exist for the interest of clarity. Clarity is a very important value to me when it comes to language. In fact, one of the reasons I am such a big fan of English is because it has so many words and thus, has high potential to offer clarity. I do not know a ton of other languages, but I've been around some of them enough to notice that they have many words that have to mean various different things. That seems confusing to me.

Another interesting point in the article is that some of our supposed grammar rules are there simply because they were rules in Latin. But they didn't really translate all that well, for instance, the rule about not splitting infinitives.

Anyway, you should read it.