Definition:
An informal term, popularized by journalist William Safire, for a self-appointed authority on English usage. Language mavens are generally prescriptive grammarians with little or no background in linguistics. See also:
- What Is a SNOOT?
- How to Write Good, by William Safire
- Literature and the Schoolma'm, by H.L. Mencken
Etymology:
Maven is from the Yiddish word for "expert"Observations:
- "Most of the prescriptive rules of the language mavens are bits of folklore that originated for screwball reasons several hundred years ago. For as long as they have existed, speakers have flouted them, spawning identical plaints about the imminent decline of the language century after century. All the best writers in English at all periods, including Shakespeare and most of the mavens themselves, have been among the most flagrant flouters. The rules conform neither to logic nor to tradition, and if they were ever followed they would force writers into fuzzy, clumsy, incomprehensible prose, in which certain thoughts are not expressible at all."
(Steven Pinker, The Language Instict. Morrow, 1994) - "You may be surprised, if not astonished, to learn that language mavens can get as muddled as the next guy when English changes. We often resist using fine old words in new ways, and cling to traditional usages that are almost certainly lost causes. . . . Change is inevitable, and some good words will be lost. And so on and so forth. Yes, I know all that, but I don't always like it."
(Patricia O'Conner, Origins of the Specious. Random House, 2009) - "Even where the term maven is uncommon (as in Britain), the language maven is a recognizable species. . . . What do language mavens do? Stereotypically, they write letters to newspapers deploring various solecisms and warning of linguistic decline."
(Deborah Cameron, Verbal Hygiene. Routledge, 1995)
