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VII.6 Nov./Dec. 2000
Page: 56
Digital Citation

Reflections: abusus non tollit usum


Authors:
Steven Pemberton

I have a funny relationship with words. On the one hand, I'm a descriptivist, not a prescriptivist. This is the user interface designer in me coming out: you shouldn't force people to use your program in a certain way, but observe them and make your program fit how they work. Language is a constantly changing and evolving thing; if people didn't make mistakes that end up changing the language, languages wouldn't evolve. I like a dictionary to tell me how the language is used, not how some self-appointed arbiter thinks it should be used. I get really irritated by…




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