Noonan McKane wrote:You don't do irony, then? That's OK.
Actually I rather thought that that was thick with irony. At a minimum it was thick with sarcasm.
Noonan wrote:Here's a thing. You're nearly on to it. The language doesn't have to evolve, but it does. It does so by itself.
Languages evolve through the evolution of common usage. "Aint" was not an official word twenty years ago, but through persistent widespread common use it has crept into the lexicon of today. For better or worse the language evolved, though through no fault of its own.
Noonan wrote:Point is, I agree with you, to a degree. But isn't evolution forward progression, from a fixed, recognised point?
The really sad thing is that I was being sarcastic and it got lost in translation.
Yes, languages evolve. Unfortuantely right now they appear to be regressing rather than moving forward. Vocabularies are shrinking, and the few words that survive in common vernacular are being diluted with incoherent (and often just plain wrong) meaning and use.
A prime example of how the English language is being destroyed is the IM/BBS/chat/SMS crap that I was poking fun of above. Hence the followup statement regarding hate and people.
Noonan wrote:In short: YOU CAN"T CHANGE HOW WORDS ARE SPELT NOW! NOT NOW EVERYONE IS USED TO THEM! JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE PEOPLE!
Pish and tosh. Ask an Englishman how to spell "cheque" and an Yank how to spell "check." For that matter ask them for "theatre" and "theater," "colour" and "color," etc. Ask them too what the difference between petrol and gas or a hood and bonnet are.
Noonan wrote:You'll grow out of it.
Dare to dream.
The literate nature of The Pogues' songs is one of the things that very much attracts me to them. Shane, Jem, Phil, Terry - they're all brilliant writers that clearly manage to avoid the pap of Pop.
But I digress...
“I know all those people that were in the film [...] But that’s when they were young and strong and full of life, you know?”