From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!duke!mcnc!rlgvax!thekid Newsgroups: net.flame Title: all lower case!!! Article-I.D.: rlgvax.1064 Posted: Fri Feb 18 14:12:57 1983 Received: Sun Feb 20 05:59:08 1983 re: don't i know english... i'm continually amazed that people find themselves so bound by the various (and often trivial) rules that surround the English language that they feel the need to attempt to impose strict standards on what should be a free forum. language is a tool, and i am far more concerned with using the tool effectively than i am with maintaining that tool in it's virginal purity. i'm not fighting "pie with a fork" (rah, rah, early Heinlein), but USENET is NOT a structured situation. the nets exist because we find them interesting, provocative, and generally educational. obviously, if i were writing to people who were not comfortable with English, i would be more structured to avoid confusion, or in other situations WHERE THERE IS A PRACTICAL REASON FOR DOING SO. but i WON'T wear a suit to church, i ALWAYS fill in Richard Nixon's social security number on A&P check cashing cards, i WON'T drink red wine with prime rib if i want white wine and i WON'T subscribe to other petty, useless rules either. let's see... "ain't" is out, not because it doesn't make sense, but because it is "incorrect". why, well, we don't exactly know, but we ARE sure that it IS incorrect. no exclusive constructions, not because they don't make sense, but because they didn't make sense in the languages that English derives from. etc. etc. check out e. e. cummings and hemingway among others. p.s. i prefer to type in lower case, because it's faster. if anyone out there finds a real difference in their ability to comprehend my messages, please let me know. i will then retract my flame and apologize to the world at large. until then, eat fist. thekid ...!mcnc!rlgvax!thekid