Our attitude to language gives a real insight into our souls, allowing for the fact that in my atheistic opinion we don't have such things. We get used to a particular way of expressing ourselves, and it marks our territory, our generation and our friendships. I guess that is why we are unsettled by change, or by the incorrect usage of words.
We allow those from abroad to be different, either because they were "us" once, like the Yanks or Ozzies, or because they are decent Johnny Foreigners who are trying hard to improve themselves, but we don't like our native speakers to dilute our own customs!
The TV soap opera, "Neighbours", has been extremely popular in Britain for years, and it has altered the accents of a whole generation. I was brought up to pronounce "No" with a round "Oh" sound, but Londoners under 35 have generally reverted to pronoucing it almost as "Nay", as do the Australians. I don't mind that in itself, but I do find, at the age of 58, that some young people are quite difficult to understand. I don't think my hearing has deteriorated vastly, so it must simply be the differences in accent.
Grammar is another area where customs change almost yearly. The indeterminate use of singular nouns and plural verbs begins to make language less precise. "The Government are committed to speaking the truth," is probably untrue, certainly ungrammatical, but is unlikely to be misunderstood. "Many UK citizens have been avoiding paying for their television licences. The Government is taking their responsibilities very seriously," is less clear.
The paradox of musicians who consider accuracy in music to be of paramount importance, but who ride roughshod over the rules of a spoken language, is a strange one. If anything, musical expression is less precise than that of the written word, so you would think that it would be less important to adhere to an exact text.
There's now't so strange as folk, as those weird Northeners say.
Topic: english