The Earth is FLAT

The Boston Globe, just the other day in 2006, published a piece called "Adverb is as Adverb Does". Their pitch is that it's still an adverb if it fulfills the job of an adverb (i.e. modifying a verb), and using an adjective in that role is called the 'flat adverb'. Apparently, in the annals of history, the flat adverb was a common event. It is undeniable true that many pirates used to say "Me hearties, I be terrible thirsty for a tot o' rum!" But then officious linguistic pedants managed to civilize our society, turning water into wine by winningly employing the suffix -ly. Until today. But regardless of the trend to abolish this usage, it would be foolish to criticize anyone re-employing the flat adverb, since if it walks like a duck then it must still be an adverb. So there we have our lesson on history and progress. The Earth was flat, then it wasn't, and now it certain is again. For surely. Tags: adverb