They say that they can cut deeper than swords and they are right. They can be cheerful, elevating, harmful or destructing. They can even be sexy. Yes, words can be sexy. I was thinking combinations of sexy words like ‘bearded footballer’ or ‘ginger rugby player’ or ‘Ben Cohen’! What sounds sexier than that? Just let your imagination run.
Generally, I don’t think I am very good with words, even in my mother language. I don’t tend to use polysyllable words or proper words to replace secondary sentences. I find it easier to describe something in my own way than use one single word with the same meaning. I think that’s only natural however since everyday conversations make our vocabulary poorer. It’s a bit sad though.
The Oxford English Dictionary I think has more than 150,000 entries. I think that the average person might know a third of them? How many are active though? Everyday television, newspapers and even modern books follow the trend of simplifying a very beautiful and rich language. I’m not saying we should talk the same way Shakespeare wrote. However, I think that it would be nice to keep some standards.
I generally object the notion to change the spelling of words so that they’re simpler or because lots of people misspell them. ‘They’re’ is different to ‘their’ and ‘you’re’ is different to ‘your’. The same thing is of course happening to the Greek language. I’m not going to argue about whether it’s as rich a language or not as English. I think that it’s more difficult to write since there are strict rules on how to write it. For example it has several different vowels sounding exactly the same. Instead of the simply ‘i’ we have ‘η’, ‘ι’, ‘υ’, ‘οι’ and ‘ει’ which all are pronounced like the English ‘e’. However, some people want to replace all these with the simply ‘ι’. It might make things simpler, but simpler doesn't mean better...
You're probably thinking what is this weird guy on about... Just call me old fashioned or simply weird that I think of these things...
I agree that its a shame people's vocabulary is shrinking. My grandparents had such an excellent command of English. Many words have fallen out of fashion. I never realized this until I watched old Bette Davis films.
ReplyDeleteNot only is vocabulary shrinking, everything is becoming shortened, i.e., LOL, WTF, OMG. I'm seeing more and more of the younger generations actually using these shortened "words" in everyday usage.
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ Erik... ppl 2day shorten words 2 much for texting. Also 2 many acronyms r used. It sometimes makes me crazy! LOL
ReplyDeleteI recently took a course on the history of the English language. Apparently outside of Mandarin, it is the most complex language there is, a hodgepodge stew consisting of more synonyms than any other language.
ReplyDeleteI would hate to try to learn it as a 2nd language.
On the positive - it has more expression potential than most.
Try Dictionary.com. Everyday it sends me a new word to learn, and a question about language, such as the difference between blatant and rampant.
The only words you need to remember are s'agapo.
ReplyDelete@BosBuy You're right. My grandparents used to talk much nicer Greek now that you mention it.
ReplyDelete@Erik Rubright I can understand that when it's in text messages etc. However, it gets into my nerves when I read them in articles or magazines.
@Jim Ur so right. :-)
@Ur-Spo I don't know about a course of the language's history. However, I was thinking in an accent course
ReplyDelete@cb That would make a very dull conversation, don't you think? :-p
'Weird' is a word I would never choose to describe you. Other words like 'smart', 'fun', and 'hot' come to mind.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind some simplification in the English language, but where to start and where to end? On the other hand, I like traditions and I would like to see people actually spell out L-I-G-H-T rather than the shortcut L-I-T-E. Maybe I'm the weird one.
@Cubby You make me blush
ReplyDeleteLight and lite is a very good example of what I meant.