There's Nothing Wrong With Saying '10 Items or Less': Descriptivism vs Prescriptivism

[someoneontheinternet]

When you watch a few of these in a row you get the impression that he doesn't like the French

[GoranXII]

IIRC the last time the French Academy tried de-Anglicising the language, one of the big newspapers asked, rather sarcastically, what they intended to do about 'sandwich'.

[fakjbf]

The British Isles was invaded so many times that it held a grudge and eventually invaded everywhere else.

[gadgetman]

"English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleys, clubs them on the head, and rifles through their pockets for loose grammar."

[nicfripp]

All you need know about the "immortals" of the Academie Français is that they took so long to decide the French word for hovercraft that it was obsolete before they finished their deliberations

[TheFastolf]

I love how he gets all presciptive about being descriptive.

[indigoziona]

I remember being sad about descriptivism because it meant I couldn't be pedantic about grammar, but it turns out you can be pedantic with the grammar pedants, which is much more fun than tormenting some poor person just trying to get their point across in a relatable vernacular.

[MrDartiste]

everybody uses "hash-tag" or "e-mail"(we say "mail"). The Academie is soooo old-school but the video is right for most of the French, it's the autority. For example, everybody in france uses " juste" as " just " but the Academie decided that it was an anglicism and that it's incorrect, even if it's used by 80% of the population....

[michaelhird]

I love how australia has contributed so little to english that tom's example of our word in english was "kookaburra"

[WaleighWallace]

I feel like sending this every teacher who ever responded to “can I go to the bathroom” with “I don’t know, can you?”

[lukemolwitz]

'O'h hello' h'ow a''r'e'' '''you''?'

[donna]

I'm too old for irony; in fact, in my advanced years I've attained the opposite of irony: now I'm wrinkly.

[EebstertheGreat]

If you are ever trapped for days in a room with nothing else to read and find yourself perusing the front matter of a dictionary, you will find they are quite explicit that the rules of English are not exact, constant, or formal, and that the dictionary (especially if it's a print dictionary) does not includes all words, senses, spellings, or pronunciations. Even the OED says this, and it is certainly true. Pronunciation guides in particular should be taken only as a general guide to the most common usage, since practically every English word has a broad diversity of accepted pronunciations around the world.

[alsamuef]

The correct way is 
"11 items then fuck off"

[StephSinalco]

The members of the French Academy are referred as "Immortals" not because they don't die (you don't say) or are that important they won't be ever forgot, but because their number is constant. As soon as one dies, he's replaced by a new member. There's always 40 elected members exactly at the Academy, making the institution and its members sort of immortal :)

[arhombus]

One more thing: if you tell me something isn't a word, but you understood what I meant, it's a word.

[dejureclaims]

This video challenged my deeply-held beliefs and now I am offended.

[petrie]

Clearly the best position is descriptoprescriptivism: this is how the language is currently being used, and therefore you're wrong if you don't use it that way.

[amilynh]

This (largely prescriptivist) high school English teacher LOVES this video. Ultimately, although I point out to my students how Formal Written English is "expected" to be, and what might get them brownie points in a job application letter, college essay, or on some standardized test, I also point out that ours is a Bastard Language That Has Three Daddies (and that number is probably conservative), and that communication and clarity are most important in speech and dialogue. I hope that descriptivism and discussion of origins and usage helps them...while my prescriptivism about writing shows them how to code-switch for those whose judgement will affect them.

[solaris]

"That doesn't mean that you should start sprinkling apostrophes all over the place" Y'all'd've would like a word with you.