Why English Profs will never take over the Royal Academy

Mimi and David suggested that English profs at a magic university would be uniquely powerful because of their control over words, and which words others would be able to use.

Well, all this sinister plotting about controlling reality by limiting syntax sounds good at first hearing, but I think any actual attempt would end up like the discussion of Carl Zimmer’s list of banned words. Admittedly, the discussants are scientists rather than English professors, but there is not a lot of consensus on display — certainly not the amount that would be needed to redefine a whole world’s perception of reality.

So Mimi and David (and whoever else wants to chime in), how is the necessary consensus about words, and what you want to accomplish with them, going to be established? I suppose it happens in real life, with the new edition of Huckleberry Finn as an example, but I’m presuming you don’t want your coup to take that long.

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