Linguistics Humor

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Time to change the English language (media.piefed.social)

submitted 3 days ago by PugJesus@piefed.social to c/linguistics_humor@sh.itjust.works

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[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Explanation: JRR Tolkien, a foundational writer of fantasy in the mid-20th century AD, disliked 'dwarfs' as the plural of 'dwarf', and 'elfs' as plural of 'elves'.

So when writing his (eventually immensely popular and influential) books, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, he used 'dwarves' and 'elves', even making special note of it so the reader didn't think he just made a mistake. Considering Tolkien was an English professor who specialized in linguistic history, who was gonna try and tell him that they were a bigger authority than him on how antiquated words should be inflected?

This usage is now standard in English, replacing 'dwarfs' and 'elfs' almost entirely.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

#tolkiendidnothingwrong