LittleDan wrote:
I don't know what you're referring to as 'standard english'.
It's an imprecise term. But I explained it in the text that you quoted:
more precisely, that English that is widely understood around the world.
To be sure, *that* is still imprecise! But it's a reasonable goal for us, and any further arguments should be directed towards that goal, IMO.
There are many forms of English. First, there's American English, British English, Australian English, and Irish English. Then each country has its legalese, which might be regarded as official english.
Legalese is quite irrelevant. I said "standard", not "official"!
Then, within American English, there are several similar gramatical dialects that states create for the purpose of standardised testing (oops, I can't spell like that on the test, that's the British spelling)
Yes, those are awful!
and each state has its own dialect of the national legalese.
-- Toby