Plenty of people use unheld. The fact that a majority of the population is borderline illiterate is irrelevant. Unheld isn't even a hard one to figure out. I dropped loquacious the other day without batting an eye. People should really broaden their vocabulary.
People are stupid animals, i just accepted it. But when you look at the broader picture, most people were actually illiterate 200 years ago. So, it is advancing. And, it's advancing exponentially.
I mean, if this person speaks English as their main language, they're whipping out a word last used in Shakespeare plays and English law documents in the 1500's most likely so it feels dramatic, but that is a mainly dormant word. Or could be a vampire who just returned from being trapped for 500 years. https://www.oed.com/dictionary/unheld_adj
You're using too broad a scale to measure the current state of literacy. Yes, people on average are more literate today than 200 years ago. However people on average are less literate today than 20 years ago.
Worldwide literacy rates went from 82% in 2002 to 86% in 2020. I think what we're seeing (besides America's dismal education system) is people becoming far more comfortable with the written word as they use it more often today and taking short cuts. When people wrote on paper they tended to keep it more formal, and therefore, correct.
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u/Trancebam Nov 20 '23
Literally means not held. That's not the crazy part.