By D. J. Webb
I have wanted to write on the English language for a long time. Pressures of work and other things have intervened, and so I’m only just getting round to it.
Good English is a desirable goal for basic education. I find that most younger people have lacunae of various kinds in their command of English. I spent years working as an English-language sub-editor, and consequently have a viewpoint on most linguistic disputes. The many flaws that are present in written English spoil my enjoyment of our culture. When I reach “impact” as a verb meaning “to affect” (I do accept “impact” as a verb with a different sense in “the meteor impacted the ground”), I generally stop reading. “Likely” as an adverb (“the government will likely say so”), other than where reinforced by an adverb (“most likely, very likely”) has a similar effect on me.
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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