Hi, Anton Shepelev!
I read your message from 28.06.2019 00:02

 AK>> Languages follow people, not textbooks. Textbooks follow
 AK>> languages. ;-)

 AS> It is not so simple. In order to improve a program, you must first
 AS> acquire a thorough understanding of its structure and working. The
 AS> same with language. Good books -- among which I rank Goold
 AS> Brown's "Grammar of English Grammars", Fowler's "King's English",
 AS> and even Emerson's essay on language -- enhance our command of
 AS> language and thus give us both the power and right to improve it.
 AS> The destiny of language shall not be left at the mercy of the
 AS> illitirate and the careless.

From another side I always make a wry face looking at a person who spends a lot
 of time learning numerous nuances of a language (for instance Russian). It is
like learning to walk perfectly along a catwalk, and then pointing out to all
normal people that they walk badly. ;-)

 AK>> As for the article I have already discussed here the similar case,
 AK>> when one prince returned home "smelling like horse". In other
 AK>> words, English is not very strict. 

 AS> Not at all, and Dallas Hinton explained it well that in this
 AS> phrase!?! horse' is uncountable becauase denotes a substance. In
 AS> Shakespeare, however,!?! snail' certainly refers to the whole
 AS> individual animal. Observe that Americans use!?! pie' uncountably,
 AS> too, e.g.: "We had tea and apple pie".

Horse is a substance? 

Bye, Anton!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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