--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "hugheshugo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > <snip> > > > They've got whole *departments* in France whose > > > job it is to try to protect the language from > > > "creeping bastardizations," such as the use of > > > the English words "weekend." Some could say > > > that it's a fool's errand, trying to protect > > > the "purity of the language" this way, but I > > > admire it. > > > > > > The problems of internationalization and English > > > having become the de facto "lingua franca" of > > > our age make it really *hard* to keep one's > > > original language intact and preserve its > > > beauty. > > > > Actually, one of the reasons English *has* > > become an international language is because its > > vocabulary is so rich with words borrowed from > > other languages. By some estimates, only a third > > of the words used in English came from the > > original Anglo-Saxon (although these words are > > the most frequently used). > > I've always undertood one of the reasons English was the worlds > second language is because it's the language of science, which used > to be german (and before that latin) every scientist had to speak > it or not get on very well at conferences.
That too. English has its disadvantages (spelling, lack of case distinctions), but it has a *huge* vocabulary, which means it's useful in a wide variety of fields and is capable of very fine distinctions and nuances. > BTW; all you decent writers are making me painfully aware my > grammar is crap, I think I can spell alright but apostrophes' > I'm ashamed to say I don't understand. This is a conversational forum, not an English exam. Relax! You get more points for content than most here, and that's a great deal more important. The only reason anybody is beating up on Angela is that she's elevated herself to a pedestal as a judge of English skills when her own leave something to be desired--and won't even admit it when she makes a mistake. We all make grammar and spelling mistakes, including this professional editor. Apostrophes in English are pretty straightforward; it wouldn't take much for you to master their use if you wanted to consult a grammar book. "Its" vs. "it's" is easy to figure out--if you can substitute "it is" or "it has" and still have the sentence make sense, then "it's" is correct. If not, no apostrophe. Or, if you could substitute "his" or "hers," then "its" is correct. (There is never, EVER an apostrophe in "hers" or "theirs," nor are apostrophes ever used to form plurals, except perhaps with numbers and letters--e.g., "I got three A's and two B's," or "Take all the 7's out of the deck.")
