>I have been trying to make a point on this list that no one has commented
>on, even to disagree with. I don't mean to whine. I've had plenty of
>stupid ideas. But here is one more try. It seems to me that the neglect
>of the discipline of grammar tends to reduce speech and writing to a
>collage of direct quotations, as in "He was all like 'Think 'different,'"'
>instead of, "He suggested that I think in an unconventional manner.'
>Grammar is the study of the rules by which we generate new statements of
>our own. In this connection, I am struck by the epigram on the Emails of
>Nancy Patterson, who is outspoken in her skepticism about the value
>of traditional school grammar, viz., "The text is a tissue of quotations
>drawn from the innumerable centers of culture." It seems to me that this
>is true only of texts created without a mastery of grammar.
>
Perhaps the rest of us are having trouble understanding your argument.
Everyone except very small children already has a mastery of grammar, so I
can't see that a "collage of direct quotations" could be caused by any
lack of such mastery.
It seems to me that constructions such as "He was all like 'Think
different'" are simply part of an oral in-group language of teenagers, plus
a few people who have a hard time leaving teenagehood behind. Even
teenagers don't write that way, nor do they speak that way to their
grandparents, though they may try to irritate their parents with it. (I
used to irritate my father by using language from Mad Magazine.)
Furthermore, I would say that we learn speech patterns (and some patterns
of writing) by imitating the people around us, not by learning any rules of
grammar. That's how teenagers learn to speak like teenagers, and that's how
adults learn to talk of "growing the business" or to throw around
abbreviations: "So I dumped by ISP because it gave me only TCP/IP to access
the URLs that interest me."
Now, if I've misunderstood your point, or your argument, maybe you can take
another stab at explaining either one. Then perhaps someone will take
another stab at a reply.
Bill
William J. McCleary
3247 Bronson Hill Road
Livonia, NY 14487
716-346-6859
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