Very good but fading it out was a bad idea, it needed an end.
I agree with Fry as I often do. His point where he outlines situations where proper uptight grammar and spelling are needed, applicatons, essays etc. is becoming less true though - at least this is what I find. My best job applications have been those that have been more-or-less the same type of language I use here on the forums. I swear less maybe. Certainly my best essays were those where I ignored traditional essay conventions. I made them more chatty, more flowing and easier to read, enjoyable even. The points I got for actually keeping the marker's attention far outweighed the points off I got for ignoring proper academic essay convention. When someone has thirty or more identicle, impenetrable and deeply boring manuscripts to read through the one that's diferent is going to capture their attention and if you have some actual thinking and good ideas behind it and can express them in a clear way there's no reason it should be penalise - aside from 'institutional standards' shit and some may be uptight enough to enforce things like that. Personally by that stage in my university career when I would rather have stapled my ears to my feet than write another stale academic essay I didn't care if I was failed on the spot.
Back on Fry's point, I do support the natural evolution of language but there are some lines that should be drawn. I was outraged when I learned, a couple of years ago, that schools and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority would be allowing students to use text language in school exams. I have always hated text language and don't use it myself, (my dislike for texting possibly brought on by how long it takes me to write a message.) While it may be easy to write it takes about six times longer to read, it's like trying to decypher 20 cars' custom license plates. Allowing this to spread outside texting, (where the effort towards fewer keystrokes do give this type of language validity,) it a terrible idea. In Internet communication for example with people writing in text language on forums or facebok or in e-mails. Don't like it. Stephen Fry my call me a pedant but I can live with that.
I have always been pedantic about the misuse of 'a lot'. It's my grammar pet peeve. However after reading this I now make all uses of the word 'alot' refer to
this fantasy creature.