The point the author is making that language is a convention and that different languages (and older versions of the same language) may use different conventions. Using a non-standard convention thus is no reason to infer ignorance or stupidity. Non-standard speech in and of itself only tells us that the speaker is preferring unconventional English to conventional English; this may be for a number of reasons, such as a perceived stiffness of dictionary English or its inability to capture nuances or elements of communication important to the speaker.
Related is Max Weinreich's quip: "A language is a dialect with an army and navy" (or, in the original Yiddish: "a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot").
Comments
The point the author is making that language is a convention and that different languages (and older versions of the same language) may use different conventions. Using a non-standard convention thus is no reason to infer ignorance or stupidity. Non-standard speech in and of itself only tells us that the speaker is preferring unconventional English to conventional English; this may be for a number of reasons, such as a perceived stiffness of dictionary English or its inability to capture nuances or elements of communication important to the speaker.
Related is Max Weinreich's quip: "A language is a dialect with an army and navy" (or, in the original Yiddish: "a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un flot").