… it's a wonder I can speak at all." (Simon and Garfunkel)
I love watching language evolve. I’m not a language snob who enjoys calling people stupid or illiterate when they deviate from the snobs' version of right and wrong. Often, the rules of grammar these snobs try to bludgeon people with are not even rules. But as a non-fiction writer, I’m very conservative about using words and constructions that are not widely accepted as correct standard English. If I were a fiction writer, and my characters spoke a different way, I would allow them to do so, as long as they were clear.