| The roots of words are critical for their proper use; often, when a word is taken from one language to another, it is because the taking language wants a single word for a concept (e.g., the French taking over "weekend" because "fin de semain" doesn't mean everything that our "weekend" means). Thus, to know the root is often to know why we have the word in the first place, and what it can do for us.
As to words changing meanings: you mentioned "gay" as an example; "very" is another. It derives from the Latin "veritas" and originally meant "true," but it has become an all-purpose emphatic word. I agree that one must be aware of current usage, but one doesn't necessarily have to like it. :)
Also, don't forget that large portions of the masses use "should of" instead of "should have," and put apostrophes into plural forms of nouns (thing's instead of things) Each of these uses are improper despite their ubiquitousness.
Just as a side note: I don't go around whacking people with my LART whenever they abuse English; if I did, I'd have to whack myself, too. :) For some reason, the whole "medieval" discussion caught my eye this morning, and since I know of the older spelling, I thought I'd mention it. |
