Ha! I can imagine you reading this thinking "what the fuck is this idiot on about now?".
Fair enough question (there it is again, the word "fair").......
So, too start with, I'll quote the definition of "fair"
adjectivefair
2.
legitimately sought, pursued, done, given, etc.; proper under the rules: a fair fight.3.
moderately large; ample: a fair income.4.
neither excellent nor poor; moderately or tolerably good: fair health.5.
marked by favoring conditions; likely; promising: in a fair way to succeed.6.
Meteorology .
a.
(of the sky) bright; sunny; cloudless to half-cloudy.b.
(of the weather) fine; with no prospect of rain, snow, or hail; not stormy.7.
Nautical . (of a wind or tide) tending to aid the progress of a vessel.8.
unobstructed; not blocked up: The way was fair for our advance.9.
without irregularity or unevenness: a fair surface.10.
free from blemish, imperfection, or anything that impairs the appearance, quality, or character: Her fair reputation was ruined by gossip.11.
easy to read; clear: fair handwriting.12.
of a light hue; not dark: fair skin.13.
pleasing in appearance; attractive: a fair young maiden.14.
seemingly good or sincere but not really so: The suitor beguiled his mistress with fair speeches.15.
courteous; civil: fair words.16.
Medicine/Medical . (of a patient's condition) having stable and normal vital signs and other favorable indicators, as appetite and mobility, but being in some discomfort and having the possibility of a worsening state.17.
Dialect . scarcely; barely: It was just fair daylight when we started working.
As you can see, there are a number of meanings (the above quote is only the first part of the entire definition according to this location there is more of it if you feel inclined to look it up) for such a small, 4 lettered word.
So given that we, as a nation (British) feel that it's one of our qualities or attributes, why does it seem that we are unfair to ourselves ?
Ok, so I understand that to non-English speakers, or at least those attempting to learn to speak English, it can seem quite daunting as it does appear that some words have many meanings, yet some meanings can have a number of words (and the word chosen, will often depend on the audience it's aimed at, or the target audiences educational standard/ability, or the "type" of people it's aimed at i.e. class of person, a professional body, etc).
Language will often be used in different ways, in different places, which can make it hard to understand, or at least hard to understand the point of view that is being displayed. My attitude is that while this might be the case, why shouldn't we have a "standard English", that is defined from a specific place (place in this sense, would mean a "Standards organisation" of some sort).
But where ? Well maybe a good place to start, might be something like the "Concise Oxford Dictionary" which is also known as the "Oxford English dictionary" or OED. I'd guess that this would need to be enshrined in law, but as long as the OED didn't try and "protect" words or language, so that they could derive some revenue from their use, I can't think of any reason why this couldn't happen.
Ok, so the last paragraph has thrown up a small phrase, well a word actually, that is often considered as a "bone of contention", the word "Law".
Why is it, that the legal world find the need to use English, in such an archaic, mysterious and generally hard to follow (except for linguistic experts and the "legal types" themselves) ? Perhaps it's so that they can look down their noses at the rest of us, in a patronising way so as to make the presumption of ignorance, stupidity or any number of words that can be used to project arrogance toward the target of their words ?
After all, it's government that are supposed to "make" laws. Can't they just make the laws so we can all understand them ? Instead of how it seems to be at the moment, where the government "make" a new law, but it seems that it means nothing, until a Judge has decided exactly what it means, so it can be properly enacted within a court of law.
Lets face it, government and the judiciary work, pretty much, hand in hand. Yet they seem to operate with a large amount of the "unfairness" I alluded to earlier.
The UK/Great Britain, is the largest industrialised country on the planet, not to have a formal written constitution and an accompanying "Bill of Rights". In many cases, people claim to have a right to something, it doesn't matter what they're claiming, according to the UK/British government, they don't have any such "right". Yes, there are a few "rights" that come down from historic legislation, but most of the "rights" that you do have, have been granted to you by the EU - the largest number of which, have been granted under the "Human Rights" European legislation, which in turn, was accepted into UK law under our membership of the European Union.
So if you haven't already worked out what I'm really asking for, it's a Formal Written Constitution and accompanying "Bill of Rights", and "Standard English". I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be too difficult for this to happen, except that the "ruling classes" have to much of a vested interest for this not to happen. It means that they still get to bully the general populace around, exploit us in various ways and allows "business" and commerce to "take the piss" and engineer how we act, work and "are", to their own end.
All you currently end up with, is the two fingered "V" sign and the attitude of "fuck you".
Maybe it's time we did something about this apparent "unfairness".....
