From a book review in Salon about the book The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English, from Shakespeare to South Park:
To protests that the language police are only protecting the accuracy, precision and clarity of our tongue, Lynch lifts a skeptical eyebrow. Many of the most roundly deplored “debasements” of English are nevertheless perfectly comprehensible: I didn’t confuse you by writing “Ain’t it the truth?” in my opening paragraph, did I? The only truly unbreakable rules of grammar and usage are the ones that, when broken, result in a genuine failure to communicate. The rest is a form of covert class warfare, and today’s usage reproofs constitute a status-protecting thump on the head delivered by the upper middle class to uppity members of the lower middle.
Awesome. I’m glad there’s a book meant for popular reading that makes this point. Grammar rules are like rules of etiquette. They should just function as a way make things clear, but they’re mostly just a way to mark class differences and make rich people feel superior.
That said, using quotes on signs used for emphasis drive me nuts. Choose bold, people. Choose bold.