Kudos to the Spokesman-Review‘s Stefanie Pettit, who sounds the alarm over the “declining into banality” of language. Here’s the money quote:
We need better words, sometimes more poetic words, sometimes words we need to look up if we can’t figure them out on their own. We need all the beauty and complexity of language to communicate well, to tell the story, to verbally paint a beautiful picture or maybe just a clear picture.
Preach it, sister! Plus, look at it this way: Even if we eventually lose the fight, “manning the barricades against the barbaric descriptivist hordes” can totally go on your résumé.
by Diane Evans