We discussed briefly in class today about how certain words or even some languages become forgotten for a period of time or even dead. (i.e. some slangs and dead languages found in history books)
As I was going over what we did in our class today, I encountered some questions.
What makes a word go out of style?
Why do people just stop using that word that they have been using so often?
What/who decides the 'in-thing' in the world of words?
Is there a trend setter or a merchant in terms of language? (Thought of Paris Hilton and her frequent usage "That's hot" came across my mind right here...)
Who determines the trend in the fashion of words?
I know I just put a series of questions here but they are all related and somewhat interchangeable.
So...does anyone have some thoughts on these questions?
(Jennifer Park)
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5 comments:
I don't think that there's really only one person that decides 'the in-thing in the world with words.' It's more like one group.
I think that it mostly ties in with the whole concept on how we don't want to feel like outsiders, that we want to belong. We change the words we use so that we are on the same page with everyone else, especially when we hear a large group of people using one specific word.
I don't think that there is exactly a 'merchant' on words, but I do agree that these words have to start from somewhere, and I guess it's because of these new words that people end up dropping the old ones in order to fit in. Actually, this seems really similar to teenage trends in that way....
I honestly do not think its a particular group of people/one person that come up with new words, its really more the people around them that decide whether something they say gets adopted.In my personal experience, various phrases and slang my friends and I use stems not from just one of us, but all of us. It's a group consensus on whether it "sticks" or how long it lasts.
(Steve Szumski)
Whenever anyone mentions words falling into and out of use, I immediately think of Gretchen trying to bring back the word "fetch". The word doesn't bring about a certain feeling other than the occasional visual of a golden retriever named Rex playing fetch in the park... However, Gwen Stefani may think something is bananas, when in fact, it is not bananas. Still, we know what she's trying to say, so we can use it in the sense she did.
One person doesn't bring back a word. I think people hear a word, think it adequately describes what they're trying to convey, and adopt it. Of course, people are so quick to do this that I often have to refer back to Urban Dictionary to figure out what people are talking about.
A word goes out of style when a population discontinues its use. A certain individual may still use a certain word or phrase, yet the upcoming generation may fail to do so. Nothing is forever; elders pass away, and youth are born. Just as artifacts become hidden in the past, words follow a similar trend.
Your Paris Hilton example stirred a memory in my mind. A while back, I was watching "My Super Sweet Sixteen" on MTV, and the heiress responsible for planning the extravaganza had adopted her own version of Hilton's "That's hot." Her personalized slogan had become, "That's juicy." She was establishing her individuality, yet conforming with the "midriff" stereotype of the overly-sexual young female. Goodness, the media seems to be everywhere.
Thus, to answer your concluding question, celebrities and big names seem to be the linguistic trend setters; yet I dare make a speculation that the 20% of unique, cool teens also have their share in the process.
(Sam Maliha)
I agree that one person cannot create a slang expression unless many others adopt it. It seems that slang fits in well with "merchants of cool", and is also influenced by the media. In the video cool is described to be found (or created) by advertising and the mainstream media and then eventually killed by it. The same goes for slang terms. No one wants to say "That's hot" after their parents, or someone else who they don't consider to be "cool" enough uses it. So, is it that once something goes mainstream, it cannot last? That seems to be the trend, although there are obviously exceptions. (including the word cool itself)
(Molly Dunbar)
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