the belief that books about language should describe how language is really used, rather than giving rules to follow saying what is correct and not correct

There has been a blurring of the sharp distinction between descriptivism and prescriptivism in the writings of grammarians and lexicographers. 在语法学家和词典编撰者的著作中，语言描写主义和规定主义之间的明显差别已经变得模糊。