Aihuxi.105
net.general
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!duke!harpo!mhtsa!ihnss!ihuxi!otto
Tue Mar 23 00:34:29 1982
Bad English
I have always found this little section amusing. I think it
shows what can happen when one succumbs to the temptation to wax
sacerdotal when it comes to telling others what is good English and what
is not.
"At this point it may be well to clear the ground by collecting a small
number of the words that may be accused of being hybrids in either of
the senses explained above--i.e. as made of heterogeneous elements,
elements put together in an alien fashion:--*amoral, amusive,
backwardation, bi-daily, bureaucracy, cablegram, climactic, coastal,
colouration, dandiacal, floatation, funniment, gullible, impedance,
pacifist, racial, sendee, speedometer*. An ill-favoured list, of which
all readers will condemn some, & some all. It will not be possible here
to lay down rules for word-formation, which is a complicated business;
but a few remarks on some of the above words may perhaps instil caution,
& a conviction that word-making, like other manufactures, should be done
by those who know how to do it; others should neither attempt it for
themselves, nor assist the deplorable activities of amateurs by giving
currency to fresh coinages before there has been time to test them."
H.W. Fowler, "Modern English Usage"
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