Language, thou art evolving

Posted by admin on Feb 20, 2007 in Community | 0 comments

What exactly is language? After twenty-something years of speaking, writing, and generally butchering the English language, there are certain aspects that I’ve come to love and aspects that absolutely confound my understanding. I don’t know how anyone can make sense of English’s melting pot of idioms, oxymorons, abbreviations, and slang.

What ever happened to the days of Shakespearean English? I use to spend hours chatting with a friend using only Elizabethan language. It really does make you sound more profound and the words more awe-inspiring. It can sound so glorious and poetic, even when used to describe something as commonplace as friendship. Normally, you might say, “We’re good friends.” Instead, try to say it like this: “Thy companionship hast touched the very fibers of my being.” Trust me; this sounds pretty awesome and is almost guaranteed to be a hit with a person of the opposite sex.

One of the more interesting aspects of any language is the idiom. Idioms are phrases we use to say one thing but mean something almost completely unrelated. There is a plethora of these wondrous phrases. Some popular idioms include “piece of cake,” “when pigs fly,” “when in Rome,” and “beat a dead horse.” Some of these make sense, but others are just plain silly. For instance, try to figure out what this one means: “After a donkey’s years you can’t teach your grandma to suck eggs.” You have to love the English language.

Slang is an aspect of our language that we become most attuned to. Like baby birds in a nest, we hunger for the little slang-filled worms that our culture keeps feeding us. Who can really keep track of the infinite number of new terms and words spewing out of the mouths of everyone and their mothers? Words such as “tight,” “sweet,” and “dude” have become nearly universal concepts to us. The changes that have occurred since the days of Shakespeare are quite astounding. I doubt that even Shakespeare would have guessed that our language would shift so dramatically.

The next time you find yourself in the midst of a time of verbal exchanges, try out some new words and styles. It can add some spice to your vernacular, and can help you to better understand words.

Language is much more than a massive collection of letters, sounds, and pairings that just happen to make sense. It’s the means by which we describe, define, abbreviate, and convey whatever the who, what, where, why, and how of our lives. So whether you choose to speak like one of Shakespeare’s muses, or just want to try out a new idiom on some unsuspecting person, consider that you may be changing the way we speak.