Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)
John McWhorteramazon.com
Words on the Move: Why English Won't - and Can't - Sit Still (Like, Literally)
Languages change and evolve organically. But it is perhaps paradoxically necessarily that languages must remain mostly unchanging — mostly common between their speakers — such that change can be recognized and contextualized, rather than simply disorienting.
Sacha Meyers • Bitcoin Is Venice: Essays on the Past and Future of Capitalism
Formal internet genres like ebooks and news sites and company websites no more resemble your quickly dashed-off text message than print books and newspapers and company brochures resembled a hastily scribbled note on the kitchen table.
Gretchen McCulloch • Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
The first step in respecting language is keeping it as concrete, meaningful, and truthful as possible—part of the job of keeping information streams clear. The second step is to enlarge language to make it consistent with our enlarged understanding of systems. If the Eskimos have so many words for snow, it’s because they have studied and learned ho
... See moreDonella H. Meadows • Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller
Other words and phrases, however, somehow manage to transcend their viral origins and embed themselves in the broader language. Terms that have stuck around for a more extended period usually have something within their qualities that makes them stick, remaining relevant throughout time and applicable in various contexts. Thus, for instance, the wo... See more
Gabriel McCarthy • Why is Our Vocabulary Changing So Much?
Language did not function as a storehouse of words, from which users could summon the correct items, preformed. On the contrary, words were fugitive, on the fly, expected to vanish again thereafter. When spoken, they were not available to be compared with, or measured against, other instantiations of themselves.