Restriction of Creativity

 

I offer this tidbit to demonstrate how individuals adhering to a strict line of thinking would restrict creativity and stagnate a diverse and fluid language such as English. At the opposite end is every writers' hero, William Shakesphere. Yes, olde, "Yikes, Yorik, ye lost your head," Shakespeare. 

Sir William (if he hasn't been knighted, he should, and a serious oversight of the realm) is reputed to have been familiar with seven foreign languages, often quoting them directly in his plays. At over twenty-four thousands words, his vocabulary was the largest of any writer. 

And then, there is a long list of phrases which he introduced for the first time that are still in common usage today.

[For more words that Shakespeare coined see the Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Dr. Ernest Klein (1966) or Shakespeare-lexicon: A Complete Dictionary of All the English Words, Phrases and Constructions in the Works of the Poet by Alexander Schmidt (1902). For words Shakespeare used only once, please see The Once Used Words in Shakespeare by James Davie Butler (1886).

See: Mabillard, Amanda. Words Shakespeare Invented. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html.]

So, where would creativity go if restricted to arcane adherence to "rules"? 

Hark! What light breaks yonder window? It is the south and Juliet swinging her lantern, one if by land and two if daddy's home.

Okay, fracturing rules does not always work, but how do we know unless its kinda hung out like a close line of dirty drapers. It might smell like a rose by another name . . . And then, maybe not.