Thereโs a funny thing about pop culture: the more fleeting it seems, the more lasting its impact often is. And perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the words that owe their origins to Billboard-topping, chartbusting numbers. We might forget it, but several of the words we use today started on a lyrics sheet in a studio that [...]
The fact that no one really sits down to read anymore (or, at least, thatโs the way it might seem) is a symptom of many concurrent cultural and societal influences. However, this lack of reading acumen is more than just a change in preference; itโs having real impacts on entire generations, including those who grew up enjoying the earthy [...]
While English has been the dominant language spoken in the US since the country's founding, Americans have been listening to Spanish-language music since music was recorded, and likely much earlier than that. However, within the last decade, listenership for Spanish-language music has increased by nearly 1,000%, and Spanish has now become the second most listened-to language for music worldwide. Below, [...]
Whether you love it or dread it, small talk is woven into the fabric of everyday life. From elevator chats to pre-meeting pleasantries, it plays a quiet but crucial role in helping us navigate the social world. But why does small talk matter, and why do so many people find it excruciatingly hard? As it turns out, small talk [...]
Women face the brunt of these judgments about language, and they occur primarily due to two linguistic patterns: uptalk and vocal fry. Although both strategies are used by men and women, cultural conditioning has increasingly framed them as signs that women are less serious, less knowledgeable, and more prone to errorโsimply because of the natural ways they speak. Are You [...]
International marketing has existed for over a thousand years, but itโs only been for the last 100 or so that humans have studied it as a distinct field. Understanding the nuances of how different cultures respond to a businessโs appeal to consumers is beneficial for all individuals who are looking for the most effective strategies in marketing, as well [...]
How Illiteracy Shaped Seafaring Language Anyone who has enjoyed literature and films portraying life at sea may have quickly noticed that the ship environment is alive with unfamiliar jargon. Words such as โbosunโ and โstaysโlโ might fill the air, but upon looking in a dictionary, no such words seem to exist! The reason for many of the warped pronunciations [...]
One of the often overlooked features of language is that itโs constantly evolving and adapting. A fascinating aspect of this evolution is the incorporation of "untranslatable" words from various languages into English. These loanwords fill lexical gaps, offering nuanced expressions previously lacking in English. Thereโs an important reason for these additions. At any given time, a language can adequately [...]
Controlled Natural Languages Seaspeak was created in 1985 to standardize how sailors and others on naval vessels communicated with each other. When a ship from an English-speaking location such as the United States would like to ask for assistance from a passing ship from, for instance, Brazil, the language barrier can quickly become a problem. Seaspeak allows these ships [...]
Cliches are the lynchpin of one particular linguistic maneuver that works in subtle but impactful ways. Thought termination, also called the thought-terminating cliche, can end conversations instantly and even keep people beholden to an ideology. How do these innocent phrases carry such an effect? It all comes down to how people relate to each other. What Is Thought Termination? [...]
