English, as she is written
As well as tapping away producing all this stuff for the Wolf’s Howl, I also read a lot of websites, blogs, Twitters, Facebook updates and all sorts of other stuff. In addition to all the books I read; you could say that I’m a bit of fan of the English language and all its little foibles - even if some of them are amazingly frustrating.
But I get annoyed when people don’t use proper English when they are writing their posts; I’ve already commented on the “your / you’re” issue, but I’ve also come across people using “no” when they mean “know”, not using capitals, punctuation and all other sorts of trangressions. I don’t claim to write the best English in the world, but I know bad English when I see it and it infuriates me. (And those around me when I complain about it incessantly as I’m doing now).
Which is why it’s such a joy to read Stephen Fry’s blog. If you ask pretty much anyone to name one person who can be relied upon to use correct English - and usually sprinkling it with a generous amount of fruity, little used, gorgeous words along the way - they’ll give you his name. If you’ve ever seen him on QI and wanted more, then his blog and the series of “blessays” so far posted is a brilliant place to start.
For all bloggers, this is how it’s done. Stephen Fry is the gold standard for blogging; he’s the SI measurement; the yardstick by which other bloggers shall be measured.
Wut teh F&^% is dis?
There’s much about the Internet that really just sort of passes me by. It’s either not in my personal radar, or I just don’t get it.
Such a thing is lolcat. I’ve seen it all over the place and I really just don’t understand it. There’s a Wikipedia entry, there’s a popular blog, everyone seems to be using it.
I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to the English language; I don’t like to see adulterations of it, because they just seem dumb to me. It gets me in trouble sometimes. It makes me look like an old fuddy-duddy most of the time. But Mr Davidson and Mr Johnson would be proud of the stand I’m taking.
I suppose that lolcat is just an extension of street-speak, part of the ever-evolving, living language that we use. I do mourn the passing of proper English though.
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