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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jbe who wrote (2821)	6/10/1999 4:01:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

But even the "prescriptivists" and the "descriptivists" need to state their criteria. For example, even the most hidebound fogeys can't claim that the English Language should have stopped developing with the publication of Webster's 2nd International Dictionary or the original OED. Unless you insist that people stop developing new inventions like television, Compact Disks, jet aeroplanes, etc. OTOH, no rational developmentalist will claim that every word or usage which has been used once by somebody should instantly enter the language as an accepted word or usage. So we still get to the point: what criteria do prescriptivists and descriptivists use to decide when a word or usage is ready to enter an authoritative dictionary as a non-slang word? That's what interests me. Some people will allow it sooner, some later, some never, but on what basis?