Mind your language
THERE seems to be a breakdown tak- ing place in English at the moment. To be less disapproving, it is a change (or `sea-change', as the cliché-mongers pre- fer). It might be called `prepositionitis'.
Just as in late Latin people became unsure of how nouns declined, so now we are doubtful which preposition to use, or whether to use one at all. I was surprised to find an example in John Bayley's excellent piece on Philip Larkin in the London Review of Books. Profes- sor Bayley writes: 'We approve empow- erment and being non-judgmental.' I don't wish to be judgmental, but what we do is approve of empowerment. But later in the same article we read of a comment that Larkin 'approved of A parallel is protest and protest against. I protest my innocence, but might protest against your imprison- ment. In America the former means the latter; and so our uncertainty of usage is reinforced from the news bulletins.
Dot Wordsworth
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