The language

    Language has too often been examined in isolation from the social and political conditions in which it is used. (John E Joseph, 2013) Joseph’s statement regarding the political component of the functions of language highlights the important role that language can play in maintaining the equilibrium within society. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on how you see the world but my own assertion is that it gravitates towards the latter. Big picture stuff is not really a commodity in 2018 and current language reinforces that. One of the strongest forces in recent language development is ‘mutation’. By this I refer particularly to meaning and the two standout examples are communism and democracy . Both words have evolved meanings which are now directly opposite to those when they were originally formulated. Communism has become a descriptor for tyranny, dictatorship and elites while democracy enjoys quite a different profile when compared to its ini...

If the information revolution has taken any prisoners, then one of its most important baggings has been language. With knowledge allegedly doubling every twelve months, one would expect a corresponding growth to the words, phrases and texts that describe and support it. However, it’s my contention that language, in whatever form, is a long way back in the field and displays an unwillingness to get with the program. There are a number of reasons for my assertion. A couple of weeks ago I came across an article in the Parramatta Advertiser with the headline ‘Dealing with drop-offs’. Briefly, the story was about how schools need to effectively wrangle vehicles that bring the kiddies to their doors and pick them up in the afternoons. Parents should be careful/ safety issues and so on. Traffic coupled with school entry and exit periods have always been a problem for as long as I can remember and I’m an ex-teacher. But what attracted my attention was the following paragraph- The...

One of the most interesting things about the social media is how they wrangle punters into certain modes of thought and expression. Whether this process is by design or not is open to question but no such debate can be staged concerning the effect. Nowhere is this more evident than in the language that is littered throughout users’ walls and there is a mind-numbing similarity to it all. However, before disclosing the unique rules and features of written communication on the dubdubdub, four essential markers of these platforms must be highlighted. The first marker is best described by Johnny Oleksinski (New York Post, 3 January 2017)- ‘ Fundamentally, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are tools for self-promotion. They are personal websites topped with someone’s name, and everything beneath the header is a carefully curated version of how they want to be perceived. ’ There’s nothing essentially significant about Johnny’s summary but if you accept it, then it does hav...

I've never met a single soul who's strong on grammar. I include myself, of course, in that generalisation. And here's a tip............ beware of anyone who says they are.   All of this may sound strange coming from a cranky old ex-teacher but, fortunately or unfortunately, it's on the money.   A lot of our 'grammar' is based on half-truths and romantic semi-digested memories of when we were 'taught' and/or 'learnt' it. A deference to 'rules' often leads one up the wrong street and this can cause problems in communication.   When I was a teacher, I found it far easier to tag 'bad' grammar in students' and colleagues' work than pontificating on what was 'good' grammar. You see, that's the problem with grammar. Like the language itself, grammar is constantly evolving and often changing its form.   P.S. Don't get me started on spelling. Thats a hole diffarent bawlgame. Posted ...

One of the great features of any language is that its form constantly changes. Words, expressions and even spelling are obedient subjects to time. Of course, English is by no means immune from regularly updating the wardrobe. Just as importantly, the meanings of words and expressions can alter over the years and decades especially when ‘value-adding’ (itself an example of this tendency) and ‘emotion’ come into play. The evolution of passion is one such instance. When I was a nipper, passion only really had two meanings. One was something to do with Jesus Christ and his personal fretting over the impending doom. I have a vague recollection of him sweating blood and I always considered it a bugger of a way to spend his Easter holidays. The other meaning required the user to either add the suffix ‘ate’ to the root word (no pun intended) or truncate the former to forge ‘pash’ which was more in the vernacular mode. For the younger viewers, both variants described two individuals i...