Acronyms, Idioms and Slang: the Evolution of the English Language.
Although the English language is only 1500 years old, it has evolved at
an incredible rate: so much so, that, at first glance, the average person in
America today would find most Shakespearean literature confusing without the aid
of an Old-English dictionary or Cliff's Notes. Yet Shakespear lived just 300
years ago! Some are seeing this is a sign of the decline of the English
language, that people are becoming less and less literate. As R. Walker writes
in his essay "Why English Needs Protecting," "the moral and economic decline of
Great Britain in the post-war era has been mirrored by a decline in the English
language and literature." I, however, disagree. It seems to me that the point of
language is to communicate to express some idea or exchange some form of
information with someone else. In this sense, the English language seems, not
necessarily to be improving or decaying, but optimizing becoming more......
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Approximate Word Count: 1124
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |