Good English and Bad

Have you ever wondered why “I’m hurrying, are I not?” is incorrect English whereas “I’m hurrying aren’t I?” is perfect English. In response to the article “Good English and bad” by Bill Bryson, there is no defensible reason why this contradiction of words that are very similar are very right or wrong English. This is because the English language is “a fluid and democratic language in which meanings shift and change in response to the pressures of common usage rather than the dictates of committees”. All the grammatical structures which the English language is based upon interpretation and common use as there “are no appointed guardians of the English language”. “They are because they are”.

Despite that the origins of the English language are based on Latin, these ancient rules do not apply to the complex system of English which is spoken today. This system consists of a variety of unwritten rules that often go against grammatical structures, and which are very complex to be explained to why it is that way.

Some concepts can somewhat be described, for example ellipsis; which is a concept for sentences which contain words that aren’t there. Examples are “What?”, “How?”, “Why”, and “where”. These sentences leave out words that are initially there, we just have to know in what situation and context there are used. For example ‘’Where did she leave her book’’, can be expressed as ‘’where?’’ if we know what situation it is used in. Bryson concludes that “To deal with all these anomalies of the English language, the parts of speech must be so broadly defined as to be almost meaningless”. English is a continuously developing and changing language. “Considerations of what makes good or bad English are to an uncomfortably large extend matters of prejudice and conditioning”. It is influenced by the people themselves as well as authoritarian figures who imply certain words or grammatical structures which are then picked up and socially accepted as right.

Bryson’s discussion touched on my own personal lapses of grammar in English which I make regularly. I personally find English grammar very complex and confusing, with as a result my grammar is not entirely accurate. I agree with Bryson’s statement which dictates that it is absurd to fully base English on Latin rules as these are two complete different languages with little to no resemblance amid them as this results in English grammar becoming unnecessarily complex. I strongly agree with Joseph Priestley’s argument which states that “We need to make no doubt but that the best forms of speech will, in time, establish themselves by their own superior excellence’’ (quoted by Baugh and Cable, pp 269). It is a language that should be able to evolve with its time rather than to stick with strict anticipated rules that limit improvements and changes to be applied with the purpose to maximize communication in the English language.

Source: Bryson, Bill. (1990). Good English and Bad. In B. Bryson, The Mother Tongue (pp. 143-51)