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Re: [PLUG] some work on the letter to usip.edu
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On Tue, Jul 03, 2001 at 09:00:43PM -0400, M. Jackson Wilkinson wrote:
> Usage Note: An original meaning of presently was "at the present time;
> currently." That sense is said to have disappeared from the literary
> language in the 17th century, but it has survived in popular usage and is
> widely found nowadays in literate speech and writing. Still, there is a
> lingering prejudice against this use. The sentence General Walters is...
> presently the United States Ambassador to the United Nations was acceptable
> to only 50 percent of the Usage Panel in the late 1980s.
>
>
> Apparently it's not only the British...
Where do you think English was spoken most in the 17th century,
being as there *was* no United States, but rather a British colony
(property of the mother land)?
Popular usage (and Strunk & White) have reclaimed "presently" for
what it actually *means*. ("present" is so clearly the root of that
word it hurts.)
Regardless, it seems that Darxus has already faxed the letter,
having taken all of my suggestions (which I did label as such!) as
gospel truth (which I never said they were!), and perhaps the fax
machine on the other end couldn't abide by unclear grammar, causing
it to choke.
One could argue about usage of "presently" all day without changing
the fact that your correction, "at present", is inherently more
clear, so if you're printing things out again when the fax machine
starts paying attention, Darxus, go with that, and change my
boneheaded fix about the Department(s) thing.
:^>
--
~ g r @ eclipsed.net
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