{"id":59,"date":"2018-02-11T13:52:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T21:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59"},"modified":"2021-04-25T20:19:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T20:19:57","slug":"literally-cray-a-linguists-attitude-toward-speech-errors-and-slang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59","title":{"rendered":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

In a recent Lyft Line, it surfaced that the other rider in the car with me also had a linguistics background. Our driver was a non-native English speaker (from his accent maybe Russian) \u2013 although his English was pretty fluent. As he was deciding whether to make a left turn at a chaotic, construction-clogged intersection, he stuttered a bit and said, \u201cwell, it\u2019s not not <\/em>allowed\u201d. Then, making the turn, he followed that with, \u201coh boy, and making these language mistakes with two linguists in the car\u2026\u201d The driver was assuming, as many do, that we would be more critical than the average person of said language \u201cmistakes\u201d.<\/p>\n

First off, the driver\u2019s statement wasn\u2019t even a real speech error. Although slightly harder for us to process cognitively because of the two negatives, it\u2019s not not allowed <\/em>is in fact a perfectly grammatical sentence of English. A similar utterance might be said that avoids the duplicated not<\/em> \u2013 it\u2019s not illegal<\/em>, for example. But what\u2019s going on here is this:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s [not [not [allowed1<\/sub>]2<\/sub>]3<\/sub>].<\/p>\n

Between each opening and closing bracket is a structural unit, called a constituent<\/strong> in syntax. (The sentence as a whole is also a constituent, but I didn\u2019t want to blind you with brackets.) So, allowed <\/em>by itself is a constituent (subscript 1). The inner not <\/em>negates allowed<\/em>; together they\u2019re a constituent (subscript 2). The outer not <\/em>negates not allowed<\/em>, and becomes a larger unit of its own (subscript 3). In the end, this structure has a very nuanced meaning \u2013 more nuanced than just it\u2019s not illegal<\/em> \u2013 which is something like, \u201cthis action is not necessarily encouraged and may even be frowned upon, but it\u2019s not against the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Second, even if the driver had made a speech error, linguists as a group are much less <\/em>inclined to judge than the average person. There is a prevalent misconception that linguists and English teachers are siblings in a \u201cgrammar nazi\u201d family.\u00a0 This is untrue. Indeed, just as biologists thrill in discovering some new mutation in a species, linguists are generally delighted by speech errors and seek them out as important material to study; they give vital insights into how human language and the human brain function.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise, then, that a couple of my colleagues and I have had fun collecting both native and non-native English speech errors we\u2019ve encountered over the past year. Here is a sample:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Actual speech<\/strong><\/td>\nIntended speech<\/strong><\/td>\nSpeaker\u2019s native lang<\/strong><\/td>\nType of error<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cthinking loudly\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cthinking out loud\u201d<\/td>\nFarsi<\/td>\nIdiom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201ccross the finger\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cfingers crossed\u201d<\/td>\nFarsi<\/td>\nIdiom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cstepping over their toes\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cstepping on their toes\u201d<\/td>\nFarsi<\/td>\nIdiom<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cthank you for fast react\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cthank you for the fast reply\/response<\/td>\nKorean<\/td>\nDropping definite article; Wrong word<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cconfusication\u201d<\/td>\nprobably \u201cconfusion\u201d or \u201cmiscommunication\u201d<\/td>\nHindi<\/td>\nBlend<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cdecrepit rules\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cdeprecated rules\u201d<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\nWrong word<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201claids norm\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cLord\u2019s name\u201d<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\nMetathesis[1]<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cmy tights are hip\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cmy hips are tight\u201d<\/td>\nEnglish<\/td>\nMetathesis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of major relevance to the speech attitudes topic are two concepts, flip sides of a coin: descriptivism <\/em>and prescriptivism<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Descriptivism <\/strong>is a process which attempts to objectively describe <\/em>actual language usage, as well as speakers\u2019 basic and intuitive linguistic knowledge. From several centuries of descriptive investigation, researchers have concluded that all languages and dialects are complex and rule-governed. No clearly superior or inferior languages\/dialects exist.[2]<\/a> The judgements we, as members of a society have about a particular language or dialect are inextricably influenced by sociological factors.<\/p>\n

Prescriptivism<\/strong>, on the other hand, is a process which attempts to prescribe<\/em>, subjectively, what should <\/em>happen in language. You are familiar with this from years of English\/grammar classes and from style guides mandating rules for spoken and written language. What you may not know is that many of these rules are arbitrary, based on personal taste and accidents of history.<\/p>\n

A few of the most common \u201crules\u201d that persist today are actually confused English misappropriations of Latin by pompous old men playing king-of-the-intellectual-castle games. One example is preposition-stranding<\/strong>, which dictates: Do not separate a preposition from its noun, leaving it at the end of a clause. Say \u201cTo whom did you talk?\u201d instead of \u201cWho did you talk to?\u201d Seventeenth century poet John Dryden<\/a>\u00a0made this up (misapplying Latin, where preposition-like pieces attach to nouns and truly cannot separate from them) in order to disparage the work of Ben Johnson. Other examples include the predicative nominative, split infinitives, and the count\u2013mass noun distinction (less <\/em>vs. fewer<\/em>).<\/p>\n

English teachers are not alone in their prescriptivist tendencies. People generally are rather opinionated about language. Certain \u201cerrors\u201d even become so despised as to prompt real-world action. Take the word literally<\/em>. A New York City bar<\/a>\u00a0now has signage banning its use and warns that offending customers will be kicked out. Countless online articles and forums bemoan the word\u2019s ubiquity with the rationale that speakers are using it to mean its opposite (figuratively<\/em>). A bit of history and context, however, lend perspective.<\/p>\n

Literally<\/em> has been used as figuratively<\/em>, or more precisely, as an intensifier<\/strong>, for over 300 years. Such literary greats as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and James Joyce (among others)<\/a> have used it in this emphatic way. And the adverb\u2019s paradoxical plight is similarly shared by a whole cast of terms, known as auto-antonyms<\/a><\/strong>. Interestingly, none of the other English auto-antonyms get the attention that is lavished on \u201cliterally\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve outlined descriptivism and prescriptivism, I would like to add two final clarifications. First, being a descriptivist does not mean throwing out the idea of spelling conventions, or tossing aside standard education. Linguists of course<\/em> recognize the utility of teaching standardized writing and speaking for particular contexts (school, job, etc.) for purposes of clarity, versatility, and social mobility. Language is rich and its uses are necessarily multifaceted.<\/p>\n

All of the above also does NOT mean specific words or expressions or ways of speaking never make linguists cringe. We\u2019re human after all. Despite knowing the full historical and linguistic context of \u201cliterally\u201d, I still grind my teeth hearing it many times in succession. I have other personal struggles with clippings<\/strong> (cray<\/em>, totes<\/em>, obvi<\/em>) as well as with internet chat-cum-speech acronyms<\/strong> and initialisms<\/strong> (lol<\/em>, idk<\/em>, wtf<\/em>, omg<\/em>). Simultaneously, I view them as fascinating lexical change phenomena. And I never take my individual tastes to mean that the language is somehow \u201cdegrading\u201d. Languages don\u2019t degrade; they change, and have been changing ever since our ancestors began to talk. If not for such constant metamorphosis, we wouldn\u2019t have the enormous linguistic diversity \u2013 the thousands of languages and dialects \u2013 that exists today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Where sounds, syllables, or words are switched.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> It has been an oft-repeated creed in linguistics over the last few decades to make the stronger claim that \u201call languages are equal\u201d. However, the statement has not been scientifically proven, as researchers have not yet determined the precise criteria by which languages are to be measured, much less figured out how to measure and compare such enormous complexity. This thought-provoking topic will be the subject of at least one future post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent Lyft Line, it surfaced that the other rider in the car with me also had a linguistics background. Our driver was a non-native English speaker (from his accent maybe Russian) \u2013 although his English was pretty fluent. As he was deciding whether to make a left turn at a chaotic, construction-clogged intersection,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8,14,18,22,24],"tags":[37,74,107,114,127,152,157],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-descriptivism","category-historical-linguistics","category-lists","category-polemical-topics","category-prescriptivism","tag-acronyms","tag-english","tag-language-pet-peeves","tag-literally","tag-negation","tag-slang","tag-speech-errors"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nLiterally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent Lyft Line, it surfaced that the other rider in the car with me also had a linguistics background. Our driver was a non-native English speaker (from his accent maybe Russian) \u2013 although his English was pretty fluent. As he was deciding whether to make a left turn at a chaotic, construction-clogged intersection,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Linguamonium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/worditout-word-cloud-2785672-e1518333477771.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hannah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@linguamonium\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@linguamonium\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hannah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"hannah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238\"},\"headline\":\"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\"},\"wordCount\":1196,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238\"},\"keywords\":[\"acronyms\",\"English\",\"language pet peeves\",\"literally\",\"negation\",\"slang\",\"speech errors\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Descriptivism\",\"Historical Linguistics\",\"Lists\",\"Polemical Topics\",\"Prescriptivism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\",\"name\":\"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/\",\"name\":\"Linguamonium\",\"description\":\"A tumult of linguistic musings\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238\"},\"alternateName\":\"Linguamo\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238\",\"name\":\"hannah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/cropped-dummeh-babboh-2-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/cropped-dummeh-babboh-2-1.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"hannah\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\",\"www.linkedin.com\/in\/hannah-vanbrunt\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/linguamonium\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium","og_description":"In a recent Lyft Line, it surfaced that the other rider in the car with me also had a linguistics background. Our driver was a non-native English speaker (from his accent maybe Russian) \u2013 although his English was pretty fluent. As he was deciding whether to make a left turn at a chaotic, construction-clogged intersection,...","og_url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59","og_site_name":"Linguamonium","article_published_time":"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":880,"height":532,"url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/worditout-word-cloud-2785672-e1518333477771.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"hannah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@linguamonium","twitter_site":"@linguamonium","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"hannah","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59"},"author":{"name":"hannah","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238"},"headline":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang","datePublished":"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59"},"wordCount":1196,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238"},"keywords":["acronyms","English","language pet peeves","literally","negation","slang","speech errors"],"articleSection":["Descriptivism","Historical Linguistics","Lists","Polemical Topics","Prescriptivism"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59","url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59","name":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang - Linguamonium","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-11T21:52:40+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-25T20:19:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?p=59#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Literally cray: A linguist\u2019s attitude toward speech errors and slang"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/","name":"Linguamonium","description":"A tumult of linguistic musings","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238"},"alternateName":"Linguamo","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6a9c49248cb623f9a6061aaacff0238","name":"hannah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/cropped-dummeh-babboh-2-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/cropped-dummeh-babboh-2-1.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"hannah"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/linguamonium.com","www.linkedin.com\/in\/hannah-vanbrunt","https:\/\/twitter.com\/linguamonium"],"url":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/linguamonium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/worditout-word-cloud-2785672-e1518333477771.png?fit=880%2C532&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":542,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguamonium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}