Language is very fluid. It doesn’t seem fluid, but it definitely is. I’m just happy that people will listen to me, let alone understand me, or (gasp!) agree with me.

I don’t understand prescriptive linguistics. How does language change and evolve if it may only do so when sanctioned by linguists and grammar nuts?

Awful used to mean something other than terrible. Do you want to tell people to only use it to mean awe-inspiring? For a more modern example, how about peruse? Do you want people to only use it to mean to study with great care? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard it used to mean anything other than to glance through, so why doesn’t it just mean that.

I’m in the descriptive linguistics camp, personally.