• IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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    16 hours ago

    I think this is one of the reasons why English (or it’s descendants) will forever be the international language of trade. If it’s not your first language, it’s damn difficult to make yourself sound like a native speaker, but it’s damn easy to make yourself understood.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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      15 hours ago

      On the flip side, a lot of other languages have retained structures which require a detailed knowing of grammar in part because they haven’t needed to be learned by amateurs.

      • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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        15 hours ago

        True, though I would personally count that as a bad thing. Purity of language, to me is irrelevant. That opinion may be coloured by the fact that I’m a native English speaker, and there hasn’t been anything resembling purity in this language for thousands of years. To me, the point of language is open communication. Any impediment to that is a negative.

      • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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        13 hours ago

        Whereas English has adopted so many idioms from other languages with different grammar that we’re entirely comfortable with the exotic phrasing, or if it’s ambiguous we make puns and/or poetry from it.