The Strange Case of the English Language
I've been thinking (it took a while); you know, words are essential for communication. However, there are some words that, to me, sound silly and/or redundant. These are words that make you think "What's the point of this word?" One such word that I can think of is 'guffaw'. Another one is 'chortle'. Why do these words exist? We already have 'laugh' and 'chuckle'!
Are there any weird words that you can think of that just seem strange or redundant to the point where you think "Why does this exist? What were they thinking when they made this word? Why is this crazy guy asking me this question (some of you are probably thinking this)?" Personally, I like asking myself questions such as this. I just thought I should share this one with you.
Are there any weird words that you can think of that just seem strange or redundant to the point where you think "Why does this exist? What were they thinking when they made this word? Why is this crazy guy asking me this question (some of you are probably thinking this)?" Personally, I like asking myself questions such as this. I just thought I should share this one with you.
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So I guess I always figure that at least to someone there is some difference in nuance or emotional reaction to the word. Maybe the difference between chortle and chuckle is just how much phlegm is involved. But I admit, a lot of the time when I'm writing I look for synonyms just to sound less repetitive. I think it makes the writing more interesting just having more variety. Of course that also means we need huge vocabulary sometimes for little value.
And I don't think most of us actually speak that way. I could probably use some more synonyms for "um" and "er".
Have you read 1984 or any of Orwell's essays about language? He had a lot of thoughts about the value of near-synonyms for expression.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary."
- James Nicoll
"English is the result of Norman men-at-arms attempting to pick up Saxon barmaids and is no more legitimate than any of the other results."
- H. Beam Piper
We have all these words because we keep stealing them or making them up and we're perfectly happy about using them. Some author makes up a new word for laugh? We'll use it! "Homeboy"? Great word! "Croissant", "sushi", "schadenfreude"? Bring 'em on! I've even heard non-gamers use the term "level up" in conversation. That's one of the things that makes English such a fun language.
And England in particular, at one point had a global empire that meant exposure to a huge variety of languages. So no wonder a bewildering assortment of words were tacked on to the language. Americans pick it up because we have the odd idea we should be able to read things written in Englnd... (As a serious history nerd, I read a lot of British books. And then I use words that make people look at me like "uhh?" I once had a hard time convincing a PhD Anthropology professor that "iconoclast" was a real word).
Each word has it's use, since each one has it's own history. The words "guardian" and "warden" mean the same, but the difference is where they've been borrowed from. Both of these come from French, but "guardian" was borrowed from French spoken in e.g. Paris and "warden" was borrowed from Normans.
So, in my eyes there are no redundant words, there is a difference in words that mean the same. If you believe there's none, you can make up the different meaning. Each one of us speaks his/her own combination of language/s. My English is different from yours, since our experience and backgrounds are different.
Even then, the English lexicon was somewhat small until Shakespeare came along and started making up new words and expressions left and right. He's responsible for a shockingly large chunk of modern English idiom. Then there were also the contributions of dudes like Lewis Carrol, who made stuff up because he liked to make no sense whilst being perfectly logical. Add to the literary experiments a massive dose of imperialism and you've got yourself something of a trashcan language.
English speakers also easily accept new words into the "official" English vocabulary, unlike, say, the French, who have a government organization that dictates what is and is not allowed to be part of "proper" French. American English in particular is rife with borrowings and new words derived from borrowings because of the heavily diverse population. There is a lot of Yiddish and Spanish, among other influences, in the American vocabulary that many Americans are not even aware they are using. Then there're all the words and phrases that were developed separately from British English, which double up the possible ways to express similar ideas. Now that this is the lingua franca and we've got the internet, we're getting new words and usages at an alarming rate.
One of things that comes out of having all these extra words is that we have so many different ways to express things like "laugh", each with their own little nuance in meaning, and we can write with highly varied language. Granted, every language has clusters of similarly defined words with slightly different meanings, but to my knowledge, not quite on the scale of English.
Hopefully all of that makes sense and explains things thoroughly.
And now some of favorite words.
supercilious, masticate, malarkey and ensconced.
@joluv you double plus ungood duck talker
the first thing I thought of after reading the OP was 1984
What a country!
For what it is worth, my English teacher (creative writing teacher actually) always told me that you should never use the same word twice in a paragraph (other than things like a and the etc...). So often times when attempting to describe something I will often times choose synonyms instead of repeating myself.
I also think there are colloquialisms, words that indicate their origins based on their usage. That is yet another way to differentiate who is speaking without constantly having to refer back to their names. It adds to context.
For me where it gets weird is when people name their children things that are pronounced the same way but spelled differently. I suppose that this has happened since the beginning of time and the very first 'Bob' was probably considered to have a weird name. But seriously? Aren't there enough names out there in the world now that you have to make up a new spelling of an existing name?
You taught me language; and my only profit on it is, I know how to curse...
...
Flabbergasted is basically another word for shock, but looking up its etymology it appears it is the conjunction of flabby and aghast (flabby in this case when your flab is in movement)
So much for hoping it is what happens when a ghast touches you and you fail a will save, eh, @wubble .
Flabbergasted
peeved
irked
annoyed
flummoxed
exasperated
ticked
agitated
disappointed
disillusioned
etc... but never mad.
"can't" is a contraction of cannot, not "can not" though they are logically the same
"will not" does contract, but not to "willn't" like any sane person would assume, but instead to "won't" which breaks all the rules
"Yesterday I read the newspaper. I think I will read it again today. I saw an article that I might have read before. I will read it all again. In a few days, I will have read everything about it. I do read most things. I love to have read things. I might read some more later. Actually, now I'm almost sure I had read this particular article before, but I'd better read it again, so I can be completely sure I have read it. Hmm, I *had* read it!"
If you can pronounce correctly the verb "to read" everywhere in that paragraph, without even hesitating or thinking about it, then you're probably fluent in English.
I'll time how long it takes security to show up.