Word Crimes

[Wizzerkat]

Word Crimes and why the world needs Weird Al

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video ... s.cnn.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Way_Moby]

Has anyone been following the drama about how the prescriptivism in the song is bad and stuff?

I mean, I've studied a bit of linguistics, so I get the argument that prescriptivism isn't exactly the greatest thing, but at the same time... this is a comedy song... by a comedy artist. No one was exploring the sociological implications of "I Remember Larry" because, ya know, murder is wrong.

Errr... armchair Tumblr linguists...

[Taniman]

Has anyone been following the drama about how the prescriptivism in the song is bad and stuff?

I mean, I've studied a bit of linguistics, so I get the argument that prescriptivism isn't exactly the greatest thing, but at the same time... this is a comedy song... by a comedy artist. No one was exploring the sociological implications of "I Remember Larry" because, ya know, murder is wrong.

Errr... armchair Tumblr linguists...

This one is my favorite:
http://stancarey.wordpress.com/2014/07/ ... rd-crimes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ovitz]

Jeez, can you imagine the blog posts about fat shaming we'd be getting if he tried to release Fat today? What in the world has happened to our culture that people are so sensitive to jokes? It's so sad.

[Xarath]

Apparently, according to that article, Word Crimes is "mean-spirited." What does that even mean?

[Lauren27]

These people need to get over themselves. Are they complaining about the original as well, or maybe they just can't handle a little criticism.

[Well, Well, Well]

I think the idea that it's mean-spirited comes from some of the lyrics and Al's saying he wanted to make an "educational" song. when kids are told things like be "like people who were never raised in a sewer,' 'you dumb mouth-breather' and 'never mind I give up,' those aren't the motivational things you want to say to students who may be conscious of the fact they suck at writing. This song is really for grammar Nazis who love calling people out on these same mistakes. I do wonder if Al was more conscious of that aspect when he wrote it, and if it's more so a parody about the idiocy of grammar elitism rather than about people who can't write well (good).

[TMBJon]

if it's more so a parody about the idiocy of grammar elitism rather than about people who can't write well (good).

That's my interpretation of the song at least. It's quite clearly mean-spirited in an over the top manner, which is all part of the joke. Do people not understand how comedy works? Weird Al songs are performed in character. In this case, it's an obnoxious grammar nazi.

[The Sporkman]

The people complaining are academic linguists whose job is to study how people communicate and the ways in which language is evolving. Prescriptivists or "Grammar Nazis" like Al's character in the song are more interested in professing how they believe language SHOULD work as opposed to how it actually does, an attitude which is counterproductive and harmful if your goal is to broaden our understanding of language as a psychological and sociological phenomenon. Even though the song's aggressive, elitist tone is satirical and exaggerated, it hits too close to home and reminds them of the negative attitudes and ideas that impede their research on a daily basis.

[TMBJon]

Do these bloggers not realize the irony of calling out the song for prescriptivism and then writing this?

For example. Could care less isn’t wrong – it’s an idiomatic variant. Whom is on the way out in most contexts. Dangling participles aren’t so bad. The Oxford comma is just a style preference. Abbreviating words as single letters is fine in texting or very informal writing. Less for fewer isn’t wrong. Non-literal literally isn’t either (and has been used even in classic literature for literally centuries).

I mean, really?