But it is the benchmark of proper speech and writing. Mark Twain's books are hardly a reason that it is not such a benchmark. On the contrary, the poor grammar et al in his books gives the characters color and reflects their lack of education and refinement, which contributes to their incorrect speech.
Lyrics. Song lyrics are not necessarily improved with good grammar. Now let's all listen to the Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get Any Satisfaction".
And what to do with America's "there ain't no one for to give you no pain"? That's a grammatical nightmare.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at July 5, 2019 9:00 AM MDT