Point of order.
The word is not “close-minded.” It’s “closed-minded.”
I see the former written more and more, no doubt because the two sound alike when spoken. But come on – what would “close-minded” even mean? The mind in question is closed, to new ideas or information or argument. It’s a Trump-style mind.
Thank you for your compliance in this matter.
Comments
18 responses to “Wording”
What you are seeing, is language usage evolving. And the conservative Ophelia is attempting to suppress that evolutionary change.
I’m also a conservative on language usage. But the progressives are armed with smart phones, text messaging, facebook and twitter. And they will probably win.
We grew up in an era when national news networks constrained language change. But that era has passed.
“Close/closed-minded” -aside, the “language must not change” side will always lose. They always have. This is not the fault of the Internet or any other modern invention. Ever tried reading Beowulf?
(I don’t think “close-minded” is an example of change, so much as a mistake. But I guess we’ll see.)
I’d be interested in how people pronounce ‘close-minded’, with a ‘z’ or an ‘s’ sound, it might provide a clue. Of course language evolves, one generation’s bad grammar is the next’s standard usage. However, some current usage is stupid, such as the misuse of ‘refute’ and ‘begging the question’. Proper use of the apostrophe is a lost cause.
I think “close-minded” is pronounced “cloze-minded.” It sounds very much like “closed-minded.”
Going from a “d” to an “m” can be a lot of work! knowdamean?
It’s people writing what they pronounce, not what they say. The (first) ‘d’ in closed-minded almost disappears in speech, so it gets lost in the written form. It’s like ‘of’ in ‘would of’ – the ‘o’ in ‘of’ is not far from the schwa in would’ve, so that’s how it gets written.
I’ve also started seeing ‘you’ve got another thing coming’ more frequently lately, even when the writer has only just written ‘if you think that…’.
Somewhat related: a delightful (and lengthy) article on descriptivists versus prescriptivists, siding somewhat more strongly with the prescriptivists.
http://thesmartset.com/the-language-wars/
Re “you’ve got another think/thing coming”, I learned the expression as “thing” and I have a hard time changing. “Another think” makes no sense; “think” is a verb. I understand the derivation, but the “correct” version sounds awkward. I just avoid the phrase entirely now.
Cloths-minded?
Of all the irritating (but inevitable) language changes, I would like to enforce a total ban on one in particular: ‘literally’ used to mean ‘figuratively’. And while we’re at it, “but you know what I mean!” is not a valid excuse for said misuse; the word you meant was ‘figuratively,’ so use it!
When I become king, this will be my first law.
Of course “think” can be a noun. “I’ll have to go have a little think about that.”
“Another think coming” has priority (it’s been around more than 100 years), but “another thing common” is common now, too.
http://grammarist.com/usage/another-think-coming/
Hearing ‘insure’ used when ‘ensure’ would be the correct word, or when they are used interchangeably has a similar effect on me to the sound of fingernails on a blackboard, as does misuse of ‘affect’ for ‘effect’.
And don’t even get me started on too and to.
“I usually insure that I ensure my car, Officer, but I was to busy too get to my broker. If my license is suspended it will effect my job, affectively making me unemployed. Will you make an acception for me and except my promise to ensure it first thing tomorrow?”
Christ! That made my teeth itch just typing it.
There vs their?
Your vs You’re (shudder)
The list is near endless, damn this English language.
Rob, stop being so homophonephobic.
No! Shan’t!
Trump / President!
Screechy Monkey, brilliant! You made this old git chuckle.