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Re:English as She Is Spoke by denton-scratch on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @06:21AM (#34230189)
Merriam Webster are the arch-descriptivists. If a usage is attested anywhere, MW lists it as correct. Basically, they don't believe that any usage attested anywhere can be incorrect. If you want to know whether a usage is correct or not, don't ask MW.
Re:English as She Is Spoke by amanaplanacanal on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @09:21AM (#34231627)
Correct according to whom?
Re:English as She Is Spoke by denton-scratch on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @11:55AM (#34234051)
Humpty Dumpty is not an authority on the meaning of words.
Re:English as She Is Spoke by amanaplanacanal on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @12:13PM (#34234317)
That’s the thing. Nobody is. Words were not handed down from god. Language changes continuously. Notice how we aren’t speaking proto-indo-european any more?
Re:English as She Is Spoke by denton-scratch on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @02:17PM (#34236521)
I'm trying to avoid this conversation :-) I think descriptivism/prescriptivism is probably off-topic in this thread.

Oh well -

Someone upthread implied that the purpose of a descriptivist dictionary is to help readers/hearers to understand unfamiliar words, not to guide writers/speakers in correct usage. Thing is, they're all descriptivist. There are opinionated guides like Fowler (and the subject of this article! /on-topic), but I don't know of an opinionated lexicon.

Re:English as She Is Spoke by amanaplanacanal on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @10:39PM (#34241719)
Honestly it’s just my pet peeve. It’s like grammar nazis. I want to tell them this just isn’t how language works.
Re:English as She Is Spoke by yamtaddle on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @11:42AM (#34233840)
Descriptivist dictionaries aren't about giving advice on usage that best communicates, so consulting them as a usage guide is usually not the best idea. They're to help one understand unfamiliar words or usage—including common but maybe-not-great ones!—not to use as a guide to what's best. Finding a definition in a dictionary isn't enough to justify a choice, aside from confirming that one has not done something entirely novel.