"The English Wars"

In two previous posts (here and here), I reflected on English grammatical usage and the contention about it.  The topic is taken up in a May review article in The New Yorker, "The English Wars," by Joan Acocella.  Her essay discusses, in particular, some interesting history of the descriptivist v. prescriptivist tug of war and thus the moral (and political) component of language use.

Ms. Acocella also has a thoughtful critique of Henry Hitchings's new book, noted in one of my previous posts.  Descriptivists, she suggests, may turn out to be prescriptivists as well:  "the most curious flaw in the descriptivists’ reasoning is their failure to notice that it is now they who are doing the prescribing."  This may be curious, but it is not so surprising, is it?  More than just some people -- imagine! -- believe that writing should be clear and unpretentious, even those who say that they are just describing current practice.  Grammar is about usage, and we all tend to like others to follow the virtue of our way.