Over two centuries ago, Paul Revere rode on horseback across the Massachusetts countryside declaring, โThe British are coming.โ That, of course, was a warning about an impending war. Today, the British are making an altogether different kind of incursion into the US: with their language. Thatโs the claim that Ben Yagoda makes in his latest book, Gobsmacked! The British [...]
Code switching is the practice of adjusting oneโs speech or writing depending on the circumstances or audience. While some code switching can occur between languages, more often, it arises in variances of dialect or even slang. For instance, imagine a lawyer speaking before a judge. People generally understand that this lawyer would do well to speak formally and politely [...]
Suppose that a young woman from Argentina immigrated with her family to the United States. She has always dreamed of being a psychologist, but upon enrolling in university education to start her training, she discovers that many of the classes (taught in English) are moving at a pace too fast for her to enthusiastically engage with because English is [...]
Whether youโre a native speaker of American English or youโre just starting to pick it up, youโve likely noticed how common it is to hear references to sports in conversations regardless of whether the conversation was casual, formal, or even business-related. Americans who reference sports in conversations usually do so through the use of idioms โ a phrase or [...]
What Is a โPidginโ? A pidgin is a type of language used for limited communication between groups who otherwise do not share common linguistic grounds. It is a means of understanding (and being understood) without each party needing to learn the otherโs language. While some pidgins remain mostly utilitarian in areas of trade and cohabitation, others become more widely [...]
When Was the Middle Ages? The Middle Ages, often called the โmedievalโ period, is a nebulous time in history spanning anywhere from the 6th century all the way to around the 14th or 15th century (depending on which region a person is considering). Many scholars would place the true beginning of the Middle Ages at 1150AD, when Old English [...]
Can Adults Learn a Second Language? The short answer is yesโadults can (and should!) pick up more than one language. The idea that a student is most receptive to information at a young age, and that the brain hardens against learning new information later, is largely a myth. What actually occurs is that adults leave environments such as schools [...]
Cockney rhyming slang to the untrained ear, can often sound like a different language altogether โ instead of a unique variation of English. To outsiders, at first listen, this bizarre way of speaking may seem as if the speaker is randomly ascribing multiple words or phrases to a single noun or purposely rearranging a sentence beyond all recognition. But [...]
The internet has revolutionized many of the ways that humans engage with each other. From new avenues of sharing creative endeavors to broader access to knowledge than at any other point in humanityโs history, the interconnected nature of modern living has changed the social landscape faster than anyone ever expected. However, humans are adaptable creatures, and it has not [...]
The rich history of African American Vernacular English has endured and flourished, undoubtedly leaving an indelible mark on America and how it speaks, but AAVEโs origin, core features, and even very existence continue to be debated by professional linguists and everyday people alike. Despite the debate, and at times controversy, over what exactly AAVE is, there is a very [...]
