Oh hey, I'd be the first to admit I'm a control freak. I'd go on, without missing a beat, to say that if people actually LISTENED to me, the world would be a better place. I believe that 100%. Not that I have all the answers -- I don't try to provide ALL the answers. But I have answers on some things, and because I make a general practice of not opening my mouth until I have fully considered all the angles I'm generally right. People who come to me for advice and then don't follow it almost always come back later to say they regret not having listened.

But you're right, leading by example is a much more effective technique. Pedantry turns people off. People don't like to be told what to do and react against it even sometimes over their own better judgment. The first rule of persuasion is to establish conditions such that the object of your message doesn't suspect you of trying to persuade him/her. To be pedantic is to completely ignore the most important factor of effective persuasion.

As for the millenium, I don't think it matters even a little bit when it began. It's an arbitrary designation that relates back to an event that isn't particularly well established anyway. It may be the millenium + 11 or -27 for all we know. What I DO know is that watching the odometer turn 100,000 is fun, and so partying like a rock star on 12/31/99 seemed the appropriate thing to do.

That town is a petrie dish for demented sociological experiments. I did a month-long program at the Universitiet van Amsterdam and it was interesting to see what happened to me and my fellow students during the month. It was like the hatching of the id -- by the end we all had a pretty good idea of what we'd be like if we were left unsupervised at all times. It's where white kids go to turn feral.

No, I am not calling you an idiot because I cannot come up with a response. I am calling you an idiot because that's what you appear to be to me.

The "ignorant" and "uneducated" are those people who lack education, critical thinking ability, culture, horizon, and class. They are the majority of people in this country and on this planet. They can be illiterate, or just not very smart. They are descendants of a working class culture. They are prone to being effected by propaganda and advertising. They are the untermensch, the booboise, and the proletariat. If you don't have at least a Masters Degree you are probably an ingorant peon yourself. If you don't even have highschool, you are downright unworthy of speaking to any of your betters. This board is called "Lexical Elitists" for a reason you know. Perhaps the theme has been lost on you.

Yes, some people DO speak grammatically perfectly. They are chastised for it by others who resent being made to feel stupid.

The "Act Of According" as you put it, is simply refrence, not language. A pictogram does as much, and it is not alive...but "up" doesn't mean "down" no matter how many ignorant peons use it to mean "down", and "Go" doesn't mean "said". "Cat" doesn't mean "Dog"...shall I go on you ignorant cunt-whore of a peon???