Interviews and Articles¶
Interview with David Crystal — Key Points¶
Grammar was taught routinely until the 1960s, then dropped for ~2 generations — many teachers had no grammar training.
National curriculum (1990s UK) brought language awareness back; books like Eats, Shoots and Leaves followed.
Diglossia: English operating at two levels — local variety (identity) + international standard English (intelligibility).
Global trend: Nigerian English, Ghanaian English, Singlish alongside standard written English.
World-standard English likely culturally neutral, influenced by American English.
Kids often become bidialectal: street/family variety + formal school variety.
Interview with Geoff Pullum — Key Points¶
Co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.
On Grammar Books¶
Popular grammar books rely on 200-year-old analyses linguists rejected since the 1920s–30s.
Example: defining nouns as “names of persons, places, or things” — linguistically inadequate.
Preposition at end of sentence: always valid in English; the “rule” was never based on evidence.
The Sensible Middle Ground¶
Two extremes (both wrong):
Nothing is relevant — rules are fixed regardless of how expert writers use the language.
Everything is correct — no rules at all.
Sensible view: rules must be based on how expert English users actually write and speak — evidence-based, with allowance for slips and errors in the data.
On English as Global Language¶
Undeserved good luck for native speakers — not because English is noble or well-designed.
Terrible spelling system — thousands of exceptions (Finnish: learn in ~10 minutes).
~200 irregular verbs with 30–40 patterns (Swahili: zero irregular verbs).
Don’t imagine you deserve it — you’re just lucky.
Stephen Fry on Language¶
Weird Al Yankovic — Word Crimes¶
Grammar-themed parody song.
Why I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar¶
Key argument (Kyle Wiens, HBR): grammar signals attention to detail — critical for anyone writing instructional content, especially programmers who write English more than code.
Knuth: “Programmers are essayists who work with traditional aesthetic and literary forms.”
You Pay for the Hearts by Being Funny¶
Humour creates emotional connection — Star Wars impressed through unsophisticated laughs, not just technical achievement.
Reference: Guardian — Anything for a laugh
Walking Helps Us Think¶
Walking aids diffused-mode thinking — useful for creative problem solving. Walking that requires focused attention on the problem itself can be counterproductive.
Attention is a scarce resource — conserve it.
Reference: New Yorker — Walking Helps Us Think