Despite all the likes, literallys and dropped g’s, English isn’t decaying before our eyes

Throughout the history of the language, what has been considered ‘bad’ speech often becomes ‘proper.’ You just have to give it time.

By: Valerie M. Fridland, University of Nevada, Reno, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: April 21, 2026

Words: 1,051

Last Updated: 3 months, 1 week ago

By Valerie M. Fridland, University of Nevada, Reno

As a linguistics professor, I’m often asked why English is decaying before our eyes, whether it’s “like” being used promiscuously, t’s being dropped deleteriously or “literally” being deployed nonliterally.

While these common gripes point to eccentric speech patterns, they don’t point to grammatical annihilation. English has weathered far worse.

Let’s start with something we can all agree on: Old English, spoken from …

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