Proper Language

I, throughout my life, have turned to the dictionary for proper usage and pronunciation, priding myself on being able to read, write, and speak 'proper' American-English. Admittedly, I have gotten rather lazy over the years and do not, necessarily, speak as well as I could. (Heaven knows, 15 years with a carpenter, certainly added some spice to my usage of the language!) And what about all of the word games we've played where the dictionary was the arbiter of what is and isn't a 'real' word.


The dictionary taught me how words are formed, what each 'piece' means; their ancestry, so to speak. Now, may Webster forgive us, any word or pronunciation that is "popular enough" becomes acceptable, worthy of a listing in the dictionary, and can actually replace pronunciations that go back to the roots of the word? I live with kids who say "psgetty". Because there are 2 of them and only one of me, does that give their pronunciation validity over mine? I don't think so! Yet, that is what I see happening, every time the dictionary is 'updated'.


No wonder people find our language so difficult to learn. This is one time that I have to applaud the French - they actually legislate proper usage and changes to their language.


Maybe I'm a purist, but how does anyone learn a language that is constantly being corrupted by "common" terms?

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God Bless!

Jules