prescriptivist

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Dear Norman, it really is not good enough to trot out descriptions such as prescriptivist as if they were pejoratives and to thus expect everyone to be dazzled by your pontification.

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Definitions (1)

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  1. A person who believes that acceptable practices should be prescribed by an authority rather than be determined by the usage of the general public; especially, a supporter of prescriptive{2} rules of grammar; -- also used attributively, as prescriptivist grammar.

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Examples (16)

  • The thought is that the anals (I am purposely not using that divisive "prescriptivist" word) see language as a tool for communication with specific rules, but not as a beautiful, though dynamic and evolving, way of communicating.I don't agree.
  • In this season of goodwill, or attempts at goodwill, it's encouraging to see the prescriptivist and descriptivist sit down together in mutual respect. —  Blog updates
  • Dear Norman, it really is not good enough to trot out descriptions such as prescriptivist as if they were pejoratives and to thus expect everyone to be dazzled by your pontification. —  MercatorNet
  • MySpace was not going to sway us in our moment of prescriptivist primness. —  Ben and Alice
  • Today I am largely unconcerned as to whether I am a grammatical prescriptivist or a descriptivist. —  Mother Tongue Annoyances
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