Re: Looking for a C program to parse CSV

Mark McIntyre wrote: 
On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 01:02:51 +0200, in comp.lang.c , Skarmander
<invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
(of the rule of english grammar that you may not end a sentence with a
preposition)


Fact is, people adhere to this rule because they adhere to this rule, so violating it is wrong because they "just know" it's wrong. It has little to do with "live" English grammar.


If you can't see how bogus this argument is, I pity you. One might as
well say that slang is proper engish, innit like, y'know?

There is a world of difference between using slang in contexts where it's not appropriate and ending your sentences with a preposition. So no -- one might not "as well" say that.

If you're looking for an absolute stance on what makes language use right and wrong, however, I have none to offer you, and wouldn't trust people who claim they do. I was merely pointing out that I cannot agree with people who judge that ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong, because they have nothing more concrete to offer than "because we say so".

That argument is equally bogus: we should speak and write only as grammarians tell us to, because they know how the language works and the majority of its speakers don't. That's not how natural language works, no matter how hard you wish it worked that way.

Clearly the truth is in the middle -- grammar has rules, but rules evolve from use. In this case, the argument is that the rule being applied never evolved from anything but the imagination of language lawyers, and while that may work for a programming language, it doesn't work for English.

But let's not drag comp.lang.c into a discussion of prescriptivist vs. descriptivist grammar. In C, it's all much simpler: consult the standard and it will tell you.

S.
.

Relevant Pages

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