Notes on Language

Every day, I spend a few hours teaching journalism and literature at a local high school. It’s a really enriching experience (for me, anyway—the students may feel differently) that is showing me the evolution of the spoken and written word in real time.

My observations? A century from now, we Americans are going to use language that is exponentially different than we do today.

The influences of technology, social change, and an overall fear of being wrong about something are not to be underestimated in its ability to impact the way we communicate.

The Spoken Word
When I was a pre-teen, the hilarious Valley Girl phenomenon was first introduced (check out Frank Zappa’s take on it above). We, like, made so much, like, fun of it, y’know? We were all, like, “Gag me with a spoon, or whatever.”

But we knew we weren’t really supposed to speak that way. We cared about sounding intelligent, and we knew when to shut it down. Today’s students? Not so much. Male, female—it doesn’t matter. It is the rare student who doesn’t speak like Cher Horowitz in Clueless.

In addition to the language used, there are other trends among teens and adults that grate on the ear. Vocal fry and upspeak are common, even among the highly educated and elite. From a communications perspective, these are toxic traits that make a person sound less intelligent and create a perception of uncertainty. When trying to build trust as an individual or organization, there’s nothing worse.

Written Language
As a person who truly loves the written word, I have lots of thoughts here. I will endeavor to share them without the use of emojis.

• Capital letters seem to be falling out of favor as the preferred way to begin sentences. Moreover, they also are not commonly used to identify proper nouns or acronyms. Much of the schoolwork I receive, even from top achievers, seems to be written as if it were encoded for submission via text message.

• Dangling prepositions are rampant—they are everywhere I look, at school and in my professional life. It’s always, “The place we’re going to,” “The class I’m doing it for,” “The thing I’m heading towards.” The illicit “S” on “toward” aside, there should never be a dangling preposition in formal writing.

  While I know the language is always changing and that I may be forced to accept it in the end, for now this is a hill on which I am prepared to die (see what I did there?).

• Spelling is optional. Even in the media, typographical errors are common, with one editor telling us they don’t use copy editors anymore, since mistakes make the text “more approachable to readers.” I don’t know where this trend takes us, but I’m guessing we’re going to fnid uot. And it won’t be doog.

• Claims are too often made without evidence. This, I believe, is the residual effect of social media. There’s little room for evidence on channels like X, and the shortened video reality of TikTok makes it worse. Remember the clip of the young woman who argued she was suffering from “time blindness” and begged future employers to understand and give her ADA accommodations for being late?[1] When we don’t need to provide evidence for anything we assert, we lose our ability to argue well and make meaningful change.

  Sound bites are never enough, but that’s how we’ve taught our young people to communicate. Everyone wants the mic drop.
  

  [1] I’m guessing she must also be extraordinarily early at times, given that clocks are something she can neither see nor fathom. So that’s a win.

Clarity of meaning is essential when we communicate with others. It’s especially important during times of crisis and change.

I dread the day when the zombies come for me and the media message is, “So, like, I’m all, ‘Imma need you to keep safe?’ And you’ll do that by not doing what a zombie tells you to? Not that they can talk, or whatever. IDK. Just be careful? And carry a big weapon when you’re, like, outside?”

Or the letter that comes from the tax department, indicating that, “I feel like you didn’t pay last year. And so we have to graniche your wages for the next couple yrs.  You get it. BRB w/more info stay tuned”

Until that day, I will keep battling for clarity, certainty, and prepositions that aren’t dangling. Our public discourse, the trust brands want the public to place in them, and the work we do on a daily basis depend on it.

Like, to the max.