Grammar As Some See It

If only grammar were simplified we then could speak uncriticized. Or, if grammar were abandoned we’d all be speaking standard. Think how easy it would be to speak flawed yet naturally, and not worry that what we say is the right or proper way. The purist will of course object and castigate me as a derelict, arguing that ungrammatical English is speech reduced to gibberish. But I remind him of this fact: language is a spontaneous act, and much of what passes today as proper English was yesterday condemned as bad and therefore unsuitable and socially improper. How, then, is it today acceptable when once it was objectionable? I’ll tell you why and clearly: Because language does not progress by laws fixed and rigid: rather time and usage are what mold and move language. And so, to every stuffed shirt scholar I say, don’t get hot under the collar, what you angrily dismiss today as rubbish will tomorrow be proper English.