But why does it always seem to stem from illiterates and liars?
Illiterates, for example, tear down useful words and phrases through simple ignorance and sometimes stupidity. An example from something I read recently will illustrate this point: “[I]t’s the exception that makes the rule.” This corruption was obviously drawn from the old adage, “The exception proves the rule,” which actually means, “The exception TESTS the rule.” The writer of “the exception. . . makes the rule” never bothered to learn what the original adage actually said and so his corruption makes at least some sort of (non)sense, based on his poor literacy.
Worse are those who wittingly corrupt words, terms and phrases to mean something opposite of their once common senses. Take for example a self-proclaimed “liberal democrat” whose words and deeds prove him to be a tyrannical statist bent on corrupting democracy.
That’s why I so often call out and condemn both illiterate and disingenuous abuse of English. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” as it were.
Cry, cry! For the eyes are too blind to see the dim light that remains. The ears are too stopped with wax to hear the voice of reason. The minds are too full of self to dare to think.
Only the ever more garish attracts the eye. Brazen loudness is needed to stimulate the ear. Only that which jars the senses reaches the mind, and the spirit is dead.
Even the “above average” is so intellectually impoverished that lethargy, indifference or even open hostility to an attempt to correct or preserve what remains is the norm. (We’re all above average aren’t we?)
I really think that most people are indifferent to anything other than their own entertainment. Any attempt to change that is treated as arrogance. The more I learn and think about it, the more I realize it’s probably always been this way.
My biggest problem with it is, I think, recognizing how much like that I am myself and trying to change myself while hoping to awaken others.
Yeh, of late, I have come to be much more certain of my own semi-literacy. . . As for the rest, what you said, uh-huh. *heh*
I pay attention to the Amazon best seller lists and the reviews. I do not consider such things as useful endorsements of a book, though. No, at least half the time, the reviews of Amazon best sellers indicate that such books are appealing to illiterates who have been making free with their autolobotomy kits. Often, rave reviews from self-made morons steer me AWAY from a book.
I hate living in Lake Woebegone. . .