The Val & Kit Mystery Series

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Why Our English Language Must, Like, Change—Roz’s Take


Many years ago, when I was a schoolgirl in England, my beloved English teacher pulled me to the front of the class to chastise me for using the word okay. I was mortified as she explained to me and the rest of the class that okay was American slang, definitely not proper English, and certainly not okay.

I, on the other hand, thought it was the epitome of cool. I had picked it up from one of the many American TV shows and movies we were, and still are, bombarded with. Now, many, many years later, after living in the U.S. for more than half my life, I am amused at how specific words, once used only in England, have almost vanished and been replaced by Americanisms. I return to my native England at least once a year, and I never fail to notice how English English is evolving. It’s, like, so totally cool.

The list is endless. A flat is now an apartment. A lift is an elevator. Women carry purses, not handbags. A television advert has been replaced by a commercial. And the word guys is commonly used to refer to a group of people, regardless of gender (I think we can blame the highly popular TV show Friends for that one). English people, like their American cousins, are, like, constantly using the word like inappropriately, to the extent that it will eventually be, like, proper.

And it’s not just across the Atlantic Ocean that language is evolving. I moved to Texas from Minnesota thirty years ago. When I first arrived in The Lone Star State, I was charmed by the Texas accent and unique language. Texans were often fixin’ to do something, and y’all was the preferred second-person pronoun. Sadly, with so many Yankees moving to our state, the Texas idioms and unique way of speaking are growing rare. The exception is y’all (that’s staying right here, thank you, ma’am).

When Patty and I first started writing together, she would sometimes graciously point out a specific word I had used, questioning if it was British. And she was always right. But I think she would agree that those British words creep into my narrative less and less. It’s not so much that I have become Americanized; it’s that the English language (as spoken in England) has done so.

Of course, we all know that English has to evolve (as Patty, my wordsmith, pointed out). If not, we would all be speaking like characters in a Jane Austen novel, or even worse, a Shakespearean play. And that’s just, like, totally okay! NOT!

11 comments:

  1. OH MY GOD!! Like I totally liked this post, man. You guys are awesome!

    (By the way, I think we can blame Friends for the Oh my God one too. There were a few episodes that drove me nuts, they said it so often!)

    Have a great week!
    Sharon :)

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  2. I have lived in England for all of my over 50 years, and to my knowledge we still say handbag, flat and lift. We've always said commercial. People who refer to groups of people as 'you guys' are thought of as being slightly crass (usually ghastly sales people - it's very unprofessional) and the, like, the 'like' thing is only used by teenagers, or people on the Jeremy Kyle show....

    The majority of us still speak English English. Not that there's anything wrong with American English, not at all, - but it only sounds right when spoken by Americans. When English people over the age of about 17 try it, it's cringe making... happily, not many do.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your take on the English language--proof that it remains as diverse as the people speaking it. It's a wonder anyone can learn it as a second language, eh?

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  3. Highly enjoyed this post. Language, in most of its forms, is very entertaining.

    When I visited England a few years back, I found that English English was more employed outside of London (I visited western England), and my good English friend certainly sounded much more British when she was once more amongst her family. Of course, we both still say, like, we'll totally do that tomorrow.

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    1. Thanks for your entertaining and enlightening contribution to the discussion. We highly enjoyed your comment! We've reached an age where we WISH language and all its rules would FREEZE--we've already learned it all :) But that's never been how the world goes 'round and never will be, so we'll keep exercising our brains as we try to keep up.

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  4. When I first moved to Washington state I couldn't get used to how people responded to "Thank you." Here they do this nonverbal, mmm-hmm. Not you're welcome, or sure, or no problem. I guess after a decade I'm finally acclimated because I just wrote a scene where the girl responds like a typical Washingtonian. Media, geography, & new authors, language will never be a stagnant thing.

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    1. Truer words were never writ than your last seven--often, much to Patty's dismay. She'll discuss that in a future post, in her take on our language. And yes, colloquialisms can be a confusing barrier to communication. Thanks for sharing such a good example. But hey, not a bad trade-off for living in such a beautiful state as Washington :)

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  5. Thanks so much, y'all, for taking the time to comment! We LOVE talking "language"!

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  6. So...what do you think about the people who are always beginning their sentences with the word "so"? Or do you remember when you were never supposed to start a sentence with the words "And" or "But"? I do it all the time now. It may be in direct violation of every english manual on the planet, but I agree - language evolves. Adapt or be eaten! (Or something along those lines.)

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  7. Great to hear from you, Greg! Funny you should mention "so" -- just finished taking a bunch out of our WIP's dialogue! Even though MANY people speak that way (including, apparently, US!), it can bog a book down. As for starting sentences with "And" or "But" and other such "rules": our "rule" is that writers should KNOW the rules so they can break them when they need to and not just because they don't know better! Especially in magazines, columns, and novels, it seems important to "talk" to readers, which entails a lot of informality, wethinks. But yes, we agree with your bottom line, and we prefer to adapt :)

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