I think that register is an important consideration. Colloquial language tends to be in a state of flux and dictionaries will always lag behind. Formal language tends to be far more conservative, and that, I think, is where "proper" is likely to be a more important consideration.
Is either "more correct" than the other? Not really. It depends on the nature and purpose of the communication. But "improper" use of words and grammar will, of course, give the impression that the communicator has been "poorly educated." (Again, that could be considered a "loaded concept".) Where "making a good impression" is important, dictionaries are very useful tools indeed. /Gary From: Felmon Davis <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, 30 July 2015, 21:48 Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Question about LO Writer and "complex documents" On Wed, 29 Jul 2015, anne-ology wrote: > grammar skillfully employed procures meaningful communication, > [see below for comments to your comments] yes, 'skillful' is not the same as 'proper'. or let's put it this way, 'proper' is ambiguous. it could mean 'according to some accepted standard' or it could be 'adept'. an act of communication can be 'improper' but apt or 'proper' but inept. some think 'the King and me' is 'improper' and should be 'the King and I'. aside from reasons of gentility they are equally fit to purpose. [pardon the deletions] > Without good communication skills, then how can anyone be a part of >> any community ??? > > I doubt 'good communication skills' require 'proper' grammar. > > [well, how would you punctuate this sentence? - > Woman without her man is helpless > (yes, it's an old time example used by probably every English > instructor since ... ) > > It could be 'Woman, without her man, is helpless.' or 'Woman: > without her, man is helpless.'] the spoken sentences would be unambiguous. here are some other punctuations: Woman! without her man is helpless. Woman - without her, man is helpless. some grammar 'authority' will favor one, some another. it is pointless to dispute such religious questions. speaking of which: to me it's anathema how Brits sprinkle commas all over their sentences; after all they aren't Germans! f. -- Felmon Davis Fashions have done more harm than revolutions. -- Victor Hugo -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
