Why So Serious?

 John Locke is said to have thought that “if the definition of words could be agreed and misunderstanding avoided, peace would naturally follow” (The Adventure of English). Locke believed that if everyone used language in the same way, and most people want mutual benefit and cordiality, then it follows that if a standardized use of language could be settled then conflict would be avoided.

Jonathan Swift also believed that language should be the same for all, even in different time periods. Swift did not like the idea of future generations being unable to comprehend what he left in writing. He also thought shortness was crude and was in favor of overly complex, flamboyant words and expressions. Swift even tried to make an effect on language by founding an academy that taught his views.

Even more hands-on than Swift was Samuel Johnson, who reluctantly accepted that he couldn’t easily save language from decay, but anyway tried to diminish the corruption of English by standardizing its usage in a dictionary.

How deeply philosophical were the views of all these great men.

Frankly, I personally do not care enough about language to give it the amount of thinking time that they did. Most modern people are more liberal regarding the use of language. Of course, we still love the snobbish Queens English over Texan, but few give it such importance as the great thinkers of yore.

I believe this has occurred as a result of globalization. We now have realized that there are simply too many influences in a major language to standardize them all into one. 21st century people are very Wordsworth in that sense, so “fill your papers with the breathings of your heart”.