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From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Is English decaying rapidly?
Message-ID: <162@opus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Oct-85 04:56:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.162
Posted: Thu Oct 24 04:56:43 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 07:48:27 EDT
References: <1427@cae780.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 18

Don't forget that a large part of the population which allegedly speaks
English (American) is unable to distinguish the possessive pronoun "its"
from the contraction "it's".  I have seen the contraction form used so
often where the possessive pronoun is intended that I now do a double-
take when I see "its" used correctly.  It amazes me that so many people
have never gotten the use of a three-letter word right.  For some reason,
one seldom sees the corresponding mistake "her's" and (I hope) never
"hi's", although I've run across "your's" a time or two.

Then there's "comprise".  This word is so often misused that we might as
well remove it from the language!  If you see the phrase "comprised of" in
someone's writing, you can probably toss it off right away as pretentious,
ill-conceived, or even marketeerish (sorry:-).  The worst part of the abuse
of "comprise" is that it tends to be used in a sense almost opposite to its
true meaning.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...At last it's the real thing...or close enough to pretend.