From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!lime!houxg!houxi!houxb!samm
Newsgroups: net.general
Title: Re: re:The English Language
Article-I.D.: houxb.118
Posted: Thu May 13 10:31:30 1982
Received: Fri May 14 03:46:08 1982

It appears to me that there are three kinds of people (yes, I use the 
word 'people' like that) on netnews: (1) those who write 'affect' for
'effect', 'loose' for 'lose', 'publically' for 'publicly', etc., etc.,
ad nauseam; (2) those who write articles about how illiterate the 
members of group 1 are, and provide lists of favourite style manuals (I've
never understood what style amnuals had to do with correct spelling and
simple errors of grammar and usage); (3) those who reply to articles by
group 2, sniping at real or perceived errors in THEIR (i.e. group 2's)
articles, and proclaiming the supremacy of CONTENT over FORM (as if there
are clear dividing lines between them).

I have a proposal: let's all shut up and let the illiterate, the literate,
and the many in between continue on their own merry ways - it's not that
likely that we are going to change the quality of anyone's English/
American just by putting articles on net.*

PS. It's obvious that I meant 'at least three kinds ...' - I suspect the 
(oops, read that " I suspect that the ") silent group is the largest.