Linguistically better thAn you

It seems that a blog author must spend her first entry qualifying her decision to waste time writing something that no one may ever read or find entertaining, so here’s my explanation of why I have chosen the blog topic of language, or to be more precise the evolution of language. I spent my childhood and teen years listening to my English teacher mother and lawyer father continually correct me and others for misusing various aspects of the English language. I, in turn, began to correct my friends in that self-righteous way that teenagers do just about everything. This may be why I chose to major in something that no one has any clue what it actually means – no I do not speak multiple languages, but I do claim linguistic prestige over all those I meet. The cherry, but, wait, I hate cherries – the whipped cream on this sundae is my fascination with people and their interactions with each other and the world around them which led me to also study Anthropology.

My linguistics background has helped me to understand that language changes and evolves over time. The “Great Vowel Shift”, as we crazy Linguists call it, that took place hundreds of years ago was one of many evolutions of the English language that led to our beloved Modern English. Knowing this fact of constant flux I still cannot help but be bothered when people misspeak or, for lack of a better term, abuse language. Being a bit of an arrogant, self-centered person, I understand that my way of speaking is the best and right way of speaking, while it seems everyone else has missed the boat.

Oops. There she goes?

This is not to say that I find all changes to language to be bad. There are many trends which I enjoy and am fully on board with. This blog will be my comment on the good and bad sides of language evolution. I can be very persnickety, but I do recognize the positive side to evolution. Heck, we’d still be monkeys if it weren’t for evolution (maybe, I don’t really know. Creationism?).

Not mother?

The Anthropologist in me wants to see how culture has affected these changes in people and what social interactions have caused them to adjust the way they speak. We all have different “dialects” for different situations; no one speaks to a friend in the same way they would at a job interview, unless they want to be turned down on the spot. Language is intertwined with culture, and I believe that it would be impossible to understand one without the other.

I should note that I do not claim to be funny nor am I attempting a fully serious blog. Names will be changed to protect those I criticize, and I am not attempting to question anyone’s intelligence with my comments. I simply want to air my grievances with people’s speech and praise those changes that merit my “Studied in the oldest Linguistics Department in the country” seal of approval. I also do not claim to be language perfect. I am always open to comments on my improper use of the English language, so feel free to correct me at any time.