User talk:Andrewa/Prescriptive linguistics think tank

Why this page

It's a common side issue. See if this helps.

It was particularly motivated by this comment:

Umm... yes and no. If we start using 'words' like alot, using literally improperly, or ending sentences with "right now" for no good reason I'm going to stop using Wikipedia. Neologisms and poor spelling/grammar are not the same thing...

Wikipedia uses English as found in reliable secondary sources, which is descriptive linguistics as opposed to prescriptive linguistics. But I often find myself explaining and/or justifying this.

Please feel free to comment in the existing sections, and/or add new ones. That's the whole idea! Andrewa (talk) 18:18, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

Function of the user page

This talk page is itself the think tank. In theory we could have a discussion space in the user namespace but it's far simpler to just have it here in the user talk namespace. But the user page still needs to be there to prevent over-zealous editors from deleting this talk page as an orphan.

Having the discussion here automatically gives us a New section link and puts us under the talk page guidelines.

The user page may also from time to time have a summary of any conclusions reached here, and any editor may contribute to this too, see the page hatnote. Andrewa (talk) 23:56, 28 June 2018 (UTC)

Time enough for mistakes

I'm one who firmly disagrees with the principle that a common mistake is no longer a mistake. [1] Interesting observation.

Robert Heinlein in Time Enough for Love observes Democracy is based on the principle that a million men are more likely to be right than one man. So it's not a new thought... Andrewa (talk) 18:03, 28 June 2018 (UTC)