I have come across quite a few examples where references sources (especially regarding word usage) state something is incorrect, but my reaction is: Bugger that! I will continue doing that in fiction because the incorrect use has become so common in everyday usage that doing the correct thing would sound awful.
These are the examples I can think of.
Do others have more examples of things they consider "right" for fiction, despite being technically incorrect.
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'I' vs 'me'
CMOS (5.220) states about this:
"When you need the first-person singular, use it. It's not immodest to use it; it's superstitious not to."
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I might try to rewrite a sentence to avoid an ungrammatical use of 'me', but I would use 'me' on SoL in narratives (in dialogue it is ALWAYS what the character would say) when 'I' would sound so pretentious readers would feel I was "talking down at them".
'he' vs 'him'
CMOS (5.43) states about this:
"Strictly speaking, a pronoun serving as the complement of a be-verb or other linking verb should be in the nominative case {it was she who asked for a meeting}. In formal writing, some fastidious readers will consider the objective case to be incorrect in every instance. But in many sentences, the nominative pronoun sounds pedantic or eccentric to the modern ear {Was that he on the phone?}."
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My view is 'I' vs 'me' sounds just as 'pedantic or eccentric' to most.
'like' vs 'as'
CMOS (5.220) states about this:
"The use of like as a conjunction (as in the old jingle "like a cigarette should") has long been a contentious issue. Purists insist that as must introduce a clause and like must always be a preposition coupled with a noun {cool like springwater}. The fall of that old rule has been predicted for five decades, but today like as a conjunction is still not standard. See also 5.181."
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My view is that became 'standard' for ordinary people decades ago.
CMOS (5.220) states about this:
"This phrase has two legitimate and two illegitimate uses. It may unimpeachably have verbal force (base being a transitive verb, as in they based their position on military precedent) or, in a passive sense, adjectival force (based being read as a past-participial adjective, as in a sophisticated thriller based on a John le Carré novel). Two uses, however, are traditionally considered slipshod. Based on should not have adverbial force {rates are adjusted annually, based on the 91-day Treasury bill} or prepositional force (as a dangling participle) {based on this information, we decided to stay}. Try other constructions {rates are adjusted annually on the basis of the 91-day Treasury bill} {with this information, we decided to stay}."
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My view is I'm not going to rewrite a perfectly understandable 10 word sentence with a 12 word sentence just to avoid irritating a few pedantic arseholes! In fact, I would consider irritating them an additional benefit of using a technically ungrammatical sentence.
I have seen quite a few examples of this type of thing - where dictionaries and style guides insist some type of usage is incorrect. I consider those types of things to be merely historical anomalies - because decades or centuries ago someone preparing a dictionary only recognised a word as being used as an adjective, but people have found other ways to use the word that are perfectly understandable. I simply DO NOT ACCEPT that when a dictionary lists a word as being ONLY an adjective that uses as other parts of speech are therefore incorrect.
Finally, one dear to all our hearts on SoL ...
My dictionaries and spell-checkers do not list "slutty" as a valid word. The closest word they list is "sluttish".
Our readers will think us complete morons if used the technically "correct" there!!!
