ABSTRACT
Words and language are to be used with precision and knowledge, Jacques Barzun replies to Mr. Lloyd. The truth is, of course, that one does not obtain "nature" by merely removing opposition, wise or unwise. Nor can people know what is inevitable until they have tried good and hard to stop it. The whole analogy with nature is false because language is an artificial product of social life, all of whose manifestations, even when regular, bear only a remote likeness to the course of nature. The history of the language is not what the gallant liberals make out - struggle between the dauntless Genius of English and a few misguided conservatives. It is a free-for-all. The future, in short, belonged as much to Dean Swift as to his opponents—and rather more if counted the hits and misses. Their vow not to judge among words and usages is a fine thing as long as it expressed a becoming sense of incapacity.
