Please help me understand "so the argument runs" Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language -- so the argument runs -- must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes. -- 1)I don't know why this author put the sentence "so the argument runs" between "our language" and "must inevitably" it is generally assumed that since language develop with the atmosphere of the time, it's useless that people put a lot of effort into improving the bad language, but the author says it's wrong? Please help me! Thanks!