The Wordy Blog
Opinion
We conducted a survey to see what the average person thought about language.
Browse by topic and see what people from all walks of life think about thier language, yours, and the role words play in our lives.
Love Words? You're Not The Only One!
FAVORITE WORD
What is your favorite word?
LEAST FAVORITE WORD
What is your least favorite word?
JUDGING OTHERS BASED ON SPEECH
Do you find yourself judging others based on their vocabulary or use of language? If so, what assumptions do you make?
FAVORITE WORD
What is your favorite word?
Majid- Male- 54
Salam, hello in English, or any other language. It’s the beginning of a conversation, a relation… to meet someone anew.
William- Male- 22
Earnest: It’s a kind of “best-fit” signifier for something I can never really explain. Is it the sense of being emotionally honest? Eh, kinda. Earnestness implies not just my good impression of someone’s emotional honesty, but the provision on their part of such a view.
Anne- Female- 24
Impunity…because it sounds so much like impugn, but is not related, and you can impugn someone’s reputation with impunity. Also it’s funny to say/look at.
Emily- Female- 21
Cigarette. It’s fun to write in cursive.
Vahid- Male- 21
Whisper. The softness of the syllables imitates the softness of the act. I don’t mean the secretive whisper of gossip or the hushed voices of a library, but a whisper shared between friends or lover. Words that are whispered, not because they must be quiet, but because they can barely be said aloud.
Katie- Female- 25
I like entonces from Spanish because it is used in the same was we use "so" eg "*sigh* so" and yet is a ridiculously long word.
From French I like "s'il vous plaît" which is please because it is such a long phrase! It is shortened in writing to SVP!
In German I like the word for butterfly. "Schmetterling" because let's be honest in every other language it is a gentle and lovely word... Not in German in German is it a harsh hard word .
In English I like any word with a double b or p (bubble, pebble, plop) I like the way the words sound out in the mouth and the manipulation of the tongue!
Carmen- Female- 21
Bibliophile, meaning one who loves books and subsequently loves to read. I like this word mostly because it’s a more official sounding way to say bookworm and I like to consider myself one.
Kristina- Female- 45
"Yes!" I love this word because it allows so many possibilities.
Max- Male- 23
Sometimes people's names are really fun to say so if proper nouns are acceptable then my favorite word right now is Gorgui (pronounced Gore-gee). Gorgui Dieng is a Senegalian basketball player with an amazingly playful first name.
Jeremiah- Male- 39
Melliflous. It's a perfect example of onomatopeia.
Emily- Female- 23
Pumpkin- It sounds nice and reminds me of pleasant things.
THE STATE OF YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Has your native language deteriorated or grown stronger over the past few decades? Why? What changes would you predict for the future of this language?
Emily- Female- 21
Grown stronger. We keep adding words to the dictionary, either because we need new words to communicate new ideas or advances in technology or because we’re finding a better way to say something we say every day. I believe it will grow and adapt as we do, and as it always has.
Max- Male- 23
Language is a reflection of culture. We live in a technological age, information moves quicker and the internet makes our lives easier. We are less formal then we used to be! We have all sorts of platforms to use language that didn't even exist 10 years ago, let alone a few decades ago. Formality is a thing of the past (we see this even in the work culture where new, cool, hip startups don't require people to dress professionally anymore and you are encouraged to challenge what used to be authority figures, etc...). I think our use of English now is much more casual now then it used to be. I don't claim that this makes English stronger or weaker, just different.
New words in the dictionary and new words that people use will probably be more tech related. I hope that the whole acronym fad ends though. That's not really a prediction though, just a pet peeve. If the government gets its shit together regarding various inequality issues, we will probably see more of a convergence between the language used by different classes of people (within the same physical region of US), since hopefully there will be more interaction between poor and not poor people. Also, I'd imagine that spanish slang will start to arise more in the US as the immigrant population or spanish speakers continues to increase, so maybe some sort of fusion of spanish and english words will be more prevalent.
Carmen- Female- 21
I feel as though my native language, English, has gotten stronger especially since I started college. I had to articulate many new ideas and strengthen my writing and speaking abilities in order to better convey myself. Even though I may still struggle with certain aspects, I feel confident in my increasing ability to articulate new ideas.
I believe that English will continue to prevail as long as it is the language of power and no doubt will it continue to be challenged. Even now there are plenty of other language that are rising to prominence to test English’s power, but still many people learn language as their second language because of the power it holds throughout the world.
Jerimiah- Male- 39
Stronger. I teach writing, I read incessantly, and my students give me new langauge daily.
An increased flexibility. I don't see English deteriorating. Rather, it's becoming more varied.
Emily- Female- 23
Grown stronger. I am trying to read more to increase my vocabulary. I also live with 6 very intelligent people who introduce me to new words on a frequent basis.
Less use of vulgar words.
Vahid- Male- 21
I think that it may have grown stronger. At least, among my own generation. With social networks, people are writing to one another on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, web forums and blogs with greater and greater frequency. I’m certain that all this writing is increasing the proficiency and fluency of the people producing and consuming it.
With greater use of computers and internet, I see the language become more standardized, like dictionaries have in the past, the internet has the capacity to reduce regional variations of language. Making our voices, at least our digital ones, more alike. The digital voice of an English speaker in Pakistan or one in Canada, will come to sound more alike.
Majid- Male- 54
I don’t think my native language, Persian, has deteriorated but I think it’s not up to date. There are a lot of new slang expressions that I hear but I have no idea what they mean.
Languages are living things in a way. They grow, evolve, and they rid themselves from the parts/word not used often and then create new ones as time progresses.
William- Male- 22
Neither. It’s just changed. More people speak English than ever before, but too, more people speak it as a second language. So, the paradox here is that while the numerical strength of the language is increasing, this increase is coming from those learning it as a utilitarian second language.
There are other things too. I suspect the increasing importance of saying things shortly takes its toll on the vocabulary of native speakers as well, but we’d be polishing our rose-tinted specs to think that – with global literacy rates, and basic access to good literature being at the highest levels in human history – things were better when a smaller group of people spoke better.
In our lifetimes, we’re probably going to see a linguistic culture that becomes more open to quickly developing, rapidly cycling vocabulary. Mucking around in distinctions between words like data and datum seems kind of pedantic now, with new words and phrases being both coined, and falling out of use every week.
Anne- Female- 24
Stronger – I pick up new words and thoughts all the time. Deliberately avoiding text language/abbreviations has helped too.
An influx of loan words from various languages. The acceptance of internet language as standard language. The acceptance of improper usage as proper usage.
Kristina- Female- 45
Deteriorated. I think because of age!
In the United States, I predict it will be shared with Spanish. Hopefully not mixed, Spanglish is no bueno.
Anne- Female- 24
Like any girl I hate the word moist. The sound of it is just unpleasant.
Emily- Female- 21
Cooter. It’s just sounds so low class and trashy. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of nicknames for body parts.
William- Male- 22
Limpid: Clear, transparent, usually in reference to language. “Limp” is two thirds of the word. It just reads like a contradiction.
Max- Male- 23
Least favorite word is kike. Gives me chills to hear people say it. Definitely don't ever want to be called it. Luckily it's rarely ever used (not even in jokes really) so that's a good thing. But the fact that it even exists as a thing is unpleasant.
Kristina- Female- 45
I hate the word "hate" and of course the "c" word.
Carmen- Female- 21
I rather dislike the word ‘just.’ I don’t mind if it’s being used in the sense that something fair, but the majority of the time, when I hear it, it has little function and it seems like filler to me and most of the time a better and more descriptive word can take its place.
Emily- Female- 23
Peek- My doctor would use it when she would do invasive things when I was a child.
Majid- Male- 54
Goodbye….you never know if it is last goodbye or not!
Jerimiah- Male- 39
I try not to. But it's a challenge not to associate speech and thinking. But I want to embrace as many different forms of non-standard English as possible.
Vahid- Male- 21
A person’s language says a lot about them, it may carry traces of their background, ethnicity, education, religion, or beliefs.
Kristina- Female- 45
Yes, poor grammar and innaccurate vocabulary tell me the person either doesn't have an education, or desn't read.
Emily- Female- 21
Sometimes. It’s hard not to associate incorrect word usage or improper grammar with ignorance.
Majid- Male- 54
Not really. We are all foreigners from somebody’s point of view. Not speaking a language with a little of vast command of its vocabulary does not make anyone smart or dumb, one way or another.
Max- Male- 23
Yes, of course I do. Do I judge people's character/ethics/motivations based on language? Probably not. But I definitely (and likely with better than 50% accuracy) judge their upbringing/interests. I try as best I can for this to be a judgement in the innocuous sense, more of an assumption really, rather than some sort of value judgement (concerning some sort of ranking or status). Again, this comes back to language being a reflection of culture. It's not too difficult to figure out where someone fits into our culture based on their use of language.
William- Male- 22
Sure. Like everyone else, I’m a heuristic thing - I take mental shortcuts, so long as those shortcuts continue to work out on the average – and we all pick up on race, class, gender, sexual identity, political and religious affiliation, and ideological bents in the way people speak.
Anne- Female- 24
I judge others based on their use of language, especially written, because there are too many people who don’t put any obvious effort into what they write. When speaking, people whose speech is littered with incorrect usage (saying “I seen” instead of “I saw”) sound less educated. I tend to assume lower intelligence, because I am a snob. On the opposite end of the spectrum, when people use larger vocabulary words and (on the whole) more correct grammar, I assume they are more intelligent.
Carmen- Female- 21
I am not above admitting that I do hold certain stereotypes when it come to the way others talk. When I hear someone speak in African America English Vernacular (or Black English Vernacular) I silently make judgments about their intelligence and though I know that these are just assumptions that I make and that there is not sound basis for the judgments, I continue to struggle with this.
I think that anyone who says they are free from these kind of judgmental stereotypes is either a saint or blind to their own prejudices. However, just because one may have these prejudices does not mean there is no hope of overcoming them. The first step in this battle it to identify one own prejudices and identify the source of them.
Emily- Female- 23
Yes. I find it very unattractive when people say “Oh my god.” That is SO offensive to me. And pretty much if a person swears or has a dirty mouth in general I would prefer not to spend much time around them. This goes along with the use of “um”. When people over use this word it bugs me soooo much.
William- Male- 22
We all “code-switch”, as the anthro term has been popularized, to maintain social cohesion. We’re big apes, and our ape brains recognize the importance of social comity, even at the expense of what we’d like to-think are more-modern notions, like identity, and individuality, and sense-of-self. You might play with academese one minute, and slip into African Vernacular English the next, because part of you recognizes the importance of being unremarkable.
Vahid- Male- 21
I do, among my friends and peers I speak most freely, but with coworkers, or strangers I may modulate my language towards theirs. I think the desire to be liked is rather strong, and sadly people like to hear people who speak like them.
Majid- Male- 54
I do and it’s strictly for the ease of communication. I know in US, a lot of people get uncomfortable hearing people speak a different language and a lot of foreigners try to be sensitive to this issue but I think it’s not necessary. This is the natural consequence of diversity.
Max- Male- 23
Of course!!!!! More professional tone, word choice depending on the setting. I've had conversations with friends where we just make weird noises back and forth for a few minutes (that's a true story), and I'd never do that in a more formal setting (I think). Those two examples are probably more related to differences in behavior based on environment rather than differences in language. I think the two effects would be tricky to disentangle, though, and I'm not ambitious enough to try.
I alter my language use/behavior because society tells me I have to. It is innapropriate and frowned upon to act/speak like a child when a mature adult is needed and it is viewed as uptight if you act/speak far too formally in a more relaxed setting. It's just the way it is. I think this is a good thing though. A world with absolutely no divide between business and pleasure is not a world I want to live in.
Emily- Female- 23
Oh yes. If I am with my friends I will use words that only we understand. If I am with my parents, I would never use words like that since they would not understand them. If I was talking around my grandma, I would for sure watch my tongue.
Kristina- Female- 45
Yes, I try to never speak down to anyone. I adapt my language to my company so as not to have them feel inferior in any way.
Carmen- Female- 21
Most definitely, I do style shift when it comes to the contexts of my surroundings. Certain language that would be acceptable to use in the company of friends may not be appropriate to use in the presence of a judge or college professor. Similarly, I would use the same language I use around my grandmother as I would around my sisters.
Jerimiah- Male- 39
Absolutely. It's simply an awareness of audience. Different people, different shared language.
Emily- Female- 21
Yes, I do. I think the language we use depends on the message we want to convey. You might be more informal and goofy with a friend, and more formal and polite with a supervisor or grandparent.
USING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE BASED ON CIRCUMSTANCE
Do you conciously use different language depending on your location or present company? If so, why do you think we do this?
Kristina- Female- 45
It is one of the ways we use to communicate. It unites & separates people.
Carmen- Female- 21
Language can say a lot about a culture and acts as a window into another world. How one language would describe something may differ from another. Language shapes the way we perceive the world. I believe that all of these different perspectives are equally important in understanding the community in which we live. Where one perspective fail another might prevail and vice versa; we can continue to grow off of each other.
Majid- Male- 54
It’s the single most important tool that connects you as a person to the outside world. Even your body language reflects your words. As you learn more language, it helps you to relate to others better.
William- Male- 22
Same as it’s always been: Find the food. Woo the partner. Tell the grandkids.
Emily- Female- 21
Our words and tone are what we use to define our relationships with other people. We change how formal we are, our word choice, tone and even language depending on the person we’re speaking to. Language is our best tool for forming and sharpening relationships with other people.
Emily- Female- 23
It allows us to share joys, laughter, sadness, etc. It builds different bonds than what simply hand motions can do.
Jerimiah- Male- 39
Beyond communication, I believe language shapes how we think. Orwell's dictum, paraphrased, is that slovenly language lends to foolish thoughts and vice-versa.
Anne- Female- 24
Language is vital because it allows us to communicate everything! Animals can communicate on a certain level but human language takes it one step further…it is an expression of our deeper level of conscious awareness.
Vahid- Male- 21
The ability to communicate, language is our best, most concise method, but still words will always fail. The inarticulable feelings will remain unsaid, but our words and language are best chance at expressing them.
Max- Male- 23
Language is a reflection of culture. This can be interpreted at the micro level of an individual's use of language or more broadly at the aggregate level. In the obvious sense, there is the idea of language being an indicator of class or upbringing (specifically thinking of the My Fair Lady "the rain in spain" scene where the lower class women practices speaking like her bougie counterpart if we're interpreting language as the way we speak, articulation, etc.). However, in a broader sense, language is a barometer of social movement. The new words that we add to the dictionary each year says something about how we are progressing and how culture is evolving. There are tons of studies in the social sciences that look at the words that people use (in newspapers or articles) as data to analyze the issues that people truly care about, and that's in addition to the new wave of technology used by the private sector to gain a competitive advantage in innovation (by using twitter or facebook posts to see what people like/don't like about the world around them). In this sense, the progression of language and the way that it changes is intimately related with the movement of man.
THE IMPORTANCE
OF LANGUAGE
In your opinion, what is the importance of language?
Vahid- Male- 21
The influence of language and our surroundings flows in both directions. For example, that we have named tall building skyscrapers say a lot about us, that we gave them a name steeped in ambitious reach. Whether this is because we have built a lot of these in the past hundred years and want this to be a source of inspiration or because their name has inspired to build them, who can say. Though the increasing pressure of growing city populations may have more to do with their construction than either.
Max- Male- 23
When we think about the world around us, we use a certain language (like the voice in our brain that we hear but nobody else does...that's using language). In that sense, sure our perceptions are shaped by language. Obviously when we communicate with others about how we see the world, we do it through language, using the words we know and are comfortable with and expressing them in a style or tone that feels right. In this sense, though, there is an even deeper connection between language and perception since when we form perceptions in solace, before communicating them to others, we still use language, since the process of belief formation is essentially a conversation amongst the many voices in our head, which again is using language as the medium of exchange.
Clearly, then, the language we use shape our perceptions. However, there is an inherent bias. We only know the language we know (like a known-known vs known-unknown type of argument). The language that we are exposed to (primarily through listening to other people but also through reading/watching TV, etc...) has an inevitable effect on individual use of language. In this way sure, culture/society will dictate the language that we use.
Kristina- Female- 45
It's a two way street...
Anne- Female- 24
I think there is influence going both directions. The words we use to discuss our surroundings have certain connotations and depending on how they’re used, we’re going to feel a certain way about something. At the same time, the language we use is influenced by our surroundings. If there were no need for the word “car,” for example, we wouldn’t have one. We’re always looking for a way to describe what we mean or want or need.
Carmen- Female- 21
I believe that language shapes our perception of our surroundings. Much of our world view is shaped by the language we grew up with. It was the tool in which we coped with our environment. What someone from Russia has in their language toolbox may differ greatly from the toolbox of a person in Brazil.
Majid- Male- 54
There are certain flavors, aromas, feelings, values, …that are deeply rooted in a language and continue to project their presence outwardly in people’s everyday lives.
William- Male- 22
That’s probably the toughest question you could ask. Right now I’m in the latter-day camp of the philosopher Wittgenstein.
A word is something we create to reference a phenomenon in the world. But, like my weirdness over the word “earnest”, most of us often struggle to find a perfect, universal definition for a word. Try perfectly defining the word “culture,” for example, and you can see why dictionaries often have multiple enumerated definitions. Even those don’t capture the full essence of a word.
And yet, we don’t need to know exactly what culture is, to know what someone means when they talk about American culture, or high culture, or active culture yogurt.
So, maybe a word is highly– but only – significant in reference to other words. Which suggests that our surrounding environment not only shapes our language, but presupposes its existence as a useful, sense-making tool.
Jeremiah- Male- 39
Yes. See: Michele Morand's amazing essay "Grammar Lessons: In the Subjunctive Mood."
Language and culture are inseperable, I think. How we speak shapes how we see the world and vice-versa.
Emily- Female- 21
I believe our surroundings shape our language.
LANGUAGE VS. REALITY
Do you believe that language shapes our perception of our surroundings or that our surroundings (ie; culture, politics, and era) shape the language?