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Anonymous
2016-07-03 18:26:07 Post No. 8236719
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Anonymous
2016-07-03 18:26:07
Post No. 8236719
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The usage "based off the book" (instead of the older and, to me at least, clearer usage "based on the book") has made its way from casual speech to appear in an online NPR article. I've come to you, /lit/, to get your opinion on this. This usage, which I had always associated with less intelligent, less well-read people, has now become mainstream and acceptable; indeed there are people who look at me funny when I say "based on." Is this just part of the natural, inevitable evolution of language? Am I a foolish elitist for fighting it? It might not bother me except that it makes English less clear--"based on" produces a mental image of one thing being supported by another, while "based off" does not. I know language is not a logical thing, but shouldn't we keep in mind Wittgenstein: "Everything that can be said can be said clearly."
