How Dictionary Editors Find Meaning In The Age of Internet Speak Flashcards
What attitudes are presented in the article about codified words?
At the beginning of the article, the article suggests a pejorative stance towards words that are added, examples such as adverb ‘literally’ that has received controversy from Daily Mail and American Media, or the material verb ‘negotiate’ acquiring the denotation ‘to successfully travel along or over’ which sticklers had criticised. However, towards the end of the article, the stance becomes positive. Given accounts of modern lexicographers describe how their stances changed towards Internet-influenced words that were codified in numerous dictionaries.
What is the first quote that you need to remember and can talk about in your exam?
- The first interesting quote is ‘a perception exists that careless millennials and social media aficionados have laid siege to the English language and that modern dictionaries have failed to hold the line.’ The lexical choice chosen by the author foresees the influence of other languages in English. The concrete countable noun ‘aficionado’ borrowed from Spanish denoting ‘a fan of something or someone’ being the same in both languages shows an increasing use of English language users borrowing words from other languages. This is not new, English in the past has borrowed from German, French and Italian. I find it personally interesting how Spanish is creeping in articles.
Is there anything else you can talk about with the use of the metaphor ‘laid siege’?
It is also interesting with the writer’s use of the archaic metaphor ‘laid siege’ in contemporary internet context. The use of the metaphor suggests a resistance or rather a blockage against an enemy (English language.) The writer is arguing against the negative perception towards millennials and social media aficionados who are going against the rules of English language, when the reality is not so.
What is the second quote that you need to remember and can talk about in your exam?
- The second quote by John McWhorter describes how ‘human speech is always morphing along’ very similar to David Crystal’s argument in his book ‘Fight for English’; in which he affirmed that ‘you cannot stop language change.’ Here are two descriptivists presenting an agreement that language is continuously evolving. The argument cannot be further overstated. It proves this perception of language change has continually existed from generation to generation.
What can say more about the metaphor ‘laid siege’?
It is also interesting with the writer’s use of the archaic metaphor ‘laid siege’ in contemporary internet context. The use of the metaphor suggests a resistance or rather a blockage against an enemy (English language.) The writer is arguing against the negative perception towards millennials and social media aficionados who are going against the rules of English language, when the reality is not so.
What is the second quote that you need to remember and can talk about in your exam?
- The second quote by John McWhorter describes how ‘human speech is always morphing along’ very similar to David Crystal’s argument in his book ‘Fight for English’; in which he affirmed that ‘you cannot stop language change.’ Here are two descriptivists presenting an agreement that language is continuously evolving. The argument cannot be further overstated. It proves this perception of language change has continually existed from generation to generation.
What is the last quote that you need to remember and can talk about in your exam?
- The last quote by Emily Brewster says words added to the dictionary that ‘once were once shunned and disparaged has a good chance of joining the ranks of the unremarkable.’ This is interesting as this a common perception of changes being negative is not exclusive to codified words, but other linguistic changes as seen within Modern Day English. An example is Jean Aitchison’s Ruth Lectures, where the dropping of consonants that were viewed unacceptable but nevertheless popular as in the stop consonant ‘t’ in ‘stree’ substituting street or the velar consonant ‘k’ in kick (a material verb) kik replacing kick. However, despite popularity it was not finite that everyone would adapt to the changes. The upper class or prescriptivists who had these views did unsurprisingly did not choose to conform the drop of consonants. The same can be said for the codified words. Sticklers will not choose to use ‘literally’ in the informal manner. Older generation may not use ‘selfie’; if they are not exposed to the media, mobile phone communications or younger relatives that use Internet technology.
