Language may evolve but this is going too far
POSTED BY: Magonsdaughter
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 19:03
VIEWED: 1913
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I think any article by something called "The Scotsman" probably doesn't have much grounds to complain about abuse of the English language.
Compare.
Scottish English: "We twa hae run about the braes, and pu’d the gowans fine."
Jabberwocky (nonsense verse poem by Lewis Carrol):
"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."
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Riona: Mal never said it, but the word is in Firefly. The corrupt fed in The Message called the post guy that when he was making his threats.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
I think any article by something called "The Scotsman" probably doesn't have much grounds to complain about abuse of the English language.
Compare.
Scottish English: "We twa hae run about the braes, and pu’d the gowans fine."
Jabberwocky (nonsense verse poem by Lewis Carrol):
"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."
Hello,
The interesting thing about the Jabberwocky and its contemporaries is that the poet was able to invent words that meant nothing, but which seemed to mean something, and in some cases you could discern the idea of what they meant because they sounded right for a particular idea.
"The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back."
We do not necessarily need to know the words vorpal, snicker-snack, or galumphing in order to create a mental image of the scene. I like that.
So maybe the inclusion of invented slang in language isn't so bad, because all words are invented at some point. If they are in use, they are part of the language.
I still lament the absence of Realtor in that scrabble dictionary. It cost a challenge!
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”
Jacob Hornberger
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”
Mahatma Gandhi
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Oh, I like the Jabberwock. It's just some forms of English are in fact incomprehensible.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
I think any article by something called "The Scotsman" probably doesn't have much grounds to complain about abuse of the English language.
Compare.
Scottish English: "We twa hae run about the braes, and pu’d the gowans fine."
Oh lordy, you are leaving yourself wide open there, Byte, since the Scots you have quoted above is an older form of Englisg than standard modern English and would, by many Scottish people at least, consider it to be the more legitimate form of English. So you might prefer to consider that English is an abuse of Scots. :)
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Heh, true enough.
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Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
I think any article by something called "The Scotsman" probably doesn't have much grounds to complain about abuse of the English language.
Compare.
Scottish English: "We twa hae run about the braes, and pu’d the gowans fine."
Jabberwocky (nonsense verse poem by Lewis Carrol):
"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."
Hello,
The interesting thing about the Jabberwocky and its contemporaries is that the poet was able to invent words that meant nothing, but which seemed to mean something, and in some cases you could discern the idea of what they meant because they sounded right for a particular idea.
"The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back."
We do not necessarily need to know the words vorpal, snicker-snack, or galumphing in order to create a mental image of the scene. I like that.
So maybe the inclusion of invented slang in language isn't so bad, because all words are invented at some point. If they are in use, they are part of the language.
I still lament the absence of Realtor in that scrabble dictionary. It cost a challenge!
--Anthony
Carroll introduced a number of words into the English language, including portmanteau - combining two words to create a new one, chortled - a strange sort of laugh, and my favourite, galumphing - as in 'take your boots off and stop galumphing around the room'.
Shakespeare allegedly intriduced 1700 new words into English, including
# accommodation
# aerial
# amazement
# apostrophe
# assassination
# auspicious
# baseless
# bloody
# bump
# castigate
# changeful
# clangor
# control (noun)
# countless
# courtship
# critic
# critical
# dexterously
# dishearten
# dislocate
# dwindle
# eventful
# exposure
# fitful
# frugal
# generous
# gloomy
# gnarled
# hurry
# impartial
# inauspicious
# indistinguishable
# invulnerable
# lapse
# laughable
# lonely
# majestic
# misplaced
# monumental
# multitudinous
# obscene
# palmy
# perusal
# pious
# premeditated
# radiance
# reliance
# road
# sanctimonious
# seamy
# sportive
# submerge
# suspicious
kind of contradicts my original point, innit
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What is quim, exactly? I didn't catch the hint dropped earlier when the word was first brought up.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
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Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
What is quim, exactly? I didn't catch the hint dropped earlier when the word was first brought up.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
Hello,
A quim is a vagina in my personal usage.
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”
Jacob Hornberger
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”
Mahatma Gandhi
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME