Speaking from the point of view of an old person who automatically gets annoyed at quickly spreading changes (e.g. "woke") I'll share some pet peeves.Words I have used all of my adult life not only seem to no longer mean what I thought they meant but sometimes have become antonyms of their former selves.Here are two examples.In a recent pandemic-related article in the Washington Post, a sentence describing the effects of the pandemic in a particular area began by describing the decimation of the region being described. At the other end of the same sentence the same effects were described as affectmg 80-90% of the population. Since the word decimate strongly suggests 10%, I had no idea what was meant.And then look a what has happened to the word "literally". In everyday spoken English. most of us do not have precision as a goal. We speak not so much to convey precise meaning as to impress the hearer. Everyday speech is so full of hyperbole, metaphor and downright lies that generations of carefull speakers used the word "literally" to indicate that they actually meant what they said. Merriam Webster no longer makes the case that the word "literally" means what it seems to be indicationg. To them it now simply indicates an emphasis of the misleading hyperbole, metaphor or lie in question.The new right is now left. Jim (grumpy old guy) McKenney
On Friday, September 18, 2020, 03:05:41 PM EDT, Jane McGary via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
As someone speaking from the field of linguistics, I'd say yes, language
change is an important part of the discipline. It happens constantly in
all actively spoken languages. Spoken usage errors are not equivalent to
being "illiterate," although a semiliterate person reading from a
teleprompter is likely to make such errors, much to the delight of the
news media. We have to compartmentalize our reactions to the language we
hear, especially if we are old and automatically get annoyed at quickly
spreading changes, such as the vowel shifts occurring in American
English, or the spread of Estuary English in Britain. The important
thing is that a change can't abruptly impede understanding, and we're
pretty adaptable there too. We will continue to have our pet peeves
(like "track record," always misused now), but we still understand our
interlocutors and email correspondents, whether or not they know what
"regale" means.
Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA, where it's finally raining.
On 9/18/2020 9:22 AM, Cody H via pbs wrote:
> Hahaha! Exasturbated is definitely a new one for me.
>
> I believe there are branches of study within the field of linguistics
> dedicated specifically to understanding how words and lexicons change over
> time—an important, natural, and inevitable process that contributes to the
> development of language diversity. So I try to channel my inner
> dispassionate linguist every time I hear someone who I otherwise wish to
> respect say “fustrated” or “nukular” in a non-ironic way.
>
>
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