Complaints about language change. No. I am a linguist. If someone says “liberry” or “expresso” or “conversate”…I could damn well care less. No one speaks a standard language and the arbiters thereof are the community who use it every day. Nonstandard words and phrases often have their own logic to them and arise because they are necessary or because it eases communication. People have been spewing rage about this since Roman times; the Appendix Probi is a jeremiad against language changes in Latin that became the foundation for Spanish and Portuguese.
People do not speak the way you would like. This is normal. They are the X-Men of language in practice. Get over it.
I agree with you in principle, but personally it drives me nuts whenever I see “could of”, “I could care less”, “nucelar”, etc. But I admit that it’s a personal thing and don’t correct anyone. That said, whenever I do see them corrected by others, it feels very cathartic. Also, I’d rather someone correct me when I make mistakes like this.
I’d like to say that I’ve seen comment of yours about language before and I want to say I really respect this. I know for me some words are harder to say in English (like rural - though I have practiced! But atm when I say sounds a bit like roool lol) and before seeing on Reddit, I wouldn’t have thought that conversate isn’t considered a word by so many! It doesn’t seem so wrong to me. And it helps to know there are people in the world like you who wouldn’t just be disgusted by the difference.
All my life I have been subject to bullies. I got an education in linguistics. There’s a piece of paper in my bedroom that says I know what I’m talking about. And I will defend the underdog because I fucking hate bullies.
AAVE is a good example of this. Despite being branded as “street talk” or even “black people are too dumb to speak proper English” by racists, a lot of the so-called “mistakes” are actually just following grammar rules consistent with a variety of African languages, that held over after slaves were forced to speak English.
That’s completely different from speaking bad English. For example, “I could care less” isn’t cultural language, it’s stupid. It means the opposite of what you’re trying to say.
How the fuck do you think language evolves? People say what sounds better or is more convenient. If they didn’t we would still be speaking like Shakespeare or have a dozen different conjugations for every use of a word.
One thing I’ve been wondering about is that since English is the main language used on the Internet and in international communication, and the replacement rate of wealthier white people in countries like the US and Canada is a lot lower than poorer Spanish, Chinese, etc. speaking immigrants, will English eventually end up like Latin where it splits and evolves into many separate languages while the original thing is only really used in formal/intellectual settings?
My god yes, also people who make horrible bots that interrupt the conversation just to push their owners’ spelling or punctuation preferences.
It’s prescriptivist, elitist, and even ableist. Also, social media by nature is colloquial, not formal - it feels like being told off for not wearing a business suit at home on the weekend.
Complaints about language change. No. I am a linguist. If someone says “liberry” or “expresso” or “conversate”…I could damn well care less. No one speaks a standard language and the arbiters thereof are the community who use it every day. Nonstandard words and phrases often have their own logic to them and arise because they are necessary or because it eases communication. People have been spewing rage about this since Roman times; the Appendix Probi is a jeremiad against language changes in Latin that became the foundation for Spanish and Portuguese.
People do not speak the way you would like. This is normal. They are the X-Men of language in practice. Get over it.
I agree with you in principle, but personally it drives me nuts whenever I see “could of”, “I could care less”, “nucelar”, etc. But I admit that it’s a personal thing and don’t correct anyone. That said, whenever I do see them corrected by others, it feels very cathartic. Also, I’d rather someone correct me when I make mistakes like this.
I’d like to say that I’ve seen comment of yours about language before and I want to say I really respect this. I know for me some words are harder to say in English (like rural - though I have practiced! But atm when I say sounds a bit like roool lol) and before seeing on Reddit, I wouldn’t have thought that conversate isn’t considered a word by so many! It doesn’t seem so wrong to me. And it helps to know there are people in the world like you who wouldn’t just be disgusted by the difference.
All my life I have been subject to bullies. I got an education in linguistics. There’s a piece of paper in my bedroom that says I know what I’m talking about. And I will defend the underdog because I fucking hate bullies.
AAVE is a good example of this. Despite being branded as “street talk” or even “black people are too dumb to speak proper English” by racists, a lot of the so-called “mistakes” are actually just following grammar rules consistent with a variety of African languages, that held over after slaves were forced to speak English.
That’s completely different from speaking bad English. For example, “I could care less” isn’t cultural language, it’s stupid. It means the opposite of what you’re trying to say.
How the fuck do you think language evolves? People say what sounds better or is more convenient. If they didn’t we would still be speaking like Shakespeare or have a dozen different conjugations for every use of a word.
Google “idiom” and then get back to me.
No cap, the TAM system of AAVE is a thing of beauty. And it arose organically.
Technology Acceptance Model? Television Audience Measurement? Total Available Market?
Tense-Aspect-Mood.
One thing I’ve been wondering about is that since English is the main language used on the Internet and in international communication, and the replacement rate of wealthier white people in countries like the US and Canada is a lot lower than poorer Spanish, Chinese, etc. speaking immigrants, will English eventually end up like Latin where it splits and evolves into many separate languages while the original thing is only really used in formal/intellectual settings?
It already is.
I’m curious, can you/someone provide a concrete example?
My god yes, also people who make horrible bots that interrupt the conversation just to push their owners’ spelling or punctuation preferences.
It’s prescriptivist, elitist, and even ableist. Also, social media by nature is colloquial, not formal - it feels like being told off for not wearing a business suit at home on the weekend.
That is a brilliant metaphor and I would like to steal it.
Thanks! It was probably inspired by your profile pic, on some level.