J Brown wrote:

I've been complaining about this list all day to anybody who would
listen, so hear goes:

I've seen this in previous years, and it always drives me nuts ... I
think the idea is, "What can you reasonably expect from people who have
experienced so little?" But I think you *can* reasonably expect them to
know something about history. I know WW II happened, though I wasn't
around for it. Not having lived through it (or anything--pick your
historical event or cultural phenomenon) is no excuse.

And what definition of "always" means nothing more than "since I was
born"? Glenn Miller hasn't "always" been dead, though he died before I
was born. To say "Heart transplants have always been possible" is just
plain silly.

That said, this is a pretty sobering list ... not because of what this
year's freshmen (excuse me, "first-year students") don't know, but
because it makes me feel old (as does having written this grumpy email,
come to think of it!).

Jim
beginning woodworker, advanced-beginning English professor


[snip]
Ah. Zen and the use of the English Language. Your grump does strike a
chord. I have always been one of those cranks who tries to nudge others
into a correct (my judgement) usage of the language. My father, for
example, taught me that "you can be hung or you can be hanged; one is
good, the other is bad".
humph,
jo4hn