Common English usage misconceptions: Difference between revisions

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With no authoritative [[language academy]], [[linguistic prescription|guidance]] on English language usage can come from many sources. This can create problems, as described by Reginald Close: <blockquote>Teachers and textbook writers often '''invent''' rules which their students and readers repeat and perpetuate. These rules are usually statements about English usage which the authors imagine to be, ''as a rule'', true. But statements of this kind are extremely difficult to formulate both simply and accurately. They are rarely altogether true; often only partially true; sometimes contradicted by usage itself. Sometimes the contrary to them is also true.<ref>[[#Clo64|Close 1964]]. n.p. (Front matter.) In a footnote to this text, Close also points to ''English as a Foreign Language'' by R. A. Close (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1962).</ref></blockquote>

Many [[usage]] forms are commonly perceived as [[nonstandard dialect|nonstandard]] or [[error (linguistics)|errors]] despite being either widely acceptedused or endorsed by authoritative descriptions.<ref>[[#Clo64|Close 1964]]. n.p. (Front matter.)</ref>{{Ref label|A|a|none}}

Perceived violations of correct English usage elicit visceral reactions in many people, or may lead to a perception of a writer being careless, uneducated, or lacking in attention to detail. For example, respondents to a 1986 [[BBC]] poll were asked to submit "the three points of grammatical usage they most disliked". Participants stated that their noted points "'made their blood boil', 'gave a pain to their ear', 'made them shudder', and 'appalled' them".<ref>Jenny Cheshire, "Myth 14: Double Negatives are Illogical" in [[#Bau98|Bauer and Trudgill 1998]]. pp. 113–114.</ref>

Perceived violations of correct English usage elicit visceral reactions in many people. For example, respondents to a 1986 [[BBC]] poll were asked to submit "the three points of grammatical usage they most disliked". Participants stated that their noted points "'made their blood boil', 'gave a pain to their ear', 'made them shudder', and 'appalled' them".<ref>Jenny Cheshire, "Myth 14: Double Negatives are Illogical" in [[#Bau98|Bauer and Trudgill 1998]]. pp. 113–114.</ref>

==Grammar==