I have been long absent from this discussion. In my absence, I have noticed that the temperature has risen.
First of all, everyone is free to speak however it is that they want to speak. There are no laws or regulations that will punish you. That said, there are rules of grammar that should be followed. These guidelines should be followed for the simple reason as to make communication easier. The whole point of speech, and language, is to communicate ideas. I do not understand why you would want to stray from the accepted grammatical norm of a language for no good reason other than laziness.
Yes, laziness. It is one thing to perhaps utilize a new and unorthodox form of a word to convey a feeling, concept or idea that you feel cannot be expressed by any other word already in the lexicon, but to use the plural in a case where the singular should so obviously be used, is just lazy. It creates confusion, and also gives the impression that the author does not have a full grasp of the language, and therefore, perhaps does not have a complete understanding of the ideas being expressed.
Any speech or correspondence should seek to illuminate and clarify. That is the point of language, to communicate ideas. Why do scholars so often learn German, or Latin or French? I am sure that somewhere, there is a translation in English, or in their native tongue. The reason for this added work is that some concepts and ideas cannot be switched easily between languages; they are specific to the language and culture that spawned them. To fully understand these ideas, it is necessary to understand the language, the syntax, the reason why some words mean what they mean. To create a completely bastardized language for the sake of convenience not only does a disservice to those artists of the written word that elegantly paint a picture in the mind using the beauty of a language, but it also degrades the basic level of communication amongst peoples. (Yes, sometimes you can use the plural here, for effect; basically I am referring to people of various cultures and language)
Be clear in your speak, be clear in your ideas. Languages move and shift, and change… of course; they are living and breathing like the people who speak them, but let them evolve naturally, and not through laziness. As this world gets ever smaller and closer, more and more cultures and languages will interact, and share words and ideas, let’s hope that this exchange of ideas does not include intellectual dwarfism.
A bit longwinded I know, but, I am a fan of the written word, and enjoy expressing my ideas in this medium.
