FUNNER: How Language Evolves and Why It Matters

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2024

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You may think the English language is static, solid, set in its ways. But the language of Shakespeare has changed quite a bit since the Bard's day. Some rules have been bent, others broken. Old words have faded into obscurity, while new slang has burst onto the scene. (Goodbye, crapulous. Hello, awesomesauce!) When faced with this linguistic upheaval, you have two choices, according to today's guest, Anne Curzan, dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan and author of "Says Who?: A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words." You can turn into a grammando who ruthlessly corrects grammatical faux pas, staunchly defends "correct" usage, and rails against neologisms. Or you can embrace your inner wordie by becoming a linguistic gourmand who not only savors fresh vocabulary but celebrates lexical innovation as a reminder that our language is evolving, becoming more expansive, more inclusive, and perhaps more playful. Host: Rufus Griscom Guest: Anne Curzan THE NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB We all know that reading is the best investment we can make in ourselves, but figuring out what to read — well, that’s another matter. Which is why we started the Next Big Idea Club. We get the best new books (as chosen by our friends Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink) into the hands of curious people. Like you! Join us today at nextbigideaclub.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	LinkedIn presents.
0:05.0	I'm Rufus Griscombe and this is the next big idea.
0:10.0	Today, the English language is changing.
0:13.8	Are you okay with that? How do you feel about the word funner? Can this podcast episode be
0:38.0	funner than the last one or maybe even the funnest? If you're wincing right now, you're not alone.
0:45.7	Incorrect language usage or usage that we perceive to be incorrect
0:49.8	triggers powerful emotional responses in many of us. It certainly does in me. But are they
0:55.0	justified or are we just resisting the inevitable flow of language which is of
1:00.9	course a liquid not a solid.
1:03.0	Let me give you some examples.
1:05.0	Benjamin Franklin was outraged by the use of the word colonize as a verb.
1:11.0	Colonies? Sure, but colonize, outrageous, a disfigurement of the language.
1:18.0	This despite the fact that at the time, the verb colonize had been around for 150 years. We like to think the earth is
1:27.4	solid beneath our feet, but the tectonic plates are always shifting.
1:32.6	Language is the same.
1:34.2	It's forever in motion.
1:35.9	New words erupt like magma.
1:38.6	And the definitions of old words drift.
1:41.4	Explode used to mean to drive an actor off the stage.
1:45.0	Disappointed meant to remove from office and to fizzle was to silently fart.
1:51.0	These words have evolved in the direction of becoming more vague, more general,
1:56.8	but you might also say more expansive. So here's the question we should ask ourselves.
	...

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