More New Words for Old Ideas

Last January I published a blog post about new words that are being used to express old meanings.  That post received a high number of hits, so for the last several months, I have been on the lookout for more signs of creativity in language.  My husband, Wayne, who has a keen ear for colorful language, is in on the game. 

Recently Wayne returned from an annual meeting of the American Chuck Wagon Association, held in Fredericksburg, Texas.  He shared with me that he received an unusual compliment for his biscuits served from a chuck wagon.  (Not that a compliment was unusual, but the words used were!)  Someone told him, "Your biscuits are the bomb." 

Wayne was taken aback for a few moments until he realized that his biscuits had just received a rating of awesome, phenomenal, the best. Because the word "bomb" is usually associated with unpleasant events, using it with the opposite meaning makes it stand out.  I am reminded of how the word "bad" has taken on the meaning of "very good" in recent years.  

Newspaper comics are a constant source of innovative language use.  One of my favorite cartoon characters is the teenage boy, Jeremy,  in "Zits". 

Jeremy shows his friend, Pierce, a pop-up ad about himself advertising that he is, among other things, a "totally woke dude."   "Woke" has taken on a non-literal meaning of being socially aware, knowing what's happening.  The new use originated in African American Vernacular English and was first used by teenagers in Internet slang.  We older folks might say someone is really "with it."  (Oh, how our use of slang terms dates us!) 

Another source of creative language terms is National Public Radio (NPR).  If NPR uses a term, I feel confident that the term has reached a mainstream audience.  "Thirst Trap" is one such expression.  As I understand it, it is a message that seeks to get attention, such as a provocative picture or a flirtatious message on social media.  Another term is "Cringe Factor,"  which is self-explanatory:  something that provokes a negative physical response, such as flinching. 

I need help from readers on the next term.  Several times while watching detective shows, I have heard the main inspector inquiring of colleagues something like, "What's the joy on the new case?"  Am I hearing that correctly?  Is "joy" being used for "new information"?  

The next example of descriptive language use comes from one of my husband's friends.  A group of men were discussing issues in their chuck wagon organization, specifically newcomers who had little knowledge but wanted rapid change.  One group member described them as "attacking with a rubber tomahawk perspective."     Isn't it amazing what we humans can create with language?

Often we resist language change, claiming that new words and expressions are a sign of moral and intellectual decay. We humans do hate any kind of change in our lives, don't we? But I would like to make the case that language change is a natural phenomenon, but we do have the power of decision over our own language use.  I for one find language innovation fascinating.  I may not choose to use all of the new language that I hear if it doesn't fit my personality or life style, but, yes, it does bring a big smile to my face.  

New words for old ideas

One of the joys of being a language nerd is the chance to observe how language is ever changing.  I am seldom bored as long as I have some bit of language to analyze, whether it be a random conversation in the Walmart checkout line or a phone conversation with our thirty-something Californian family members.

Price Point

Home and Garden Television (HGTV) provides lots of opportunities to listen to real people speaking real language.  A term I hear constantly on "House Hunters" is "price point."  The agent assures the eager couple that he can find them a house at their "price point."  Why not say "at your price"?  It is  fun to speculate why speakers begin to use a new term.  What does "price point" provide that good old simple "price" does not?  Is it our aversion to discussing finances that makes us want to bury the reference to money in an expression?

Skill Set

Another term that has turned a word into an expression is "skill set."  Why not just "skill"?  "I don't have the skill needed to turn on Netflix on my new television."  Is it perhaps that modern life has become so complicated that it now takes a set of skills rather than a single skill to survive?  Having just gone through several days of breaking in a new remote controller for our television, I do wish my technology skill set was larger!

Issues

I was teaching a college course in English Linguistics several years ago when I a student told me she was having  "issues" with an assignment. Was she having problems, I wondered? The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives multiple definitions for "issue," the closest one to the idea of a problem being "a point of debate or controversy." "Issue " is used so frequently nowadays that I use it myself. Did we all get tired of talking about problems?  Does the word "problem" have such a negative connotation that we are trying to soften it with a more neutral word?

Reach Out

Our travel agent recently volunteered to "reach out" to the airlines to find us air transportation to Europe this summer.  What happened to contacting people and companies?  Has the word "contact" become too formal?  "Reaching out" to someone does sound more friendly, I must admit.  But it is still a bit too modern for my vocabulary, and I would feel uncomfortable using it.

Optics

I saved the best for last — "optics."  "Don't let the elderly politician appear with his young blond curvy girlfriend.  The optics would be bad."  I like the new use of this word.  Optics used to mean a science that deals with the nature and properties of light.  Now it can mean "appearance" or "perception."  What a leap the word has taken!  Instead of remarking, "That wouldn't look right," we can now say "Bad optics."

Ah, language.

Language is going to evolve in spite of our efforts to put the brakes on.  How about relaxing and enjoying the ride?  Dare I suggest that we all "chill" about language change?

Language Adventures in Ireland

Travel is at the top of my list of exciting adventures.  My husband, Wayne, and I just returned from fifteen days of travel in Ireland. I am still feeling the glow that comes from living in a new culture, viewing unforgettable scenery, and meeting all manner of people. 

Irish landscape

But, linguistic nerd that I am, the language experiences I had in Ireland are the ones that inevitably bring a smile to my face.  

I don't speak Irish (Gaelic) yet, so I am a bit reluctant to mention that Irish is one of the languages I study every day on my favorite online language learning platform, Duolingo,  But I still believe that knowing a little Irish helped me enjoy our trip even more. 

Immediately upon arrival in Dublin, I noticed that public signs were bilingual, Irish and English. As we drove up the Wild Atlantic Way (west coast),  I entertained myself looking for words I recognized and trying to pronounce the Irish names.  

Road sign in Ireland

So that's where the names of many Irish towns come from!  They are the original Celtic names pronounced and spelled in English.  And with the help of my Irish dictionary, which I bought in a bookstore on the road from Galway to Clifden, I was able to hypothesize about the original meanings of several towns.  Doire (Derry) means oak wood, grove, or thicket. Dun means fort, haven, or residence.  Gall means foreigner. Could Dún na nGall mean residence of the foreigner? 

The status of the Irish language in Ireland intrigued me.  It is an official language, along with English. I met a teacher who taught Irish to middle school students and a high school teacher who explained that Irish is a compulsory subject in public schools and that she had studied it for many years.  I got the impression that the Irish regard the Irish language as part of their cultural inheritance.

Not all of my language adventures were in Irish, however.  Irish English provided noteworthy vocabulary.  Garda is what a policeman is called in Ireland.  ( I already knew that from the Netflix series. Jack Taylor, filmed in Galway.)  All of the guidebooks mention the word for fun, or a good time, craic, and I saw pubs advertising craic along with drinks and food. And we already knew petrol, chips and crisps (three essentials of life) from visits to the United Kingdom.

It was perhaps the conversation of the Irish themselves, though, that I cherish.  The taxi driver who took us to the airport at 4:00 am and shared information about himself and his family, saying that he always slows down his speech rate for visitors to his country.  Another gentleman in a cafe guessed from my accent that I was Canadian!  I was pleased that my Texas accent wasn't too noticeable.

Soccer game in Galway

And then there was the gentleman at a soccer match, sitting behind me, who expressed his displeasure with the game, when necessary, by saying "Sugar!"   I was charmed.  I found that if I needed to strike up a conversation in Ireland, remarking on the weather, past, present, or future, always got a response.

I am convinced that my interest in Ireland was sparked many years ago by a handsome bartender in an Irish bar in Glasgow, Scotland.  Wayne had sent me up to the bar to ask if they had any non-alcoholic beer. The bartender said, "No, darlin', we don't have anything like that." Funny how one conversation that send you down a new road in life.  And I am very happy that road led us to Ireland.

My favorite mode of transportation

Irish accents have captivated me

What a treat to watch a historical drama and hear another dialect of English as a bonus.

I'm thinking of the TV series "Peaky Blinders," now in its third season on Netflix from the BBC.

One of the main characters in the first two episodes is Major Chester Campbell who plays a detective from the Royal Irish Constabulary, sent from Belfast, Northern Ireland to subdue a criminal gang in Birmingham, England (the "Peaky Blinders").  Major Campbell is a character I grew to despise as the series progressed, and I did not mourn when he was sent to his just reward.  I must admit though I did love it every time he came on the scene because of his lyrical, captivating Irish accent, even when he said truly horrible things. 

Major Campbell is played by the actor Sam Neill.  I read that Mr. Neill enlisted the help of two Northern Irish actors, James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson to coach him in using an Ulster Irish accent; however, Mr. Neill had to tone down his accent because the series was going to be distributed for American audiences.  What a shame!  As long as closed captioning remains available, I would have been intrigued by a "full strength" Irish English accent.

See if you can pick out Major Campbell's accent in the following YouTube trailer.

Another connection I have to Irish English is an interest in Irish Gaelic, which I get a daily dose of on the language learning site Duolingo.  Irish English is also known as Hiberno-English, a set of dialects spoken in the different regions of Ireland. And some of the features of Hiberno-English can be traced to Irish Gaelic.

Irish Gaelic does not use separate words for "yes" and "no" when answering questions.  Rather, a Gaelic speaker answers with the verb of the question, using a negative form of the verb if needed. As a result, Hiberno-English speakers use the words "yes" and "no" less frequently than speakers of other English dialects. Examples would be  "Are you leaving soon?  I am." "Is your car fixed?  It isn't."

Another difference in Hiberno-English and Standard English is the use of the verbs "bring" and "take."  (I must admit to finding these words confusing.)  In Standard English, direction is the deciding factor of which verb to use.  Going from here to there?  Use "take."  Coming from there to here?  Use "bring."  In Hiberno-English, "take"  is only used to describe transfer of possession from one person to another.  "Bring" is used in all other circumstance, whether coming or going.

Have you ever wished English had a plural form for "you"?  Irish English has one, based on the influence of Gaelic, which has both a singular you, "tú" and a plural you, "sibh."  The form is "ye" or sometimes "yous" or "youse."  (We Texans are just as inventive as the Irish with our "y'all.")

Great history.  Great language lessons.  Great entertainment.  The series "Peaky Blinders" provides it all. 

Do you need an excuse to watch Netflix?

I have discovered a justification for my somewhat decadent habit of watching British mystery series on Netflix.  If I spend a portion of viewing time analyzing British dialects along with trying to solve puzzles, surely I am furthering my knowledge of Linguistics, wouldn't you think?

"George Gently" is the latest crime series on Netflix that is encouraging me to consider English dialects of Great Britain.  The drama is set in the 1960's in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, located in Northeast England.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The two main characters are Detective Inspector George Gently and Detective Sergeant John Bacchus.

Gently  (left) and Bacchus (right)

George Gently is from London, but John Bacchus is a local boy who speaks a dialect of English called Geordie, especially when he is interviewing townspeople or speaking informally. Sometimes George has to rely on John for a translation of Geordie into Standard English in order to proceed with the investigation. I enjoy both characters; however, Bacchus' unusual accent adds to his charm (or could it be his Beatles-style haircut?)

The first difference I noticed in Geordie dialect was the use of rising intonation, with the speaker's voice going up at the end of sentences. This feature remindes me of melodic Scottish English, which I look forward to hearing when travels take me to Scotland.

I began to notice special vocabulary words used by Bacchus and other local residents, such as "nowt" (rhymes with "out') for the standard "nothing."  A female character on last night's show told Gently she had lost everything - her husband and her means of support - and now she had "nowt." And she was expecting a "bairn" (baby). Bacchus often uses a term of endearment, "pet" when addressing females (especially attractive ones!). I suppose "pet" would translate to "hon" or "honey" in Texas dialect.

The most striking feature of Geordian grammar I have observed so far is the use of the plural pronoun "us" in place of the singular pronoun "me" when referring to oneself.  John had made an illegal entry into a farmhouse to secure evidence when a young man arrived on a motorcycle and discovered his presence.  John later confesses to Gently, "They saw us in the house."  When I discussed the scene with my fellow Netflix-watcher and husband, Wayne, he said that he couldn't figure out why John had said "us." He thought maybe John was referring to the entire investigation. Amazing how one small word can lead our minds down different paths.

Although the Geordie dialect was virtually banned on British television until the 1960's and 1970's, a 2008 newspaper survey by The Scotsman found it to be "the most attractive in England."  And I would have to agree.

I look forward to spending more quality time watching BBC programs and learning more about British dialects.  And thank goodness for closed captioning to help me in my research!

Snowclones for summer entertainment

No, the word "snowclones" in the title is not a typo.  It is an invented word announced by linguist Geoffrey Pullum in Language Log to describe an observable language phenomenon.

Granted that eating a snow cone

on a blazing hot summer day may be a bit more fun than looking for examples of snowclones in modern communication,  I still think discovering snowclones is amusing.

The term "snowclone" was inspired by the mistaken notion that Eskimos have many more words for snow than other languages (I'll spare you the details). A less complicated example of a snowclone is "X is the new Y."  You are probably familiar with "Orange is the new black," or "50 is the new 40."

Snowclones are described as a kind of cliché that can be used as a template for new expressions, much like fill in the blank expressions.  Sometimes snowclones are described as a type of word play and other times less positively as the result of  lazy communication.

I learned about snowclones about a week ago through a text from my son, who knows I am a sucker for any new concept about language.  Sure enough, I have been able to identify three snowclones already.

The first is "Keep calm and carry on," the phrase used in Britain during WWII to inspire the British public.  I have seen numerous examples of the same phrase with a new ending, many dispensing advice.

Next, I recently read an article entitled,    "This is your brain on Jane Austen."  The original slogan, "This is your brain on drugs" originated during the 1987 Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

The use of the phrase to describe positive changes in the brain during focused reading of classic literature moves a negative experience into a positive one. 

And finally, have you noticed how the days of the week are now being designated for certain activities?  "Casual Fridays," the idea of dressing less formally at work once a week, is an example. And in my home town of El Paso, Texas, located on the border with Mexico, restaurants offer "Taco Tuesdays" with many varieties of this tasty snack for as little as $1.00  apiece.

I'll be trying to identify more snowclones in the future.  They are a great reminder that language is a creative process, ever-changing, and available for all of us to enjoy.  Let me know please if you make a snowclone discovery (or eat an awesome snow cone)!

Can language influence thoughts and actions?

"Could your language affect your ability to save money?"  the TED announcer asked as he introduced a recent podcast.  I was doing a daily walk using an iPhone plugged into earphones when I heard this intriguing title.  Two of my favorite topics rolled into one talk - language and economics!

This TED talk was done in February 2013 by behavioral economist Keith Chen from Yale University.  He and his colleagues have been testing an hypothesis concerning the correlation between language structures and monetary savings rates.

Here is the gist of his argument.  Feeding my inner grammar nerd was the observation that some languages (like English) have special structures for future time. Chen calls these languages "futured languages."   We say, "It will rain," adding "will" to the verb, or "It is going to rain," using a progressive form of the verb "to go"  to talk about a future event.

How we conceptualize the world in English

Other languages, like Chinese, do not use a different form of the verb for past, present or future. Chen categorizes them as "futureless languages."  The Chinese sentence would contain the equivalent of the plain verb, "rain."

And since I am often fretting about family money matters (especially trying to find the right balance between spending and saving), I was also intrigued by the idea that my native language structures could be influencing my bank account!

The conclusion reached by Chen (after much statistical analysis) was that when people speak a language that requires a new structure for the future, they tend to disassociate the present from the future, making it harder to save for the future.  The citizens of the United States and Great Britain fall into this category. In Chinese and Finnish, on the other hand, speakers do not change the verb from present to future tense, so they do not see the future as distant, and therefore tend to save more.     

As I thought about the Chen study, a red flag was raised in my mind from the field of Linguistics about the relationship between language and thought.  Linguists have rejected the strongest form of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which states that our language determines how we think about the world. However, linguists do discuss a weaker form of the hypothesis, which allows for some investigation of the issue.

Another reason the Chen study interested me was that it supported my contention that language (and Linguistics, the study of language), has a connection to so many other important topics, in this case, Economics.  I used to tell my Linguistics students, "Linguistics has its finger in everyone else's pie."

If the idea that there is a connection between language and thought interests you as much as it does me, you may want to watch this 12 minute video of Keith Chen presenting his ideas  TED talk.  At the end of the presentation, Chen states that he is looking for tools to make us better savers. And speaking for myself, I do believe that is an idea worth investigating!   

Saying What You Really Mean

Do you usually say exactly what you mean?  I'll bet your first response was "Of course I do. Doesn't everyone?"  Let's look at some examples of real language used in specific situations that may change your mind.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, California, a group of us were dining at an upscale restaurant near The Grove.  (At least the menu prices hinted that this was a location for finer dining.)  My friend Mary, visiting from London, had a good laugh when the waitress appeared at her shoulder at the end of our meal and asked, "Are you still enjoying your dinner?"  You could surmise, of course, as Mary did, that the waitress was just checking to see if Mary was through with her meal, in which case the waitress would no doubt immediately have whisked her plate away . But the question had many possible interpretations and answers.  "No, the food tasted better before I got heartburn";  "Yes, the guacamole has just the right touch of spice";   "No, the music is too loud and the room is too hot" all come to mind.  But of course the waitress could have said more directly, "May I remove your plate?"

Many years ago, when I was grade school age, my mother and I religiously watched Perry Mason on television.  He was handsome, suave, and in control of every situation. During one episode, Perry Mason needed to have a private conversation with a client, so he turned to his secretary, Della Street, and asked, "May I impose?"   Della knew her boss well enough that she was able to interpret his question as a request for her to leave the room.  My mother and I had a good laugh and decided that we wouldn't have been quite so discerning.

Married couples are particularly adept at not expressing themselves in a direct manner.  And my husband of 32 years and I are no exception.  When he says, " I just saw the postman pass by,"  it  means he wants me to be the one to walk out to the mailbox and retrieve the mail.  If I say, "I've got work to do this evening." it is breaking the bad news to him gently that I won't be preparing supper.   

I'm sure by now you are thinking of many instances in your life of use of indirect language.  We often choose not to speak directly because we want to soften our expression, or appear more polite, or feel more comfortable suggesting rather than demanding.  It is part of our American culture.  

But have you ever considered the effort  it takes to understand others (or for others to understand us) when language is not direct?  We can't take the actual words at face value.  We have to go beyond the words expressed and add information from our own minds to correctly interpret indirect language. Cultural information, personal information, familiarity with the situation, location, and a good dose of common sense are all useful in interpreting language.  And we all do the necessary interpretation naturally until there is a misunderstanding.  If you have ever tried to learn a foreign language, you know that the words that you hear are often not what the person meant for you to understand.


The field of Linguistics has a term for the study of language in real contexts.  It is Pragmatics.  (Linguists spend a good deal of time, I think, thinking up esoteric terms that normal people don't understand immediately !)


Let me know if this brief discussion of use of language in context brings to mind any misunderstandings that you have experienced because of use of indirect language.  Those situations are often good for a hearty laugh!

Do you make statements into questions like Valley Girls do?

'Uptalk' may no longer be just for California Valley Girls.  Have you noticed English speakers using a rising intonation at the end of statements instead of questions lately?  I have, and I must admit I have broken the cardinal rule of descriptive linguists: Accept language as it is currently being used rather than criticize usage. But that new use of  rising intonation has been bugging me!

These thoughts came to me after reading the article, "More men speaking in girls' 'dialect,' study shows" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25232387.  First I was intrigued by what a girls' 'dialect' might be.  As I understand it, linguists don't agree on the question of whether men and women speak differently. But the raised pitch at the end of all sentences has been identified with young women in California and Australia.  (Why Australia, I asked myself, but that is a topic for another time.)

In English, our pitch generally rises when we want to speak a question.  For example, the statement "The children played" can be transformed into a question by letting your voice rise on the 'played.' So a rising intonation for statements as well as questions is a new ( and therefore controversial) feature of the English language. 

If you are not quite sure what rising intonation is, see if you can identify at least two instances of  a speaker making a statement sound like a question in this YouTube video.

California/Valley Girl Accent 

'Uptalk' has been criticized for making the speaker appear to be less than credible.  Adjectives like 'airhead' and 'ditzy' come to mind.   But how about the use of   'uptalk' by the young lady in the video?  I think she made statements into questions as part of a communication style that attempts to involve the listener.  She appears to be seeking the understanding, and possibly the confirmation of her ideas, by the listener.  And isn't that what we females often do? Ask a question to involve the other person?

The article states that women are often trailblazers in language, coming up with innovations first, with the males following later.  And the article states that more men are now using 'uptalk.'  I had always viewed women as the more conservative gender in speech, but that may be changing as well. 

I'm going to start listening for more instances of 'uptalk' now. And I am going to be really embarrassed if I find myself using that language device. I would be interested to learn if you or your acquaintances are now into 'uptalk.'   

New words. Do you love them or hate them?

When you hear a new word in your language, do you have a reaction? Are you intrigued or offended by additions to language? Several readers of last week's blog chose the origin of words as an interesting subject, so this week I'll explore the topic of new words. (For language nerds, 'neologism' is the technical term for a new word.)    

What is a word really?  Although the definition of the word 'word' seems like a no-brainer, it is not a clear cut concept. We can visualize a written word in our minds, with the letters close together and a space before and after.  But in spoken language, words are often not separated by pauses.  If you have studied a foreign language, you may have experienced frustration because the oral stream of language is not neatly marked. How did I know, for instance, that in French 'Comma ta lei vu' (sic) was really 'Comment allez-vous?"  

Small children just learning their first language have a similar problem.  "Let's go bye-bye" probably sounds like one big word to them. As a matter of fact, in Swahili, the romantic sentence "I will love you" is 'nitakupenda', with a whole English phrase appearing as a word (to us, at least) in that language.

But we all have a working definition of 'word' at least. (We'll leave it to  linguists to provide an iron clad definition.) What is of more interest to me is the effect that new words have on speakers of that language.  I myself am delighted by new words.  It's a challenge to figure out how the word was formed.  Then it's intriguing to follow a new word to see if it is being widely used and by whom.

Take the new word 'selfie'.  It was named as the 2013 Word of the Year by the publishers of Oxford English Dictionary.  Click below for definition and more information about 'selfie'.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/18/word-of-the-year-2013_n_4296009.html

'Selfie' was formed by adding the suffix -ie to 'self''.  It sounds familiar, like 'hippie' and 'yuppie'.   Since I first became aware of  'selfie', I have heard it numerous times on  radio and TV.  I haven't encountered it yet in personal conversation, probably because my friends and acquaintances (myself included) are still trying to figure out how to take any type of picture using these new-fangled devices.  The Pope appearing recently in a 'selfie' probably did much to promote the new word.  I  recently heard a talk show host make a joke that people were now talking about 'ussies', cell phone pictures of more than one person.  

Do you see 'selfie' and similar new words adding to the richness of the language or depleting it?  I would love to hear your opinions on this important matter!   

It's not your grandmother's grammar!

Grammar!

A vaguely unpleasant word for most people,  I would imagine. Disturbing images come to mind. Fill-in-the-blank worksheets.  A strict high school English teacher.  A heartfelt written essay returned bleeding red ink.  A momentary doubt as to whether to use 'lay' or 'lie'. Do I say, "It is I." or "It's me"? And all those rules in grammar books!  Even if a person could memorize them, applying them in the right circumstances would take more time than we have in today's rush-rush world.

But a few of you out there may have already joined the ranks of the Grammar Police.  To this enforcement agency, it is a matter of pride to study traditional usage rules, and, more especially, to use them to correct everyone who doesn't follow them.  Isn't the world "going to hell in a hand basket" if  a preposition ends up at the end of a sentence or an infinitive gets split?  Maybe not.

It may surprise you to know that in Linguistics, the scientific study of language, the type of grammar described above is of minimal importance.  It is labeled as "prescriptive grammar".   This traditional view of grammar "right vs. wrong" belongs to the world of copy editors, English instructors, and overzealous parents (not to mention a few acquaintances who want to prove that they are smarter than you are).

I would like to introduce you  to a much more challenging view of grammar, known as "descriptive grammar". As the name implies, linguists describe the language that real people produce in real circumstances and use it as material to explore what may be happening in the human brain.

Take for instance the sentence "I ain't goin' to do nothing for nobody." Did you just take out your red pen for correction?  Yes, those of us who have gone through the American educational system know that 'ain't' is not acceptable in polite society, 'going' needs a 'g' at the end, and that "doing nothing for nobody" means that you are really going to do something for someone because two negatives equal a positive (in mathematics at least).  So a prescriptivist merely labels the sentence as WRONG.  A descriptivist, however, looks more analitically at the sentence.

The much maligned 'ain't'' is a modified contraction of "I am not". After all, there is nothing unacceptable about "he isn't" or "we aren't.  Do some speakers prefer 'ain't' because it is a natural extension of the subconscious (in the brain)  rule that allows us to combine a form of the verb 'to be' with a negative word? Do some speakers pile up negative words ('not,' 'nothing,' 'nobody') for emphasis?  Speakers of Spanish and Portuguese string negative words in sentences without compunction.  (No voy a hacer nada para nadie.  Eu não vou fazer nada para ninguém.)

So the next time you hear a grammar "error," it may be an opportunity for some deeper thinking.  A linguist's view of grammar opens up a whole world of discovery of the workings of the human brain.  It  is definitely not your grandmother's grammar!







 

Does the term "Linguistics" scare you?

Linguistics.  Are you scared?  If so, you are not alone in the world.  The majority of people who ask what I do in life give me very strange looks when I say that I am interested in and teach courses in Linguistics.  A few are brave enough to ask, "What's that?"  Most just proceed to a more approachable topic.

Several weeks ago, I submitted an application to teach at a lifelong learning institute sponsored by our local university (under 50 years of age need not apply).  The first draft of the course description read like a watered-down version of a university introductory course in Linguistics (the science of language) that I taught for some years. It was stiff and contained unusual (some would say 'nerdy') words like 'syntax', 'morphology', 'phonology', and 'pragmatics'.  With an unusual flash of intuition, I realized that very few normal people out in the world would enroll in this course.

So I changed my approach.  Almost everyone in the world has the capability to communicate using language. The delivery method of language varies, but language still has to be  formulated in the brain.

Here are some questions that I imagine most people will want to know about language:

1. How did language begin?
2. Are we the only living beings that use language?
3. How are we able to find two different meanings in a sentence like "She texted her boyfriend with an iPhone."
4. Should we reject all new words that come into a language? 
5. Why do I have trouble making some sounds in other languages?
6. Is slang to be avoided at all costs?
7. Why do people speak with an accent different from mine?
8. Are certain areas in the brain essential for language?
9. "Can you pass the salt?"  A question or a request?
10. Can adults acquire a second language, or is it all downhill after age 14?

Which is these questions interested you most?  (You can just respond with the number).  I'm still in the planning stages for the new course, now called "Exploring Language", so your opinion is very valuable.