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Edited by Betty Birner
Download this document as a pdf.
Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV. As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language. The change is so slow that from year to year we hardly notice it, except to grumble every so often about the 'poor English' being used by the younger generation! However, reading Shakespeare's writings from the sixteenth century can be difficult. If you go back a couple more centuries, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are very tough sledding, and if you went back another 500 years to try to read Beowulf, it would be like reading a different language.

Why does language change?

Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speakers change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences require new words to refer to them clearly and efficiently. Consider texting: originally it was called text messaging, because it allowed one person to send another text rather than voice messages by phone. As that became more common, people began using the shorter form text to refer to both the message and the process, as in I just got a text or I'll text Sylvia right now.

Another reason for change is that no two people have had exactly the same language experience. We all know a slightly different set of words and constructions, depending on our age, job, education level, region of the country, and so on. We pick up new words and phrases from all the different people we talk with, and these combine to make something new and unlike any other person's particular way of speaking. At the same time, various groups in society use language as a way of marking their group identity; showing who is and isn't a member of the group.

Many of the changes that occur in language begin with teens and young adults. As young people interact with others their own age, their language grows to include words, phrases, and constructions that are different from those of the older generation. Some have a short life span (heard groovy lately?), but others stick around to affect the language as a whole.

We get new words from many different places. We borrow them from other languages ( sushi, chutzpah), we create them by shortening longer words ( gym from gymnasium) or by combining words ( brunch from breakfast and lunch), and we make them out of proper names ( Levis, fahrenheit). Sometimes we even create a new word by being wrong about the analysis of an existing word, like how the word pea was created. Four hundred years ago, the word pease was used to refer to either a single pea or a bunch of them, but over time, people assumed Excerpt from Beowulf

that pease was a plural form, for which pea must be the singular. Therefore, a new word, pea, was born. The same thing would happen if people began to think of the word cheese as referring to more than one chee.

Word order also changes, though this process is much slower. Old English word order was much more 'free' than that of Modern English, and even comparing the Early Modern English of the King James Bible with today's English shows differences in word order. For example, the King James Bible translates Matthew 6:28 as "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not." In a more recent translation, the last phrase is translated as "they do not toil," because English no longer places not after the verb in a sentence.

The sounds of a language change over time, too. About 500 years ago, English began to undergo a major change in the way its vowels were pronounced. Before that, geese would have rhymed with today's pronunciation of face, while mice would have rhymed with today's peace. However, a 'Great Vowel Shift' began to occur, during which the ay sound (as in pay) changed to ee (as in fee) in all the words containing it, while the ee sound changed to i (as in pie). Overall, seven different vowel sounds were affected. If you've ever wondered why most other European languages spell the sound ay with an 'e' (as in fiancé), and the sound ee with an 'i' (as in aria), it's because those languages didn't undergo the Great Vowel Shift, only English did.

Wasn't English more elegant in Shakespeare's day?

People tend to think that older forms of languages are more elegant, logical, or 'correct' than modern forms, but it's just not true. The fact that language is always changing doesn't mean it's getting worse; it's just becoming different.

In Old English, a small winged creature with feathers was known as a brid. Over time, the pronunciation changed to bird. Although it's not hard to imagine children in the 1400's being scolded for 'slurring' brid into bird, it's clear that bird won out. Nobody today would suggest that bird is an incorrect word or a sloppy pronunciation.

The speech patterns of young people tend to grate on the ears of adults because they're unfamiliar. Also, new words and phrases are used in spoken or informal language sooner than in formal, written language, so it's true that the phrases you may hear a teenager use may not yet be appropriate for business letters. But that doesn't mean they're worse - just newer. For years, English teachers and newspaper editors argued that the word hopefully shouldn't be used to mean 'I hope', as in hopefully it won't rain today, even though people frequently used it that way in informal speech. (Of course nobody complained about other 'sentence adverbs' such as frankly and actually.) The battle against hopefully is now all but lost, and it appears at the beginnings of sentences, even in formal documents.

If you listen carefully, you can hear language change in progress. For example, anymore is a word that used to only occur in negative sentences, such as I don't eat pizza anymore. Now, in many areas of the country, it's being used in positive sentences, like I've been eating a lot of pizza anymore. In this use, anymore means something like 'lately'. If that sounds odd to you now, keep listening; you may be hearing it in your neighborhood before long.

Why can't people just use correct English?

By 'correct English', people usually mean Standard English. Most languages have a standard form; it's the form of the language used in government, education, and other formal contexts. But Standard English is actually just one dialect of English.

What's important to realize is that there's no such thing as a 'sloppy' or 'lazy' dialect. Every dialect of every language has rules - not 'schoolroom' rules, like 'don't split your infinitives', but rather the sorts of rules that tell us that the cat slept is a sentence of English, but slept cat the isn't. These rules tell us what language islike rather than what it should be like.

Different dialects have different rules. For example:

(l) I didn't eat any dinner.

(2) I didn't eat no dinner.

Sentence (l) follows the rules of Standard English; sentence (2) follows a set of rules present in several other dialects. Neither is sloppier than the other, they just differ in the rule for making a negative sentence. In (l), dinner is marked as negative with any; in (2), it's marked as negative with no. The rules are different, but neither is more logical or elegant than the other. In fact, Old English regularly used 'double negatives', parallel to what we see in (2). Many modern languages, including Italian and Spanish, either allow or require more than one negative word in a sentence. Sentences like (2) only sound 'bad' if you didn't happen to grow up speaking a dialect that uses them.

You may have been taught to avoid 'split infinitives', as in (3):

(3) I was asked to thoroughly water the garden.

This is said to be 'ungrammatical' because thoroughly splits the infinitive to water. Why are split infinitives so bad? Here's why: seventeenth-century grammarians believed Latin was the ideal language, so they thought English should be as much like Latin as possible. In Latin, an infinitive like to water is a single word; it's impossible to split it up. So today, 300 years later, we're still being taught that sentences like (3) are wrong, all because someone in the 1600's thought English should be more like Latin.

Here's one last example. Over the past few decades, three new ways of reporting speech have appeared:

(4) So Karen goes, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(5) So Karen is like, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(6) So Karen is all, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

In (4), goes means pretty much the same thing as said; it's used for reporting Karen's actual words. In (5), is like means the speaker is telling us more or less what Karen said. If Karen had used different words for the same basic idea, (5) would be appropriate, but (4) would not. Finally, is all in (6) is a fairly new construction. In most of the areas where it's used, it means something similar to is like, but with extra emotion. If Karen had simply been reporting the time, it would be okay to say She's like, "It's five o'clock," but odd to say She's all, "It's five o'clock" unless there was something exciting about it being five o'clock.

Is it a lazy way of talking? Not at all; the younger generation has made a useful three-way distinction where we previously only had the word said. Language will never stop changing; it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it. So the next time you hear a new phrase that grates on your ears, remember that like everything else in nature, the English language is a work in progress.
For further information
Aitcheson, lean. 1991. Language Change: Progress or Decay? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bryson, Bill. 1991. Mother Tongue: The English Language. New York: Penguin Books.

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Edited by Betty Birner Download this document as a pdf. Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV.

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Learn about how English changes over time

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Una marmota a la gallega by xurxocarrero

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The Evolution of Language: Stuff You Should Know - Animated

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Where did spoken language come from? Join Josh and Chuck as they go back in time to follow the hunting exploits of Tuk-Tuk, a hungry homosapien who evolves a primitive language. Tune in for new episodes of the Stuff You Should Know animated series every Monday!

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The Evolution of Language: Stuff You Should Know - Animated

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Where did spoken language come from? Join Josh and Chuck as they go back in time to follow the hunting exploits of Tuk-Tuk, a hungry homosapien who evolves a primitive language. Tune in for new episodes of the Stuff You Should Know animated series every Monday!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Evolution of Language: Stuff You Should Know - Animated

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Where did spoken language come from? Join Josh and Chuck as they go back in time to follow the hunting exploits of Tuk-Tuk, a hungry homosapien who evolves a primitive language. Tune in for new episodes of the Stuff You Should Know animated series every Monday!

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The Main Generational Differences in Language

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In this video, I discuss the main generational differences in language (mainly younger generations). It's important, however, that you do your own research to find more examples. You can find the aforementioned article here: http://learnmate.com.au/generational-differences-language/ I will be running the most comprehensive revision workshop for VCE English Language 3/4 these coming Spring holidays.

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The Main Generational Differences in Language

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In this video, I discuss the main generational differences in language (mainly younger generations). It's important, however, that you do your own research to find more examples. You can find the aforementioned article here: http://learnmate.com.au/generational-differences-language/ I will be running the most comprehensive revision workshop for VCE English Language 3/4 these coming Spring holidays.

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During the past week, I approached a younger colleague at work and asked him, "What's up, doc?" He had no idea what I was talking about. This got me to thinking about expressions that I may know that people from younger generations may never have heard.

For example, I never have heard anyone from the younger generations utter phrases such as: "Beggars can't be choosers," "laughing stock" and "the salt of the earth."

I remember distinctly where I had heard those expressions: from my parents. These phrases, and those like them, are understood and used by many people of my generation. My guess is that expressions like these will soon be retired. They will not be used anymore and their meanings will fade into obscurity.

Today's youth use expressions that may have little meaning to me or may be offensive. Forgive me if the following may offend you.

For youngsters, "that sucks" means that something is disagreeable or unfortunate. To me, this expression is extremely distasteful and I avoid its use. I doubt if any of the younger generations have the same feelings about the expression that I or others my age may have.

Younger employees actually may question why someone may believe that certain words are not appropriate for professional business uses.

There are thousands of expressions like this that illustrate the same point. "Crib" no longer means a baby's bed, "sup" isn't misspelled soup, and "thug" is not a hoodlum.

It is no wonder that language gaps are present between generations. Each generation develops its own vernacular so it has an identity and so people of its own generation generate a unique vocabulary. Even those of my older sister's generation had language that the older generation didn't appreciate. Her generation used words like "cool," "chick," "flake," "pad" and "rags." Those words seem harmless and tame today.

This is where language gets tricky: When does slang become OK? When I was growing up, the use of "ain't" in a term paper could get you a "C" or worse. Now, most people don't use it much so I am guessing that English teachers aren't as sensitive about the word as they used to be.

However, the problem of uses and misuses of language becomes magnified when language is not adapted to expected uses. Today's email writers need to be careful how they express themselves. When writing to their bosses, younger email writers may use language they would use with their friends. Given that bosses typically are older than younger employees, these superiors may not consider some language appropriate in a professional environment.

Some blame inappropriate writing on social media and texting. After all, everyone knows what "LOL" means, right? In addition, youngsters may share information via social media that bosses may believe is confidential. To counter this, many employers have developed social media policies that didn't exist two or three years ago.

Language separates generations. It does today and it will tomorrow.

Bob Stowers is a clinical professor of management and leadership communications at the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary. Visit http://mason.wm.edu/faculty /directory/stowers_r.php.

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During the past week, I approached a younger colleague at work and asked him, "What's up, doc?" He had no idea what I was talking about. This got me to thinking about expressions that I may know that people from younger generations may never have heard.

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Learn about how English changes over time

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Edited by Betty Birner
Download this document as a pdf.
Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV. As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language. The change is so slow that from year to year we hardly notice it, except to grumble every so often about the 'poor English' being used by the younger generation! However, reading Shakespeare's writings from the sixteenth century can be difficult. If you go back a couple more centuries, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are very tough sledding, and if you went back another 500 years to try to read Beowulf, it would be like reading a different language.

Why does language change?

Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speakers change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences require new words to refer to them clearly and efficiently. Consider texting: originally it was called text messaging, because it allowed one person to send another text rather than voice messages by phone. As that became more common, people began using the shorter form text to refer to both the message and the process, as in I just got a text or I'll text Sylvia right now.

Another reason for change is that no two people have had exactly the same language experience. We all know a slightly different set of words and constructions, depending on our age, job, education level, region of the country, and so on. We pick up new words and phrases from all the different people we talk with, and these combine to make something new and unlike any other person's particular way of speaking. At the same time, various groups in society use language as a way of marking their group identity; showing who is and isn't a member of the group.

Many of the changes that occur in language begin with teens and young adults. As young people interact with others their own age, their language grows to include words, phrases, and constructions that are different from those of the older generation. Some have a short life span (heard groovy lately?), but others stick around to affect the language as a whole.

We get new words from many different places. We borrow them from other languages ( sushi, chutzpah), we create them by shortening longer words ( gym from gymnasium) or by combining words ( brunch from breakfast and lunch), and we make them out of proper names ( Levis, fahrenheit). Sometimes we even create a new word by being wrong about the analysis of an existing word, like how the word pea was created. Four hundred years ago, the word pease was used to refer to either a single pea or a bunch of them, but over time, people assumed Excerpt from Beowulf

that pease was a plural form, for which pea must be the singular. Therefore, a new word, pea, was born. The same thing would happen if people began to think of the word cheese as referring to more than one chee.

Word order also changes, though this process is much slower. Old English word order was much more 'free' than that of Modern English, and even comparing the Early Modern English of the King James Bible with today's English shows differences in word order. For example, the King James Bible translates Matthew 6:28 as "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not." In a more recent translation, the last phrase is translated as "they do not toil," because English no longer places not after the verb in a sentence.

The sounds of a language change over time, too. About 500 years ago, English began to undergo a major change in the way its vowels were pronounced. Before that, geese would have rhymed with today's pronunciation of face, while mice would have rhymed with today's peace. However, a 'Great Vowel Shift' began to occur, during which the ay sound (as in pay) changed to ee (as in fee) in all the words containing it, while the ee sound changed to i (as in pie). Overall, seven different vowel sounds were affected. If you've ever wondered why most other European languages spell the sound ay with an 'e' (as in fiancé), and the sound ee with an 'i' (as in aria), it's because those languages didn't undergo the Great Vowel Shift, only English did.

Wasn't English more elegant in Shakespeare's day?

People tend to think that older forms of languages are more elegant, logical, or 'correct' than modern forms, but it's just not true. The fact that language is always changing doesn't mean it's getting worse; it's just becoming different.

In Old English, a small winged creature with feathers was known as a brid. Over time, the pronunciation changed to bird. Although it's not hard to imagine children in the 1400's being scolded for 'slurring' brid into bird, it's clear that bird won out. Nobody today would suggest that bird is an incorrect word or a sloppy pronunciation.

The speech patterns of young people tend to grate on the ears of adults because they're unfamiliar. Also, new words and phrases are used in spoken or informal language sooner than in formal, written language, so it's true that the phrases you may hear a teenager use may not yet be appropriate for business letters. But that doesn't mean they're worse - just newer. For years, English teachers and newspaper editors argued that the word hopefully shouldn't be used to mean 'I hope', as in hopefully it won't rain today, even though people frequently used it that way in informal speech. (Of course nobody complained about other 'sentence adverbs' such as frankly and actually.) The battle against hopefully is now all but lost, and it appears at the beginnings of sentences, even in formal documents.

If you listen carefully, you can hear language change in progress. For example, anymore is a word that used to only occur in negative sentences, such as I don't eat pizza anymore. Now, in many areas of the country, it's being used in positive sentences, like I've been eating a lot of pizza anymore. In this use, anymore means something like 'lately'. If that sounds odd to you now, keep listening; you may be hearing it in your neighborhood before long.

Why can't people just use correct English?

By 'correct English', people usually mean Standard English. Most languages have a standard form; it's the form of the language used in government, education, and other formal contexts. But Standard English is actually just one dialect of English.

What's important to realize is that there's no such thing as a 'sloppy' or 'lazy' dialect. Every dialect of every language has rules - not 'schoolroom' rules, like 'don't split your infinitives', but rather the sorts of rules that tell us that the cat slept is a sentence of English, but slept cat the isn't. These rules tell us what language islike rather than what it should be like.

Different dialects have different rules. For example:

(l) I didn't eat any dinner.

(2) I didn't eat no dinner.

Sentence (l) follows the rules of Standard English; sentence (2) follows a set of rules present in several other dialects. Neither is sloppier than the other, they just differ in the rule for making a negative sentence. In (l), dinner is marked as negative with any; in (2), it's marked as negative with no. The rules are different, but neither is more logical or elegant than the other. In fact, Old English regularly used 'double negatives', parallel to what we see in (2). Many modern languages, including Italian and Spanish, either allow or require more than one negative word in a sentence. Sentences like (2) only sound 'bad' if you didn't happen to grow up speaking a dialect that uses them.

You may have been taught to avoid 'split infinitives', as in (3):

(3) I was asked to thoroughly water the garden.

This is said to be 'ungrammatical' because thoroughly splits the infinitive to water. Why are split infinitives so bad? Here's why: seventeenth-century grammarians believed Latin was the ideal language, so they thought English should be as much like Latin as possible. In Latin, an infinitive like to water is a single word; it's impossible to split it up. So today, 300 years later, we're still being taught that sentences like (3) are wrong, all because someone in the 1600's thought English should be more like Latin.

Here's one last example. Over the past few decades, three new ways of reporting speech have appeared:

(4) So Karen goes, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(5) So Karen is like, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(6) So Karen is all, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

In (4), goes means pretty much the same thing as said; it's used for reporting Karen's actual words. In (5), is like means the speaker is telling us more or less what Karen said. If Karen had used different words for the same basic idea, (5) would be appropriate, but (4) would not. Finally, is all in (6) is a fairly new construction. In most of the areas where it's used, it means something similar to is like, but with extra emotion. If Karen had simply been reporting the time, it would be okay to say She's like, "It's five o'clock," but odd to say She's all, "It's five o'clock" unless there was something exciting about it being five o'clock.

Is it a lazy way of talking? Not at all; the younger generation has made a useful three-way distinction where we previously only had the word said. Language will never stop changing; it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it. So the next time you hear a new phrase that grates on your ears, remember that like everything else in nature, the English language is a work in progress.
For further information
Aitcheson, lean. 1991. Language Change: Progress or Decay? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bryson, Bill. 1991. Mother Tongue: The English Language. New York: Penguin Books.

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Edited by Betty Birner Download this document as a pdf. Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV.

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in the 70s - Slang Terms of the Seventies

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Slang and Terms of the 70s, words and phrases that helped define the decade

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Resources for English Language Learners and Teachers | Pearson English

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All languages change over time, and there can be many different reasons for this. The English language is no different - but why has it changed over the decades?

Some of the main influences on the evolution of languages include:

The movement of people across countries and continents, for example migration and, in previous centuries, colonisation. For example, English speakers today would probably be comfortable using the Spanish word "loco" to describe someone who is "crazy".

Speakers of one language coming into contact with those who speak a different one. No two individuals speak identically: people from different geographical places clearly speak differently and even within the same community there are variations according to a speaker's age, gender, ethnicity and social and educational background. For example, the word "courting" has become "dating".

New vocabulary required for inventions such as transport, domestic appliances and industrial equipment, or for sporting, entertainment, cultural and leisure reasons. For example, the original late 19th-century term "wireless" has become today's "radio".

Due to these influences, a language always embraces new words, expressions and pronunciations as people come across new words and phrases in their day-to-day lives and integrate them into their own speech.

What changes has the English language seen?

As the English language has changed, it's been easy to pick out words that pass into common usage. Here at Pearson English, we have explored some of these recent changes to the English language. The rise in popularity of internet slang has seen phrases such as "LOL" (Laugh Out Loud), "YOLO" (You Only Live Once) and "bae" (an abbreviated form of babe or baby) become firmly embedded in the English language over the past ten years.

Every decade sees new slang terms like these appearing in the English language. And while some words or abbreviations do come from internet or text conversations, others may appear as entirely new words, a new meaning for an existing word, or a word that becomes more generalised than its former meaning, brought about by any one of the reasons above. Decades ago, "blimey" was a new expression of surprise, but more recently "woah" is the word in everyday usage.

Sentence structure is of course another change to English language. Decades ago, it would have been normal to ask "Have you a moment?" Now, you might say "D'you have a sec?" Similarly, "How do you do?" has become "How's it going?" Not only have the sentences been abbreviated, but new words have been introduced to everyday questions.

Connected to this is the replacement of certain words with other, more-modern versions. It's pretty noticeable that words like "shall" and "ought" are on the way out, but "will", "should" and "can" are doing just fine.

Other changes can be more subtle. A number of verbs can take a complement with another verb in either the "-ing" form or the "to" form, for example "they liked painting/to paint", "we tried leaving/to leave", "he didn't bother calling/to call". Both of these constructions are still used and have been for a long time but there has been a steady shift over time from the "to" to the "-ing" complement.

What do the changes mean?

There are many other changes to the English language - what have you noticed? Have these changes affected your teaching or learning methods? Tell us in the comment section below...

Most contemporary linguistic commentators accept that change in language, like change in society, is inevitable. Some think that is regrettable, but others recognise it as a reinvigoration of a language, bringing alternatives that allow subtle differences of expression.

In our Fact or Fiction report, linguist, writer and lecturer David Crystal considers whether "text speak" is undermining the English language. His response to the naysayers who claim it is damaging the English language is to point out that abbreviations have been around for a long time. While some, such as the ones we discussed above, are new, others, such as the use of "u" for "you" and the number 8 as a syllable in "later", have been around for a century or more. Further to this, research shows that there is in fact a correlation between the ability to use abbreviations and the ability to spell. After all, in order to abbreviate, you have to know which letters to abbreviate.

As with everything, change isn't necessarily a bad thing and, as the needs of English language users continue to change, so will the language!

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How the English language has changed over the decades

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All languages change over time, and there can be many different reasons for this. The English language is no different - but why has it changed over the decades? Some of the main influences on the evolution of languages include: The movement of people across countries and continents, for example migration and, in previous centuries, colonisation.

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Language change is variation over time in a language's phonological, morphological, semantic, syntactic, and other features. It is studied by historical linguistics and evolutionary linguistics. Some commentators use the label corruption to suggest that language change constitutes a degradation in the quality of a language, especially when the change originates from human error or prescriptively discouraged usage.

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Edited by Betty Birner
Download this document as a pdf.
Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV. As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language. The change is so slow that from year to year we hardly notice it, except to grumble every so often about the 'poor English' being used by the younger generation! However, reading Shakespeare's writings from the sixteenth century can be difficult. If you go back a couple more centuries, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are very tough sledding, and if you went back another 500 years to try to read Beowulf, it would be like reading a different language.

Why does language change?

Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speakers change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences require new words to refer to them clearly and efficiently. Consider texting: originally it was called text messaging, because it allowed one person to send another text rather than voice messages by phone. As that became more common, people began using the shorter form text to refer to both the message and the process, as in I just got a text or I'll text Sylvia right now.

Another reason for change is that no two people have had exactly the same language experience. We all know a slightly different set of words and constructions, depending on our age, job, education level, region of the country, and so on. We pick up new words and phrases from all the different people we talk with, and these combine to make something new and unlike any other person's particular way of speaking. At the same time, various groups in society use language as a way of marking their group identity; showing who is and isn't a member of the group.

Many of the changes that occur in language begin with teens and young adults. As young people interact with others their own age, their language grows to include words, phrases, and constructions that are different from those of the older generation. Some have a short life span (heard groovy lately?), but others stick around to affect the language as a whole.

We get new words from many different places. We borrow them from other languages ( sushi, chutzpah), we create them by shortening longer words ( gym from gymnasium) or by combining words ( brunch from breakfast and lunch), and we make them out of proper names ( Levis, fahrenheit). Sometimes we even create a new word by being wrong about the analysis of an existing word, like how the word pea was created. Four hundred years ago, the word pease was used to refer to either a single pea or a bunch of them, but over time, people assumed Excerpt from Beowulf

that pease was a plural form, for which pea must be the singular. Therefore, a new word, pea, was born. The same thing would happen if people began to think of the word cheese as referring to more than one chee.

Word order also changes, though this process is much slower. Old English word order was much more 'free' than that of Modern English, and even comparing the Early Modern English of the King James Bible with today's English shows differences in word order. For example, the King James Bible translates Matthew 6:28 as "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not." In a more recent translation, the last phrase is translated as "they do not toil," because English no longer places not after the verb in a sentence.

The sounds of a language change over time, too. About 500 years ago, English began to undergo a major change in the way its vowels were pronounced. Before that, geese would have rhymed with today's pronunciation of face, while mice would have rhymed with today's peace. However, a 'Great Vowel Shift' began to occur, during which the ay sound (as in pay) changed to ee (as in fee) in all the words containing it, while the ee sound changed to i (as in pie). Overall, seven different vowel sounds were affected. If you've ever wondered why most other European languages spell the sound ay with an 'e' (as in fiancé), and the sound ee with an 'i' (as in aria), it's because those languages didn't undergo the Great Vowel Shift, only English did.

Wasn't English more elegant in Shakespeare's day?

People tend to think that older forms of languages are more elegant, logical, or 'correct' than modern forms, but it's just not true. The fact that language is always changing doesn't mean it's getting worse; it's just becoming different.

In Old English, a small winged creature with feathers was known as a brid. Over time, the pronunciation changed to bird. Although it's not hard to imagine children in the 1400's being scolded for 'slurring' brid into bird, it's clear that bird won out. Nobody today would suggest that bird is an incorrect word or a sloppy pronunciation.

The speech patterns of young people tend to grate on the ears of adults because they're unfamiliar. Also, new words and phrases are used in spoken or informal language sooner than in formal, written language, so it's true that the phrases you may hear a teenager use may not yet be appropriate for business letters. But that doesn't mean they're worse - just newer. For years, English teachers and newspaper editors argued that the word hopefully shouldn't be used to mean 'I hope', as in hopefully it won't rain today, even though people frequently used it that way in informal speech. (Of course nobody complained about other 'sentence adverbs' such as frankly and actually.) The battle against hopefully is now all but lost, and it appears at the beginnings of sentences, even in formal documents.

If you listen carefully, you can hear language change in progress. For example, anymore is a word that used to only occur in negative sentences, such as I don't eat pizza anymore. Now, in many areas of the country, it's being used in positive sentences, like I've been eating a lot of pizza anymore. In this use, anymore means something like 'lately'. If that sounds odd to you now, keep listening; you may be hearing it in your neighborhood before long.

Why can't people just use correct English?

By 'correct English', people usually mean Standard English. Most languages have a standard form; it's the form of the language used in government, education, and other formal contexts. But Standard English is actually just one dialect of English.

What's important to realize is that there's no such thing as a 'sloppy' or 'lazy' dialect. Every dialect of every language has rules - not 'schoolroom' rules, like 'don't split your infinitives', but rather the sorts of rules that tell us that the cat slept is a sentence of English, but slept cat the isn't. These rules tell us what language islike rather than what it should be like.

Different dialects have different rules. For example:

(l) I didn't eat any dinner.

(2) I didn't eat no dinner.

Sentence (l) follows the rules of Standard English; sentence (2) follows a set of rules present in several other dialects. Neither is sloppier than the other, they just differ in the rule for making a negative sentence. In (l), dinner is marked as negative with any; in (2), it's marked as negative with no. The rules are different, but neither is more logical or elegant than the other. In fact, Old English regularly used 'double negatives', parallel to what we see in (2). Many modern languages, including Italian and Spanish, either allow or require more than one negative word in a sentence. Sentences like (2) only sound 'bad' if you didn't happen to grow up speaking a dialect that uses them.

You may have been taught to avoid 'split infinitives', as in (3):

(3) I was asked to thoroughly water the garden.

This is said to be 'ungrammatical' because thoroughly splits the infinitive to water. Why are split infinitives so bad? Here's why: seventeenth-century grammarians believed Latin was the ideal language, so they thought English should be as much like Latin as possible. In Latin, an infinitive like to water is a single word; it's impossible to split it up. So today, 300 years later, we're still being taught that sentences like (3) are wrong, all because someone in the 1600's thought English should be more like Latin.

Here's one last example. Over the past few decades, three new ways of reporting speech have appeared:

(4) So Karen goes, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(5) So Karen is like, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

(6) So Karen is all, "Wow - I wish I'd been there!"

In (4), goes means pretty much the same thing as said; it's used for reporting Karen's actual words. In (5), is like means the speaker is telling us more or less what Karen said. If Karen had used different words for the same basic idea, (5) would be appropriate, but (4) would not. Finally, is all in (6) is a fairly new construction. In most of the areas where it's used, it means something similar to is like, but with extra emotion. If Karen had simply been reporting the time, it would be okay to say She's like, "It's five o'clock," but odd to say She's all, "It's five o'clock" unless there was something exciting about it being five o'clock.

Is it a lazy way of talking? Not at all; the younger generation has made a useful three-way distinction where we previously only had the word said. Language will never stop changing; it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it. So the next time you hear a new phrase that grates on your ears, remember that like everything else in nature, the English language is a work in progress.
For further information
Aitcheson, lean. 1991. Language Change: Progress or Decay? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bryson, Bill. 1991. Mother Tongue: The English Language. New York: Penguin Books.

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Edited by Betty Birner Download this document as a pdf. Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn't a bad thing; if English hadn't changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn't have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV.

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Like, Ok. So, this is like a study in 80s slang. I mean, like, the way people talked in the 80s - like, the phrases they used. Ya know? It all started in Cali - I mean, doesn't everything? In the Valley - the San Fernando Valley, where, like the girls talked a certain way, ya know? Valley Girls.

Seriously, what defined 80s slang? What phrases mark the uniquely 80s way of speaking? This was an era long before emoticons and text-speak - LOL. OMG - I'm LMAO. Really. In the 80s, everything needed a superlative - like a really totally awesome superlative, like, radical and bitchin' and tubular. I mean, it was a decade that was so kickin' that it deserved over-the-top superlatives, right? So, here's the Like Totally 80s run down on 80s slang - your own personal 80s slangionary. Word.

Radical 80s Slang Phrases:

Bad

Michael Jackson appropriated this term for the title of his 1987 album, but in reality it had been in use since the 1960's when James Brown proclaimed himself to be "superbad." The word stayed largely within the African American community throughout the 70's until the 80's saw everyone adopt it as their term for describing someone or something that was cooler than the word cool could adequately convey. 'That is one bad locker door, Brenda!'

Bag Your Face

Valley girl speak for: "Your face is so unattractive and disturbing to me that I'd like to you wear a paper sack for my own personal comfort." A totally harsh put-down, one wanted to save it for when it was truly called for. "Monica, your orange eyeshadow totally clashes with your pink shirt, and you have got a monster zit on your nose! Oh my God, bag your face!"

Barf Me Out

A phrase used to react to a particularly offensive comment, remark or piece of news, which can trace its use back to the very first time a Valley Girl said, "Janis is dating Steve? Like barf me out!"

Bod

Like body - get it? Not particularly original but stemming from the California surf culture that gave the 80's so many of its unique words and phrases. Can be combined alliteratively as in "what a bodacious bod, man!"

Eat my Shorts

Long associated with Bart Simpson, this particular insult actually traces back even further and probably first hit pop culture through the movie "The Breakfast Club". It was typically used as a comeback:
"Nice shirt, Kowalski."
"Eat my shorts, dude!"
Even / Not Even

A popular phrase used to disagree with someone, not quite rude but meant to convey a strong opinion. Of course, saying "not even" left one open to the insurmountable comeback of "even!", which usually stopped the conversation dead in its tracks.
"Dude, you mom is totally hot."
"Not even!"
"Even!"
Gag Me With a Spoon

Similar to barf me out, but a bit more versatile in the world of Valley-speak. " History homework again? Gag me with a spoon," or the stronger "Your boyfriend took you to a Barry Manilow concert? Gag me with a spoon!"

Gnarly

Gnarly is an interesting piece of 80's slang that came from surf culture but had its meaning shift over the years. Originally, gnarly was applied to something that was tough or a bit ragged, particularly a set of towering waves or a skateboard trick gone wrong. "Did you see his arm after he ate it hard on that half-pipe? Gnarly, man." Gradually, however, it took on a new meaning as a way to describe something good. "Gnarly pad you've got man. I'm totally stoked for tonight's party." Today, the word gnarly lives on, and can bear either meaning depending upon the situation.

Grody to the Max

This little etymological nugget will always have a soft spot in my heart. It is used by Loryn (well, a version of it anyway) in the opening scene of the best all time 80s movie, Valley Girl. This phrase communicates that something is gross and distasteful and just ought not to exist. Think of that dude sitting one row up and over from you in 9th grade history class and his totally cheesy peach-fuzz mustache, complimented by his mullet and muscle shirt - that is like, grody to the max!

I'm Sure/ I'm So Sure

Teenagers didn't invent sarcasm in the eighties (Duh!) but they sure weren't afraid to employ it. "I'm Sure" and "I'm So Sure" were the verbal equivalent of an eye roll, and were often delivered with one. In essence, it meant, "What you're saying is ridiculous," although it also meant, "What I am witnessing or hearing is totally lame." The nineties equivalent of this phrase, by the way, is "What-ever!"
"Oh my God, Heather, that poser leaning against the food court entrance totally just asked me out! As if! Did you see his butt-cut hair?""Totally grody, Vicky. I'm so sure!"
Like

The most ubiquitous slang term to have originated in the 80s, like is a word which has managed to go the distance and work its way into the daily vocabulary of every generation of teenager to have been spawned since. Like is so infinitely malleable that it replaced "um" amongst Valley Girls and served to punctuate every expression, sentence or exclamation. " Like, did he like totally just like hang up on you? That is like, just like the height of like disrespect. Like, will you like dump him now or like after he takes you the dance of Friday?"

Motor

This is a verb: to motor, meaning "got to go."
Example: I've got to motor if I'm going to get home in time to watch Headbanger's Ball.

No Duh

Another interesting 80's phrase with a deep past. The word "duh" had been used to express bewilderment or ignorance since the 70's, but adding "no" to the front created a sarcastic expression that points out the obvious. Replying 'no duh' to a statement made my another showed that you were way ahead of them when it came to putting things together.
"Sheena Easton is wicked hot."
"No duh, man."
Psych

"Psych!" imparted a negative meaning to what was just said. It was pronounced with a high-pitched, shrill emphasis, the better to irritate the listener.
"Dude, your Camaro totally just got egged in the parking lot! Bummer." Dramatic pause. "Psych!"
Somewhat confusingly, "psyched" can also mean thrilled and, like, totally stoked:
Debbie was totally psyched when Tonya twisted her ankle before the homecoming game, because it meant that now she got to be head cheerleader.
Can also be with the word "out" to mean throw off, confuse, or intimidate:
Misty donned her studded black leather jacket and streaked her hair neon green before the debate meet order to psych out her opponents.
Radical

An offshoot of awesome. "Radical" meant that it was awesome, of course, but also edgy and bold. A slightly tougher, grittier, more modern version of "awesome".

White tank top + parachute pants + big plastic jewelry = awesome.

Black mesh top over purple bra + leather miniskirt + half-shaved head = TOTALLY RADICAL!

Righteous

Used to describe something that is totally cool, tubular or radical. "Jimbo totally caught a righteous wave yesterday just before sundown." "Whitesnake's last album was definitely righteous."

Perhaps the most famous use of this 80s slang term is from Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Grace, the school secretary, is describing all the school cliques that love Ferris, "They think he's a righteous dude."

Take A Chill Pill

Relax, cool out, calm down. A favorite term for Valley Girls to use when faced with a negative reaction from their posse of friends or when someone is freaking out for no reason. "Take a chill pill, Denise, I'm sure he'll call you back when he gets home from work."

Totally

Totally comes from the same root as righteous, except that it can be applied in far more situations. Totally flourishes when it is time to stress just how incredibly cool, gnarly, bodacious, groovy or tubular something really is. "That surfboard is totally awesome, man."
Totally Can also be pronounced with an extended first syllable to indicate an especially "totally" moment. "Mark just bought this toooh-tally bitchin' Camaro."

Tubular

Tubular is the adjective that 80's teens turned to when the word cool just wasn't enough. It implies a coolness that surpasses the word. "Bananarama were cool, but the Bangles are tubular, dude! Toooh-tally tubular!"

What's Your Damage?

Simply put, it's the phrase "what's your problem?" stuffed into a time machine and sent back to the era when Heathers ruled the box office. It can also be used to imply that someone else is an idiot for having a specific opinion, or for doing a certain thing: "You like Wham! but not Tony Basil? What's your damage?"

Where's the Beef?

One of the many snippets of 80's slang to have originated from television, " where's the beef?" was taken from a series of Wendy's hamburger chain commercials where an elderly granny complained about the size of her portion after lifting up her burger bun to investigate. The term eventually expanded and was used as a way to indicating that something important was missing from a situation or product. "Where's the beef" didn't survive the 90's, but its memory lives on. "This movie bites, dude - where's the beef?"

80s Slang Goodness in a Poster

We'd like to extend a hearty and heartfelt 'thank you' to the folks at Charley Chartwell for creating this bitchin' poster explaining the finer points of 80s slang. It can be yours for the low, low price of $20 here.

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Like, Ok. So, this is like a study in 80s slang. I mean, like, the way people talked in the 80s - like, the phrases they used. Ya know? It all started in Cali - I mean, doesn't everything? In the Valley - the San Fernando Valley, where, like the girls talked a certain way, ya know?

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Slang and Terms of the 90s, words and phrases that helped define the decade

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If it's boss, hip, or happening, you're bound to be listening to some of the utterly groovy slang words of the late 1960s that still resound with a literary impact on today's language.

As you go through our list of 1960s slang, you might be surprised to find out how much of it has actually stuck around throughout the decades.

Hey, Man! That's Boss!

Back in that turbulent decade, you might expand upon the "cool" with a word like "boss." That means something that is really, really cool.

Among the 1960s hipster contingent, the lingo included lots of words to describe superlative experiences.

Something that was wonderful would be "outta sight" (so great or unbelievable, you just couldn't take it all in.)

If something like a musical group was exciting and fantastic, they would be called "fab."

Having the latest and newest of anything, then as now, is of extreme importance to those who are truly hip.

If an event was "righteous," it was fantastic.

If a concert was "groovy," it was both outta sight and cool.

In the dating arena (or "scene" to a teenager in the 1960s):

A pretty girl would be considered "choice."

If she refused your advances, you might be "bummed out" (depressed or upset).

Maybe the problem was with your bread. No, we're not talking whole wheat or rye here, we're talking about "bread" as a 1960s term for money. A lack of bread would be enough to bum anyone out!

Since being cool was of such importance, the worst thing to happen to you (maybe aside from lacking bread) was to be labeled as uncool or "square."

Despite the casual environment of the 1960s, it really was a time of strict social rules if you didn't want to be ostracized by your pals.

Got a Joint?

Drug use hit a new high in the 1960s, and it came out of the shadows and into the limelight where it was seen as cool.

One of the most common drugs that anyone used was marijuana (known as "pot" or "MJ"). Smoking (or "toking") pot had a tendency to give the user the munchies, and thus they'd count their bread and run out of the house to "scarf down" or "pig out" on junk food, like Cheese Doodles or Ring Dings.

If you were scarfing or pigging, you were eating quickly and eating indiscriminately.

Many slang words in the 1960s spoke of a contempt for authority. The corporate management, politicians and those involved in the legal process were known as "The Man." Police officers were considered as the enforcement arm of "The Man" and were known as "Pigs" (a slur to express disdain), or a bit more politely, "The Fuzz."

If there was a chance of getting caught with a "joint" (a pot cigarette), you'd "book it" (run away quickly) from the pigs!

1960s Slang

Learning about slang from different eras can transport you back to a different time in your life or might introduce you to a whole new style of langauge if you were not yet born at that time period.

Here's a selection of 1960s slang for you to get acquainted (or reacquainted!) with:

A gas - having a fun time

All show and no go - looks good superficially

Ape - crazy or mad

Bad - awesome

Badass - trouble maker

Bean wagon - cheap restaurant, or a lowered car driven by Mexican Americans

Beat feet - leave quickly

Bench racing - sitting around and talking about the speed of their cars

Blast - a good time, a loud party

Blitzed - drunk

Bogart - to keep for yourself, to bully

Bone yard - a place to put junk or wrecked cars

Boob tube - television

Boogie board - a short surfboard

Bookin' - going fast in a car

Boss - fantastic

Brew - beer

Brody - skid half a circle in a car with the brakes locked

Bug - to bother

Bug out - to leave

Bummer - a bad thing or unpleasant experience

Burn rubber - squeal tires and leave rubber on the road

Catch some rays - get out in the sun

Cherry - mint condition

Chicken/To play chicken - two cars driving towards each other

Chinese firedrill - when four people get out of a car at a right light and exchange places in the car

Chop - to cut someone down verbally

Chrome Dome - bald man

Cool head - nice guy

Crash - sleep

Cut out - leave the area quickly

Decked out - dressed up

Deuce - putting two fingers up in a peace symbol

Dibs - ownership

Dig - understand

Don't flip your wig - don't be upset

Dove - a peace lover

Downer - an unpleasant experience

Drag - someone or something that is boring

Dropout - refuse to conform with society

Fab - fabulous

Fab Four - The Beatles

Far out - awesome

Fink - tattletale

Five finger discount - stolen

Flake - useless person

Flake off - leave

Flip flops - thongs

Flower power - the peaceful protest movement of the 60s counterculture

Fox - good looking woman

Freak out - get excited and lose control

Freedom riders - civil rights protesters

Gimme some skin - to ask someone to slap or shake your hand in agreement

Gone - under the influence of drugs

Gnarly - difficult or big

Groovy - outstanding or nice

Groady - dirty

Grungy - looking shabby or dirty

Hacked - made someone mad

Hairy - difficult or out of control

Hang loose - take it very easy

Hang tough - to stick with something difficult

Hawk - a supporter of war

Heavy - a serious or intense subject

Hippie/Hippy - a member of the counterculture: a free sprited, unconventional person

Hog - to take over so that someone else cannot use

Hot dog - show-off

Hunk - good looking guy

In the groove - a person who is part of the in-crowd

Jam - play music together

Jazzed - excited

Jelly Roll - heroin

Kicks - something done for pleasure

Kiss off - dismiss

Kiss up - someone who will do anything to gain favor by another person

Knocked up - pregnant

Laid back - relaxed

Lay it on me - tell me

Lay rubber - stop fast and leave wheel marks on the road

Make out - kissing

Midnight auto supply - stolen auto parts

Mirror warmer - woman who spends a lot of time looking in the mirror

Moon - to drop your pants

Mop-top - someone with a Beatle-style haircut

Neato - awesome

Nifty - stylish or very good

No sweat - No problem

Old Lady - girlfriend/wife, somtimes mother

Old Man - boyfriend/husband, sometimes father

On the make - looking for a date

Outta sight - awesome

Pad - where you sleep or live

Panty waist - a boy who does not have a tough personality

Passion pit - drive-in movie

Peel out - accelerate quickly, leaving rubber on the road

Peggers - jeans with tight calfs and ankles

Pig - police officer

Pig out - overeat

Port holer - a sailor on a ship

Pound - to beat someone up

Race for pinks - race cars when the winner keeps the loser's car

Right on - OK, a term of agreement

Rip off - steal

Scarf - eat fast

Score - go all the way with a girl

Scratch - money

Shades - sunglasses

Shot down - rejected

Shotgun - passenger seat

Skag or Skank - an ugly girl

Skirt - a girl

Skuzz/Skuzz bucket- disgusting person or thing

Slug bug - Volkswagon beetle

Sock it to me - Let me have it

Solid - I understand

Souped up - lots of extra equipment

Split - to leave

Sponge - live off of someone else's money or belongings

Square - someone who is not cool

Stoked - likes someone or something a lot

Stoned - high on pot

Stuck up - conceited

Sweat hog - fat girl or boy

Tennies - tennis shoes

The Man - any authority figure who maintained the corporate, legal and political status quo

Threads - clothes

Ticked off - angry

Tight - very friendly

Toke - a puff from a marijuana cigarette

Tooling - driving around

Tough - great looking

Tuff - cool or very enjoyable

Tune out - ignore

Turn off - to respulse someone

Truckin' - moving quickly

Twice Pipes - two muffler tail pipes

Twitchin' - great or awesome

Unglued - upset

Unreal - so outstanding that it was difficult to believe

Uptight - tense and unable to enjoy life

Way out - beyond explanation

What's your bag, man? - what are you into? what's your problem?

Wipe out - to fail in a big way or to fall off the surfboard

Zilch - zero

Zit - pimple

Do some of these slang words and expressions look familiar to you, even if you weren't around in the 1960s? Well, that's quite possible! Some of these expressions came back to life in later decades, and some of them really never faded from use at all. For example, many people today still use the word "zit" and the phrase "bugging out" and probably don't even know how long they've been around.

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If it's boss, hip, or happening, you're bound to be listening to some of the utterly groovy slang words of the late 1960s that still resound with a literary impact on today's language. As you go through our list of 1960s slang, you might be surprised to find out how much of it has actually stuck around throughout the decades.

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The Evolution of Language: Stuff You Should Know - Animated

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Where did spoken language come from? Join Josh and Chuck as they go back in time to follow the hunting exploits of Tuk-Tuk, a hungry homosapien who evolves a primitive language. Tune in for new episodes of the Stuff You Should Know animated series every Monday!

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Speculation about the origins of human language is as old as history. This E-Lecture discusses two aspects of this topic: The biological pre-requisites for language and speech and possible hypotheses of how language could have emerged.

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Evolution of Language | Curious Questions with Answers | Educational Videos by Mocomi Kids

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A historical linguist discusses some of the ways that language can change over time, with examples from English and related languages. Related videos: How old is English? https://youtu.be/TkqOXuqvOU8?list=PLATNGYBQ-TjpI6758eU-5qIksJDUgSVk0 How do we determine what languages are related? https://youtu.be/wgzkQ8oktD4?list=PLATNGYBQ-TjpI6758eU-5qIksJDUgSVk0 Dr. Jackson Crawford is a historical linguist and a specialist in the Old Norse language.

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The Main Generational Differences in Language

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In this video, I discuss the main generational differences in language (mainly younger generations). It's important, however, that you do your own research to find more examples. You can find the aforementioned article here: http://learnmate.com.au/generational-differences-language/ I will be running the most comprehensive revision workshop for VCE English Language 3/4 these coming Spring holidays.