Framed by historic developments—from the Open Admissions movement of the 1960s and 1970s to the attacks on remediation that intensified in the 1990s and beyond, Basic Writing traces the arc of these large social and cultural forces as they have shaped and reshaped the field. George Otte and Rebecca Williams Mlynarczyk balance fidelity to the past with present relevance, local concerns with (presumptively) global knowledge, personal judgment with (apparent) objectivity.
The English language is permanently evolving and developing. New words and expressions are coined and existing words change their meaning as society, culture and technology progress.
For example, Phishing. Now, you really have to listen to the spelling of this one. P-H-I-S-H-I-N-G. Not, F-I-S-H-I-N-G. Can be very confusing to hear this word in speech, therefore, you know, 'he's phishing' - what does it mean? No problem in writing, of course.
Wi-fi. W-I-F-I. Sometimes written with a hyphen, sometimes not. Wireless fidelity. Technically, it's a standard ensuring that equipment works on a wireless network. It's on analogy with 'hi-fi', for high fidelity, that used to be common for recording some years ago.
