Fresh from the (online) press: Prescriptive attitudes to English
Today, we found out that our article “Prescriptive attitudes to English” is published, that it has been out for two months already. Thanks, Carmen, for tweeting about it, or I wouldn’t have known. Still, I’m really pleased, and expect Carmen will be, too: it is as interactive as we could make it, with loads of links (lots of prescriptivism goodies), and of course plenty of interesting (we hope!) content. We hope it will be widely read and quoted of course.
The most popular adjective/adverb in English today is huge/hugely. It is sometimes used in quite unexpected contexts. One example last week was “a hugely Christian concept“ in BBC Radio 4. I am preparing a study on historical and current use of these two words, and will spend two months collecting excerpts. Would appreciate contributions. If you have a suggestion, I need this information.
1. Full sentence where the word was used.
2. Source reference, verifiable if possible.
3. Any comment the contributor wants to add.
Put contributions in the body of your email and send to
skandok[at]gmx.de
Excerpts from well-known writers are always of interest (Shakespeare, Dickens and the Bible have already been taken care of), but the emphasis is on present-day usage. Looking forward to your contributions.
Lars O. Berglund
Weil im Schonbuch
Germany