Every single day, humans have misused every word they possibly could. Why is that, you may ask? Surely we must be advanced beings who are able to speak in the language we ourselves have created? To answer those questions, I can simply say: I don’t know! It makes no sense whatsoever and it is so annoying! Like, literally! And this time I actually mean it! I absolutely hate seeing words butchered over and over again. We’ve all got our pet peeves. This one’s mine! It just gets me!
I’m not trying to say that I’m a perfect speaker. However, there are some words any logical mind just can’t misuse, but are so misused by the public that I must rant about them!
#5 – ‘conversate’
I had to start with this word. People use this word thinking it means to hold a conversation. ‘Hold on, I’m conversating with Jenny!’ It’s been used so much over the past years that we’ve come to believe it’s a word! In reality, this word means absolutely NOTHING! It isn’t found in any dictionaries and has somehow made its way around the globe. It’s a mix of the words conversation and converse, which are in fact two very correct words. The mix of both, however, is as valid as unicorns and fairies.
#4 – ‘I could care less’
I know, I know, this isn’t actually one word. This expression is so contradictory that I just had to mention it. It’s generally used when someone is commenting about something that they really don’t care about. For example, if someone comes up to you and tells you something insignificant, like buying a pen, some may reply by saying ‘I could care less.’ Do they hear themselves?! Saying you could care less means that you actually care so much about the fact that he bought a pen that you could care even less, but you don’t! It means you think it...
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...s no place! We should be saying ‘figuratively’, because that’s what it really is. I can see it now. ‘Hey Daniel, my girlfriend broke up with me… I was figuratively swimming in a pool of my very own tears!’ Maybe that wouldn’t sound so nice. I guess I can see why people use the word literally to add emphasis, but literally still means to be literal and this must be taken literally!
I could go on and on with these kinds of misuse in our language. My hate for misused words grows in a very literate way – I could care less! The fact that so many words are misused makes me wonder if misused words aren’t actually misused. I mean, if everyone’s using them, shouldn’t that make them the new standard of correctly used words? Language is, after all, a device of communication that is constantly changing. As long as the message gets through, isn’t that all we should care about?
Conversation Analysis (CA) is the study of talk-within-interaction that attempts to describe the orderliness, structure and sequential patterns of interaction in conversation. It is a method of qualitative analysis developed by Harvey Sacks with the aid of Emmanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson in the late 1960s to early 1970s. Using the CA frame of mind to view stories shows us that what we may think to be simplistic relaying of information or entertaining our friends is in fact a highly organised social phenomena that is finely tuned in a way that expresses the teller’s motivation behind the talk. (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2011). It is suggested that CA relies on three main assumptions; talk is a form of social action, action is structurally organised, talk creates and maintains inter-subjectivity (Atkinson & Heritage, 1984).
In the article, Ravitch contends that in spite of the fact that it may appear like we live in our current reality where anything goes, actually, not genuine. Diane researches and accumulates a rundown of more than five hundred words that frequently get erased from reading material and tests. A portion of the words incorporate rancher, fraternity, yacht, and primitive. By and by I trust that the editing of words nowadays is fairly amazing. I comprehend that sure gatherings could be insulted by such words yet why ought to other people not get the first words the writer is attempting to compose in view of
William Lutz in “the world of doublespeak” states that jargon is the specialized language of a trade, profession, or similar group, such as that used by doctors, lawyers, engineers, or educators” (391). Also to someone not associated with a specific group and their language jargon will not make sense. It is often used by individuals who wish to sound more intelligent or important. As mentioned in “the world of doublespeak” by Lutz that “jargon as doublespeak often makes the simple sound complex” (391). For example, when the news says intruders instead of bad people or execution instead of killing or when lawyers use the term “involuntary conversion” of property when discussing the loss or destruction of property that is considered using jargon. Lutz finds mainly doctors, lawyers and high educators that are responsible for the spread of jargon
Words hold great power and when used correctly can influence what people believe and how they act.
Modern language is, “ugly and inaccurate”, as George Orwell describes it in Politics and the English Language (510). George Orwell’s Politics in the English Language informs readers of this trend. Orwell uses the following quote to raise questions about where this problem may have first started occurring: “It is clear that the decline of language must have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to bad influence of this or that individual writer” (510). Written language has suffered a decline in the manner in which it is presented due to economic and political factors that Orwell noticed during his lifetime. Orwell’s discussion on economics and politics makes us think about what conditions lead
There is an old saying that plays something to the tune of, "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It is possible that such a phrase was popularized in order for people to equip themselves with a psychological defense against the reality that words can, in fact, have a tremendous amount of significance depending on their usage and context. The careful manipulation of language in essays, for example, is one way that words can be arranged and exploited. This is a tool that authors will often use to reach a specific audience.
” Stop murdering the language!” John Leo exclaims. Looking deeper into society, manipulation of language is vastly occurring. John Leo sheds light on language manipulation occurring all over the place. Language manipulation has become a large problem in the technology, professional sports, and hunting industries. Although these three subjects are very different and diverse, they all have one relatable topic, language manipulation. For example, some people label trophy hunting as a form of serial killing, an old NFL football team’s name being prejudice, and even blaming cell phone overuse for addictions.
I find words incredibly odd. They’re just random consonants and vowels strung together, pronounced in certain ways to give them meaning. But how is it possible that these simple, strange things that are so beautiful and delicate are used in such destructive ways? How is it that formations of letters that were once used with such care are now flung around without anyone thinking about what they mean? We have become so good at using words to get what we want, for manipulation, control and power.
In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, the author states his opinion of the decline of the English language. Orwell discusses both its causes and what he foresees as its consequences. He states there is less innovation and coherency, which dilutes the power of the language. Orwell felt that people were using the English language inaccurately, relying on metaphors which are meaningless and used so the writer does not have to bother with creating their phrases. Orwell asserted “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”
In his essay “Invisible Technologies,”, Neil Postman argues and exemplifies how language acts as an ideology in shaping the way people perceive and understand the world around them. One important form of linguistic manipulation which has an influence on human perceptions is euphemisms. Postman argues that “[language] instructs us not only in the names of things but, more important, in what things can be named” (Postman , 187), and this directly relates to the function euphemistic language holds in society. Euphemisms enable the same term to have different names, and thus different connotations, affecting people’s perceptions of the term and its meaning. By covering and masking terms that have negative connotations, euphemistic language alters the nuances associated with those terms and therefore also the related social views and attitudes .
According to the textbook malapropism,” Confusion of one word or phrase for another that sounds similar.” Word confusion is very common in especially in different contexts and if you do not use proper grammar or know the meaning of the word. One of my friends mom’s gave a children story up front at church and confused the word, “focused” with the word with the swear word “fuckus”. This lady is a very sweet lady and I began to laugh at the malapropism that was taking place in front
In the article, “Doubts about Doublespeak” by William Lutz addresses the language we call “Doublespeak.” The obscure language that is intended to communicate, without being straightforward. For example, a job companies manager telling employees they are downsizing the company, instead of saying we are firing are few employees. Doublespeak is to tell someone something, without being blunt about it. Even though doublespeak is affecting use, we continue to use it in or everyday lifestyle. Although we may not recognize it social media is one way we continuously use it. In the article Lutz provides four types of doublespeak, euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language. I do agree along with support William Lutz ideas about doublespeak.
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has permeated and become an integral part of our everyday lives. In fact, a life without technology seems almost impossible to imagine. Almost everyone, around the globe, has access to technology in one form or another. Consequently this type of technology has become ingrained into our culture. Its roots are so deep that it is now peculiar to see someone without a smartphone than with one. Consequently, smartphones and the Internet have radically changed the manner in which we communicate and how we communicate with one another. Our speech has metamorphosed so much from that of our grandparents that it almost seems like a foreign language due to the incorporation of slang and “text talk.” With the sudden surge of email, blogs, and instant messaging that occurred within the last couple of decades, the impact that technology has on our linguistics has become more pronounced. Technology has helped to bridge the gap between people by allowing us to communicate as easily as we breathe. On this note, one would think that the dawn of the Era of Technology would give birth to a renaissance of the English language but, instead, the converse is taking place. With such widespread prevalence of technology such as smartphones and computers, the degradation of the English language is a problem now more than ever.
I think one reason why people use the word love so carelessly is because of what our culture portrays it as in books and movies. Love is portrayed as more of just a feeling that can come and go and has no real meaning behind it. You see so many examples in books and on television of married couples having affairs with each other but constantly expressing their love for one another. It makes no sense to the real meaning of love and just portrays to the audiences that love really does not have much meaning behind
Expressions such as these can cause miscommunications, misunderstandings, and basically just a lot of confusion.