NINETEEN,
NINE, and
THIRTY-FIVE....


We still use "abated" in lots of contexts, and we still understand contractions and aphesis. So I think the author was just rising energetically to a defense of willful ignorance and/or linguistic lazery.

I agree, of course, that we should not be slaves to the language, but rather, its masters. But even the master 'bates on occasion.

A