idle thought #534

It’s interesting how prescriptivist society has gotten about spelling and grammar. I’m one of those people who tends to be “really good” about it, but that’s just because largely it makes sense to me, and in certain cases it’s probably a good idea. I’m thinking mainly professional publications like journals, etc. It makes sense not to punish, say, people with dyslexia, but a) check how good the people they ask to proofread are and b) to make sure everyone’s on the same page (that’s why the highly descriptive and specific terminology in certain fields). But also society used to be like “Ye Olde Magick Shoppe” and there was a certain charm to the fact that several spellings were considered correct. At least in English. Are there differences in other languages? I’m curious.