What often irks me, as a non-native speaker, is the wrong subjunctive (if that’s what it’s called). People say and write all the time “I wish you were there”, when they mean “I wish you had been there”. At least I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s supposed to be…

This random page I found on the internet has a pretty decent explanation of the subjunctive:

https://www.learngrammar.net/a/examples-of-the-subjunctive-m...

It is "led". I notice the web using "lead" for both the present and past forms a lot--presumably because it sneaks past spelling checkers and autocorrect. (There's also a correspondence to "read" (long e) where "read" (short e) is also the past tense. Yeah, welcome to English.)

And, I'm almost sorry for pointing it out if you haven't noticed it. Once you do notice it, you see it everywhere and it's a big, jarring speedbump when you read.

"I wish you were there" -- at another location, now or in the past.

"I wish you had been there" -- at another location, in the past.

"had been" means that the action is concluded. "were" is for both continuing and concluded actions, and more words are necessary to glark it from context.

The example you've chosen refers to an event in the past, so "were" seems to be ambiguous in that context, because it could be "you were there", prefixed by I wish - i.e. the writer isn't trying to use the subjunctive at all, which I think is nowadays OK.

"I wish you were here" is a clearer example. That is clearly present subjunctive. "I wish you had been here" would be referring to an event in the past - so that's some kind of past subjunctive.

I regret the death of the subjunctive.

Past: "She led me to that conclusion long ago."

Past, growing popular but historically incorrect: "She lead me to that conclusion long ago."

Noun: "I licked the sweet lead off the wall."

Also noun: "After six rounds of chess-boxing-sprinting, it was not clear to either of the participants who had the lead."

Also also popular but historically incorrect noun: "We have eighty thousand lead-free ornaments on this wall, each lit by an individually-addressable led."

In line with your example, I have noticed "costed" used instead of "cost" increasingly often.

"priced" is proper for both the past actions of determining the price of something to purchase or something to sell.

"Last week Sheila priced out the parts list, so it should be accurate."

"Last week Sheila priced everything on the shelves."

in every non-western country with its own language, those "some" would get rightfully ridiculed.

What is this universal, pure English you've been speaking? I must have missed the tablets on which it was written?

Non jokingly: There is no "bastardization" of a natural language. It is spoken how it is spoken and insisting otherwise is missing the point of language (I suggest it is "communication"). There is no King of English to sit and dictate the rules except for the common languages spoken.

If you want to really grok the concept, take some time to figure out what a "language" actually is. I'll give you a hint: your first 5 definitions have obvious failings.

Descriptivism is all very well; but it doesn't seem to allow for any usage to be actually incorrect.

8 days ago, 3 times.

"The doors are not always hidden - they clearly separate these two worlds, and may also led to very nice places that are just not public."

Presumably a typo.