Re: Jonathan Swift published a proposal to regulate English (22-2-1712)

Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> wrote or quoted:

Mentally disturbed is something of an exaggeration. All I meant was
that some educated poeple are resistant to change for that reason.

  The abstraction "change" might not be appropriate when the details
  of the change are crucial.

  "We will reduce your salary." - "No, I'm against that!" - "Oh,
  you're just old-fashioned, out of habit against any innovation!"

  The crucial thing is not that the salary is "changed", but that
  it's /reduced/. The worker might not be against a /raise/ of his
  salary.

  In other words, in the case of a regulation according to which the
  common spellings are to be regarded as errors in schools, one must
  take the trouble to look closely at what is to be changed and how.