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The English language in decline?

By Jocelynne Scutt - posted Friday, 14 December 2012


A message (unlike that quoted here) that ends with 'inconvenience' rather than 'caused' has the listener or reader (this one, at least) bounding with joy (figuratively). Yet the chance to bound (whether figuratively or literally) comes infrequently, for 'the inconvenience caused' is almost as ubiquitous as 'to be honest', never mind 'you know'.

Then there's the use of language in circumstances clearly showing that the user/s believe the recipient/s are, bluntly, stupid. Thus, those messages arriving in an e-mail user's 'in' box:

'Dear Officers, Your mailbox size of 1 GB has exceeded its quota and we areperforming [sic] an ongoing upgrade in our Iprimus.com.au mailbox database, and we are de-activating all our un-used account [sic], so there can be enough space forour [sic] certified users.

Advertisement

'If You Want Your Mailbox To Remain Active, Then You Have to Provide YourCorrect [sic] Account Details …

'Fill the detail correctly for your account to be upgraded.

Name:

Surname:

Email address:

Password:

Advertisement

Confirm password:

Date of birth:

'… Thank you for your cooperation …'

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About the Author

Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt is a Barrister and Human Rights Lawyer in Mellbourne and Sydney. Her web site is here. She is also chair of Women Worldwide Advancing Freedom and Dignity.

She is also Visiting Fellow, Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Jocelynne Scutt

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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