Pin Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 There has been something on my chest for quite some time. It concerns what I perceive to be a usurpation of language led by the internet and - in particular - social media websites. Examples: What used to be a "New Message" is now a "notification". Eh? Sounds like an invoice. Faceache is often to blame. It seems that right now I have "30 notifications". Yeah, well - speak English and I might take notice. Once upon a time I used to do a search on Ebay and save it but it seems I now "follow a search". How on earth can I "follow a search"? Just doesn't make sense. I don't use Twitter one good reason is that I have no wish to be designated a "follower". I might be interested in what a certain person says but sorry - I don't "follow" that person. I always review my incoming email via my ISP website as it often saves me downloading junk onto my machine. But now when I delete 30 pieces of absolute trash spam I am told I am deleting "30 conversations". Since when has a one way communication being a "conversation". Doesn't it take at least two? And I am not going to start on "Awesome", "Killer", "Epic" or the multiple indecipherable acronyms with which the internet is littered. It might just be age...or it might be that what I'm talking about really does refer to total tripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 While I kind of agree with you about some of these aspects... We are a people who are constantly evolving.. and that includes language changes.. Like if you were to go back 200 years and talk like we do today people would think you were probably common, rude or just stupid (or a witch :)).... And the internet is the biggest change in terms of our communications.. Its no wonder it will have an effect on society and our evolution. I think the thing that annoys me the most is that some of this isn't so much an evolution but a bunch of marketing people who sit and make graphs and polls about what certain words will do to attract the most people, or to look the most different and unique or give the best subliminal messages or whatever.. And if like facebook you have millions of users, you have a LOT of power over that.. That's whats kinda scary and annoying... To me as long as I can understand what someone means, I don't care what terminology they use... But yes, marketing or big corporation speak is very very annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 But yes, marketing or big corporation speak is very very annoying. It will all be different in 30 or so years or less. Anyone remember "good grokkin'?" Thankyou Mr Heinlein. I call a spade a manual regolith transference implementation enabling accessory. [flapper] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I am in a constant state of "pissedoffness" about the impact of TV on our Australian language! Kids here now sound more like Americans that anything else. Note: We do not have Sofas, we have Couches! Note: We do not have Vacations, we have Holidays! Note: We do not have Closets, we have Cupboards. And we assuredly do not say "Butt's", here a posterior is known as a "BUM"! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 For what it's worth from somebody who's seen the language change through the past 50+ years of writing for a living, I see such things as a combination of political/marketing games plus a seasoning of ignorance. Then again, I sometimes find the "ignorance" thing wishful thinking. My favorite, no kidding, is same sex "marriage." That redefines a meaning that has been the same in countless languages for throughout documented history. Basically it's been a contract between one male and one female person, although that frequently has meant one male having more than one wife. (One of the worst things the U.S. government ever did, IMHO, to the northern plains Sioux tribal groups was to make marriage to more than one wife illegal for them, forcing an end to any legal status a wife would have if she wasn't the "one." Which of two or three wives should the man dump when the government told him he could have only one when it came to any tribal benefits, etc. Don't get me wrong, in todays legal environment, I could make all kinds of arguments favoring full legal status for same-sex couples equivalent to how the legal systems have covered "marriage" in evolving political and cultural environments. But changing the meaning of a word is to me, horrid because it changes the concept of "marriage" throughout history. Hence my conviction it's an intentional and "political" effort. You can favor that or oppose it, but it doesn't change that it's "political" in that case to change a word's meaning to get a desired political/cultural result. In fact, that changing of words, even rules of grammar for a given language, to achieve political aims has been promoted by certain political persuasions once called "radical," and now apparently embedded within the left of center mainstream. "rights" is another word that today is viewed with far more and different meanings than it had even 50 years ago. All politics. "follow" has now been given a far greater extent of meanings than it had a few decades ago, ditto "notification" and such. The "notification" thing is to create a feeling of immediacy from a superior to an inferior in rank in a given circumstance set. So much for equality. Then too, what does "equality' mean today given political discussions the past half century? "Friend" now implies an electronic attachment rather than more specifically a personal emotional attachment. Etc. I think it becomes increasingly difficult for young people to read anything written 50 years ago due to the intentional political changing and expansions or contractions of word meanings. Language inevitably does change, but I think not nearly with the speed and political/marketing intent of today. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Could be worse... Just remember, in China, their language is so complicated and diffuse that they need to have subtitles for all their TV shows because of different dialects. At least for the most part (with the exception of a few subsections of culture/location) an english speaker from the US or the UK or Australia or South Africa, etc can all understand each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I call a spade a manual regolith transference implementation enabling accessory. [flapper] Lol.. Like when they try and make people feel better about there jobs by adding the word technician or engineer to the end of their job title... Is all so silly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Milod - there is one you occasionally use; "stedda" That drives me crazy! It's "stedda", stedda "instead of".... ](*,) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 an english speaker from the US or the UK or Australia or South Africa, etc can all understand each other. Unless they happen to be from Glasgow or Newcastle.. or in your case the deep south ... those heavy accents can be hard for even their own people to understand :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Unless they happen to be from Glasgow or Newcastle.. or in your case the deep south ... those heavy accents can be hard for even their own people to understand :) yep, and i mean no offense to anyone but Ebonics is something i find hard to understand at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 jdgm... just cowboy campfire talk... Yup. It's not all that standard American English. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 "Ebonics" - I had to google that one. Changes in dialect are unstoppable and inevitable IMO. Formal English will always be there I hope. Legal documents, definitions etc. The George Bush "-izeratificated" effect (suffix unnecessarily added to stem) has declined in recent years. I think whatever the World's most used language is, it will always be subject to the rules or vagaries of convenience and....abridgment.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. C.O. Jones Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Since Windows 10 "upgrade" my netbook doesn't run programs it runs APPS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I stand among you a self confessed 'grumpy old git'. However, you cant halt or change the course of this devolving language trend. There is only one thing you can try to change, and that is your reaction to it. Yes its annoying. But its not worth getting stressed over. When a youtube DIY video bloke describes his wallpaper paste as AWESOME, we know that its his product of choice, and that he almost certainly was not awestruck when using it. We also know that when he comes into close proximity to a waterspout or earthquake, he will lack the vocabulary to describe it. Good point about youngsters being unable to read older books. When I studied my English Lit exam as a teenager, I was worried about Understanding Chaucer. Here is an example of Chaucer's English from the 13th C A shipman was ther, wonynge fer by weste; For aught I woot, he was of Dertemouthe. He rood upon a rounce, as he kouthe, In a gowne of faldyng to the knee. I did pass the exam, and the Chaucer was not the worst part. The worst part was J Austin's Pride & Prejudice, which I still rate as the worst book I have ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 We also know that when he comes into close proximity to a waterspout or earthquake, he will lack the vocabulary to describe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 When a youtube DIY video bloke describes his wallpaper paste as AWESOME, we know that its his product of choice, and that he almost certainly was not awestruck when using it. .........I did pass the exam, and the Chaucer was not the worst part. The worst part was J Austen's Pride & Prejudice, which I still rate as the worst book I have ever read. Yes I recently phoned up an insurance/pension company and had to confirm my details to the young lady who took my call; I gave her my name and address - "AWESOME!" - and then my reference - "AWESOME!!!" Made me smile in fact. Also took and passed English 'A' level many, many years ago - it was Chaucer's "Wife Of Bath's Tale" for us but the worst by far (very long, indigestible and tedious) was "Middlemarch" by George Eliot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Chancery was fine. Especially the Miller's tale. I'll agree that anything by j. Austin or g elliot is horrid. The stories are not all that interesting in the first place. Caesar in Latin is easier to read since it's at least interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Oops. Chaucer. Darned phone decides its own spelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I don't use Twitter one good reason is that I have no wish to be designated a "follower". I might be interested in what a certain person says but sorry - I don't "follow" that person. I don't use twitter because I don't like the name "twitter." That's got to be the stupidest name ever. And then people don't post on twitter, they tweet? Are you kidding me? I don't tweet, and I don't care to see what anybody else tweeted. Tweet this, you twits! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I don't use twitter because I don't like the name "twitter." That's got to be the stupidest name ever. And then people don't post on twitter, they tweet? Are you kidding me? I don't tweet, and I don't care to see what anybody else tweeted. Tweet this, you twits! Don't forget... Too many tweets make a tw@t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 We also know that when he comes into close proximity to a waterspout or earthquake, he will lack the vocabulary to describe it. Made me laugh merciful! No doubt that if he did he would be "devastated". Do these people know what these words mean? Granted if hit by an earthquake or waterspout he might really be devastated. I do try and relax about it because it'll continue no matter how much I complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 jdgm... just cowboy campfire talk... Yup. It's not all that standard American English. m I call that a studied casualness of speech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digger Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 As mentioned I bristle at all the "Americanisms" that find their way into Aussie speech but the one that has got me buggered is 24/7. I can't find a way of expressing that any better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I've actually recently began to reuse C.B. talk. 10-4 back porch! Roger....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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