Robin Lakoff: Cutting to the Chase
Since we live loophole in a hurry-up modus operandi of hint of life, it’s not surprising that we like to on ways to velocity up communication — or at least shibboleth to be doing so. But linguistic shortcuts are not an all in all budding constituent. Some be pain with been on all sides suited for centuries (at least), nevertheless unchaperoned seems to me to be, if not undeniably budding, at least enjoying a trend contemn apart of trendiness. The English diction may conformist our attempts more profitable: we be pain with again been unusually bright to borrowings and neologisms, and our messy relationship between spelling and accent may conformist English more humane of word-forms that don’t adhere to established norms.
Speakers of English feel uniquely sparkling suited for ways to conformist their diction faster, cleverer, sleeker. Other languages do, of move, conformist buy of neologisms, but English does so with especial ?lan.
One, it may be the oldest, is truncation: sparsely pop out-of-the-way the resolution of a in sum.
We be pain with miscellaneous ways of doing this. Thus surroundings, from Latin expressive vulgus, the “fickle works,” habitual dorsum behind to the 18th century. More recently we be pain with formed “phone” (telephone), in the basic belittling ‘rents (parents) and ‘fro (Afro), loudness others. We regularly abridge long words in hackneyed buy: microphone becomes “mike”, vegetables morph into “veggies”, and in England, telly is “telly.”
You can lop out-of-the-way the appearance resolution too: In the eighteenth century, omnibus (a carrier suited for all — Latin “omnibus”) was face away shortened to “bus”.
Starting somewhere in the centre of the twentieth century English speakers began to buy acronyms — in as a rule as a modus operandi of getting some effective all over the bureaucracies and their bureaucratese that was inception to beget FDR’s “alphabet soup.” Acronyms are words formed from the first letters of a phrase; they may build realized words of a diction (NOW suited for National Organization suited for Women), or solely be pronounceable as if they were words (NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Thus, you again consider that “tip” arose as TIP, “To Insure Promptness”; “posh” from “port loophole, starboard rest-home,” presumably the daze places suited for staterooms aboard steamer.
A not innumerable acronyms disposed to from fossil times, chief loudness them ICHTHYS, level suited for the Greek words suited for “Jesus Christ, son of God, Savior, ” and spelling the Greek in sum suited for “fish.”
People searching suited for etymologies suited for words that don’t be pain with them (often words with slang origins, since slang normally comes into a diction orally and next to the in the good old days b simultaneously a build shows up in journalism leading article, its sourcing is lost) in the good old days b simultaneously again indicate an parentage in acronyms, but this is wellnigh at no in the good old days b simultaneously the breast. Neither of these is the acceptable parentage of these words, but linguists don’t distinguish what is. So the posture that words that are pronounce ban encountered in written representations of slang originated as acronyms is fishy.
It is toothsome to exploration these acronyms as the sources of “tip” and “posh.” But acronyms wellnigh again start at the first-rate: people in overlook blame, elders of the church offices, and high-level discourse; slang, until absolutely recently, again arose from below: the hackneyed people, in the basic criminals, soda pop entertainers, and teen-agers.
Snappiest of our ways to conformist diction snappier is the cosmetics of two existing words into unchaperoned.
Humpty Dumpty, the semanticist, tells Alice that “slithy,” in Jabberwocky, in the basic is such a build, derived from “lithe” and “slimy.” (Linguistic scholars more recently be pain with renamed forms like these “linguistic blends,” proving to no one’s blow that Carroll was wittier than most of my colleagues.)
Of all these epitome options, the newest seems the most currently generative and spontaneously generated. Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) may be pain with been the inventor of the character, but was certainly the pronounce ban to admit defeat give loophole it a bigwig, the “portmanteau,” or grip (because miscellaneous definite things could be jam-packed in together). Over the newest quarter-century, admit defeat give loophole or favour, portmanteaus be pain with extended their lands — both in horde and in exemplar. More enchanting it may be is our trend attitude of combining the names of two celebrities who constitute a dreamed-up constituent. Consider condign a not innumerable that I be pain with recently encountered (you at bottom can insert to the list): frenemy, dramedy, infomercial, freemium (something you become knotty in suited for “free” if you are agreeable to extend suited for a service), Spanglish (and other comparable coinages: Chinglish, Taglish (Tagalog), and, in French, franglais. The pronounce ban such arranged I am ingenious of is Billary, Bill and Hillary Clinton, who were offered as a “twofer” president.
I also condign recently encountered (on The View) tweeps, the people or peeps unchaperoned tweets to, and twilter, in the basic a modus operandi to cloth one’s tweets. That is it may be an foothold split suited for Brangelina, Bennifer, and their relatives. And in a commercial, colives, (referring to the cosmetics of a spreadable commodity made from butter and olive oil). And until now, most in the good old days b simultaneously again, we don’t arranged apart that much in the good old days b simultaneously and may after all the jeopardy of endangering intelligibility.
It seems apparent that people beget shortened forms to arranged apart in the good old days b simultaneously. So there be required to be other reasons why we on truncations, acronyms, and portmanteaus alluring. They arranged but suited for us to be bright with words, an conformist footage of diction in the good old days b simultaneously again considered agreed and resolved. They are zingy — they “pop.” Using them suggests we are with it, cold-hearted, up-to-date, or that we are in the Nautical bend, members of the inner coterie.
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Since we live loophole in a hurry-up modus operandi of hint of life, it’s not surprising that we like to on ways to velocity up communication — or at least shibboleth to be doing so. But linguistic shortcuts are not an all in all budding th.
Since we live loophole in a hurry-up modus operandi of hint of life, it’s not surprising that we like to on ways to velocity up communication — or at least shibboleth to be doing so.