Why this phobia to HTML mail?

[David Gaskill]

On Mon, 18 Sep 2000 10:42:26 -0400 (EDT), Skip Huffman wrote:

>On Mon, 18 Sep 2000 15:06:19 +0100, David Gaskill wrote:
>
>>There is no body that issues RFCs for the English language; it evolves,  
>>usage and conventions change and a lexicographers record these changes 
>>but don't initiate them. There are some here in the UK that deplore the 
>>new words and changing usage often initiated by your compatriots; if they 
>>knew what html was I don't doubt they would deplore its use in e-mails ...
>
>Actually there are de facto RFCs for the english language.  They
>are called dictionaries.  New dictionaries are created on a
>regular basis.  Each one contains words that were not in the
>previous one and eliminates words that were in the previous
>edition.  Words removed have been depecrated and should no
>longer be used as they may not be easily understood, words added
>may be used freely as they are now accepted in common usage.  If
>I run across a word that I do not know, I should be able to look
>in a cotemporaneous dictionary and find that word. For example,
>I could use the word 'affluenza' today, and feel comfortable
>that my readers could look it up (in the New Penguin English
>Dictionary).  Where as recently as a couple of weeks ago I could
>not do that.

This is exactly the point I was trying to make; lexicographers simply record 
they do not initiate. They do not issue RFCs for words - they simply record, 
common usage. A dictionary is a record not a standard. 



David