The Important of languageJohn Simon, a renowned critic of both the arts and of the proper use of the English language. Some of his accomplishments include a devotion of 40-years as a theater critic at New York Magazine, as well as a regular author of several essays for a language column in Esquire (Simon 547). Simon asserts in his essay, ‘Why Good English Is Good for You,’ that one must use good English to succeed.
According to Simon, what constitutes as ‘good English’ today has been derived from “ tradition, usage, the best speakers and writers, the grammar books and dictionaries…” (549). Good English comes from the correct use of the rules that these educated grammarians have constructed based upon the compilation of words and meanings from “the best speakers and writers,” of their time and in turn these rules have been taught in schools through the use of “grammar books and dictionaries” (549).These grammarians consider these rules to be important because they are the most efficient way of representing the English language within our own country and to the rest of the world. It is important that Americans use ‘good English’ as a way of demonstrating our capabilities as a competent person. Simon purports that “ …we think in words, and using them correctly is comparable to a craftsman’s treating his tools with care, keeping his materials in good shape (548). John Simon makes is a point to state that our internal process of analyzing our ideas can be understood when expressed through the act of verbalization, therefore what we say and how we say it are essential when communication occurs.
It is important that within a professional setting such as when a there is a business meeting and a company representative is pitching his or her idea to potential investors that good English because it not only demonstrates a discipline for the education of the language and efficiently delivers the information. This way, investors will be able to focus on the presentation because they will be able to trust the educated individual that has taken the time to follow the rules. The use of good English attests to their able to carry on that sense of intellect and trustworthiness toward their work and be able to make the company money, which will keep them employed and the company content.Bill Bryson, a descriptivist, and an American journalist residing in England has worked for various publications such as the Times of London and the Independent. Some of the books that he has written include A Dictionary of Troublesome Words (2004), and most recently, Shakespeare: The World as Stage (2007). Bryson makes the argument in his essay “Good English and Bad,” that 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.
It is a natural process that has been going on for centuries. To interfere with that process is arguably both arrogant and futile, since the weight of usage will push new meanings into currency…” (Bryson 166) Bryson makes it a point to maintain that the English language is always changing and that common usage will change the meaning of the word.I can understand what Bryson means when he says that with the progression of time there may be words that will be considered more relevant, but despite this, one of the limitations of his essay is that he fails to present a thorough assessment of how to deal with the practicality of archiving these new terminologies that do not follow the rules of good English. The archival act of transcribing every single word that has been invented and to publish them through an endless series of volumes seems too impractical. Simon would argue that with the use of good English, it is “…a matter of concision.
Space today is as limited as time. If you have only a thousand words in which to convey an important message it helps to know that ‘overcomplicated’ is correct and ‘overly complicated’ is incorrect” (Simon 548). Life is short as it is and it is impractical for people to create something new just because they are unable to recognize that a grammatical rule has already been documented.If something already exists, there is no reason to repeat it because if one is to succeed in their professional careers they have to understand that time is money.
It is important to note when Simon states that “…you are going to be judged, whether you like it or not, by the correctness of your English as much as by the correctness of your thinking; there are some people to whose bad English is offensive as gibberish…” (Simon 550). Doors can easily be opened and immediately shut in someone’s face who decides to speak as though they had the grammatical education of a third-grader. To not prove that you have been educated by using good English is rude because through the perspective of the employer, that person has just waited their precious time.To successful one must know how to properly speak and write and so that they can showcase their accomplishments through cohesive dialogue. This can only be accomplished by learning the proper rules of English. Simon maintains in his essay that that one of the basic defenses to using good English is that “is that it helps communication…” (Simon 547).
May it be verbal or written, there needs to be a firm foundation that a people can rely on into order to effectively communicate with one another. Simon points out that “ …‘figuring out’ is precisely what a listener or reader should not have to do. There is, of course, the fundamental matter of courtesy to the other person, but it goes beyond that: why waste time on unscrambling simple meaning when there are more complex questions that should receive our undivided attention? (548)The key term that I would like to note in Simon’s passage is courtesy and what defines the parameters of how we should consider our potential readers in mind when writing something. Say that I am to write a paper for my undergraduate Introduction into Ethics course about the conflicts that arise with the topic of euthanasia. There are grammatical rules that I am going to follow, may it pertain to the structure of my essay. There must be a beginning, middle, and end and the sentences must be coherence with the words and phrases that will follow the rules of grammatical structure that contain a subject, a predicate, a pronoun and variations of a sentence.
If I am to use slang terms such as ain’t and superduper, this conveys to my readers I could care less what they think about my work and that I am only writing to reaffirm to myself of my own brilliance. The issue of courtesy arises when the author is not unwilling to make that compromise with their audience and to follow a set of grammatical rules that are placed there to guide the writer into making choices in their construction of a piece of word that will be at least set a common ground where communication is possible. To not use good English and to distort the rules of grammar, will result in confusion from the reader and a feeling of hostility that will make the overall piece unsuccessful in its quest to get it’s point across. This would also mean a letter grade of an F because within an institution, there are rules to everything and these rules are expected to be follow if the individual wants to be successful and graduate.
