Mark said:
On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 01:02:51 +0200, in comp.lang.c , Skarmander
(of the rule of english grammar that you may not end a sentence with a
preposition)
If you can't see how bogus this argument is, I pity you. One might as
well say that slang is proper engish, innit like, y'know?
There is a world of difference between using slang in contexts where
it's not appropriate and ending your sentences with a preposition. So no
-- one might not "as well" say that.
If you're looking for an absolute stance on what makes language use
right and wrong, however, I have none to offer you, and wouldn't trust
people who claim they do. I was merely pointing out that I cannot agree
with people who judge that ending a sentence with a preposition is
wrong, because they have nothing more concrete to offer than "because we
say so".
That argument is equally bogus: we should speak and write only as
grammarians tell us to, because they know how the language works and the
majority of its speakers don't. That's not how natural language works,
no matter how hard you wish it worked that way.
Clearly the truth is in the middle -- grammar has rules, but rules
evolve from use. In this case, the argument is that the rule being
applied never evolved from anything but the imagination of language
lawyers, and while that may work for a programming language, it doesn't
work for English.
But let's not drag comp.lang.c into a discussion of prescriptivist vs.
descriptivist grammar. In C, it's all much simpler: consult the standard
and it will tell you.
S.