tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post20063460689266279..comments2024-02-17T09:53:06.168+00:00Comments on Notes from the Slushpile: Why we should all be more like ShakespeareCandy Gourlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-2724358720935129632015-07-14T15:45:06.052+01:002015-07-14T15:45:06.052+01:00When I was a child in the Philippines, my teachers...When I was a child in the Philippines, my teachers fined us five centavos if we used mixed Tagalog with our English by mistake. :(Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-1157319123279033232015-07-13T23:23:09.548+01:002015-07-13T23:23:09.548+01:00Language I'd always tricky. You don't know...Language I'd always tricky. You don't know what will have staying power and what will immediately sound dated and uncool. It really does take courage to play with it!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-56394364042225613842015-07-13T22:48:39.030+01:002015-07-13T22:48:39.030+01:00I recently heard a teacher correcting a boy who sa...I recently heard a teacher correcting a boy who said 'nuffink.'<br />While children do need to know a standard written form of English for use in job applications, etc., we should not denigrate their dialects but celebrate diversity. After all, we don't all speak like BBC anchormen. By the way, in Israel, there's a quasi-governmental Academy of Language, charged with keeping the Hebrew language 'pure.'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06570150102178694519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-82795151396089417002015-07-13T18:42:17.543+01:002015-07-13T18:42:17.543+01:00The French are great guardians of their language. ...The French are great guardians of their language. They have a committee. Rather than adopt a new English word or phrase they invent their own. For binge drinking they use "beuveries express" and "mot dièse" (word sharp) for hashtag. Moirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02031362965457408527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-18504318512324121232015-07-13T18:30:03.535+01:002015-07-13T18:30:03.535+01:00Who are the guardians of language? Why, I guess te...Who are the guardians of language? Why, I guess teachers and parents ... I've had a lot of conversations with teachers in Asia registering their disapproval of the use of colloquial language in books (eg, in Singapore, some teachers complained that books in Singlish dialect should not be read by children still perfecting their English)<br /> Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-33836611013464627182015-07-13T18:27:11.541+01:002015-07-13T18:27:11.541+01:001911? it's funny though that theory that it ca...1911? it's funny though that theory that it came from the US. Smashing sounds so English.Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-37288498963486605592015-07-13T14:36:12.055+01:002015-07-13T14:36:12.055+01:00But who are the "guardians of language"?...But who are the "guardians of language"? Working, as I do, at Oxford Dictionaries, I've been fascinated to see the even-handed and descriptive approach that the editors take. Their job is not to dictate how language should be used but to chart how language <br /><b>is</b> used by real people, and modern slang is very much a part of that. But some people will never see it that way - check out the comments on the <a href="http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/literally" rel="nofollow">definition of literally</a> for evidence of that.<br /><br />P.S. The Oxford English Dictionary has 1911 as the earliest citation of the use of "smashing" that Moira mentions. But we always love to get an earlier date (or antedate) , so who knows!Nick Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02571077124165351007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-1751901052275628872015-07-13T14:16:43.396+01:002015-07-13T14:16:43.396+01:00Yes. I wonder if they did indeed sneer. When I liv...Yes. I wonder if they did indeed sneer. When I lived in Israel, the self-appointed guardians of official Hebrew shook their heads in horror as the language rapidly evolved in response to mass immigration and the adoption of Arabic idioms. All fascinating stuff.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06570150102178694519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-63694412439508713132015-07-13T11:40:32.345+01:002015-07-13T11:40:32.345+01:00I do wonder if the guardians of language did sneer...I do wonder if the guardians of language did sneer at and dismiss Shakespeare's inventive use of language. But the plays outlived them all, which is how the language survives to this day.Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-85757950329836516012015-07-13T11:06:34.420+01:002015-07-13T11:06:34.420+01:00Language is always tricky. You don't know what...Language is always tricky. You don't know what will have staying power and what will immediately sound dated and uncool. It really does take courage to play with it!Candy Gourlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802791643303335762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-701894736280253278.post-23679194489933302242015-07-13T10:54:35.620+01:002015-07-13T10:54:35.620+01:00Really interesting. So bold writers can create lan...Really interesting. So bold writers can create language. Is slang, then, pioneering language at the frontier? And what does that mean for all those purists who would conserve it within the confines of a rigid box?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06570150102178694519noreply@blogger.com