Well I just couldn't resist commenting on this thread... I can relate to most of what's been said in this thread.
:ranting: There is a difference between spoken and written language, people become protective of the words that are written because it represents who they are and what they are about, it contains meaning for them and when it changes they feel as though they have lost something of themselves. On the other hand language evolves all the time and dictionaries are being revised constantly. There are also different emphasis put upon words and meanings depending on who you are; for example if you are a doctor, there are strong rules you must follw when writing because accuracy is important or someone could not heal or even die if mistakes are made in interpereting someones work engineers speak in numbers, poets speak a language many of us cannot understand! Artists speak in pictures or even some other way. And then there are other languages completely, like Japanese, Arabic, Slang etc - I think you get my point.
My point is that this all comes down to communication, and someone said it already... The point is to be understood.
:rtfm: I love dictionaries, they contain word meanings and without them we couldn'y communicate in a sophisticated way, people are right to defend them, but it's a balencing act, like most things in life.
:idea: Has anyone mention grammar yet? :pint:
