>>>> Wrong usage of "play nice". It should be "play nicely". Must use the
>>>> adverbial form.

>>> Sorry, but "Play nice" is idiomatic English.
>>> Googlecount("Play Nice") = 1.8E6
>>> Googlecount("Play Nicely") = 0.2E6
>>> More than 8:1 in favor of "Play Nice".
>>>
>>>
>>Maybe in America
>
> I second that. Unfortunately the (mis)use of "it's" in place of "its", of "you're"
> in place of "your" is very common in the U.S.A., I've encountered such horrors even
> in official documents. :P (as You can see, the subject I used is "provocative" by will)

Hat: Random list member.

1. As may be seen from this brief but extremely informative tutorial

                       http://superbowlads.fanhouse.com/2010/doritos-play-nice/

cunningly disguised as a Doritos ad, people who speak excellent
English and who use "playing nicely" may also choose to use "Play
Nice" (note capitals) in appropriate places.  (Note that both phrases
are used by the same person in the course of the tutorial).

Some phrases gain a life of their own for a variety of reasons and
"Play Nice" is one such. Such usage may indeed corrupt the language
and may be used in ignorance and / or ignorantly by some, but
criticising such usage when used in a stylised manner by a manifestly
erudite speaker of English without understanding the nuances of the
language is probably 'unwise' [tm].

 2.  Even linguistic abominations may, in the fullness of time, become
respected parts of a language, no matter how incorrect they once were
or how bitterly resisted by the keepers of the faith. Even the great
Fowler acknowledged such in various places and even words which he, in
his time, considered wholly inappropriate have now assumed commonplace
usage.

'Linguistic drift' is an unavoidable fact unless you can manage to
kill your pet language off and so preserve it for specialist-only use
(eg Latin).

Y'All will be gratified to know that standard British English
(whatever that may be) is transforming in such a manner that in due
course most of them will sound more like New Zealanders do now than as
they currently sound. We just got there first :-).



                  Russell
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