Perhaps if the Brits had been a little more punctilious and proud of their language,as the French are, then we wouldn’t now be adopting the American language with such relish. Incidentally, I’m certain that the French could not care less whether the British or any other nation makes fun of them.
As language is the tool of thought I believe it is right to protect and safeguard it from whim and fashion. Let new expressions and vocabulary enter the language provided they enhance the language and not detract from it.
We seem to be living in an era where our language has no meaningful framework and is at the mercy of the semi-educated media moguls. The only value attached to the language now seems to be its cash value. The “if it makes money then it must be right” approach to life. One only has to walk into any book shop to appreciate that anybody with a computer and word-processing software qualifies as an “author”. The subject matter can be utter drivel; the use of language stunted and at best sub-GCSE level. No matter ; it sells and that is the only criterion for the people who pedal words for a living.
You will no doubt tell me that there are French nationals who also have the opinion that the government is wrong in its zealous safeguarding of their language. Teachers of French who agree.
I disagree with them and hope that the French government continues with its prescribed vocabulary lists and its anti English/Amercain stance as far as language is concerned.Far from being narrow-minded, I think they will prove to have been far-sighted.