Episode 57: Slanguage

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode explores why language constantly changes and why many “mistakes” are actually normal evolution. Linguist John McWhorter argues that dictionaries create a false sense of fixed meanings, while spoken language naturally shifts across generations. Using examples like literally, LOL, and momentarily, he explains that language change is inevitable, socially patterned, and often tied to fashion and status rather than logic.

Main Topics: Language as constant change (Priority: 5/5): McWhorter argues that no language is static; meanings, sounds, and constructions shift over time as each generation speaks differently. Dictionaries vs. living usage (Priority: 5/5): Dictionaries preserve a snapshot, but they can mislead people into thinking words have one permanent meaning or that written forms are the “real” language. Examples of semantic drift and reanalysis (Priority: 5/5): Words like literally and LOL show how terms can move from literal meanings to intensifiers, discourse markers, or even contronyms. The role of speech and writing (Priority: 4/5): Because language originated as speech, change was rapid and largely unrecorded until writing introduced an illusion of stability. Social norms, fashion, and correctness (Priority: 4/5): McWhorter says grammar rules are often arbitrary social conventions; teaching usage matters, but many ‘errors’ are just what a community currently values. Status, prejudice, and grammar policing (Priority: 4/5): He suggests complaints about language often mask class judgments or a socially acceptable outlet for looking down on others. Humor and acceptance of slang (Priority: 3/5): The episode opens with teen slang examples like lit, turnt, ratchet, on fleek, and LMK to show how youth language continually innovates.

Key Arguments: Language change is inherent to human language; it is not decay but the normal condition of a living language. Dictionaries describe a snapshot in time and cannot capture the full moving reality of speech. Words frequently broaden, narrow, or shift function; literally and LOL are examples of ordinary semantic drift. Many usages labeled incorrect are actually socially conventional, not logically wrong. Teaching standard usage is useful for public communication, but it should be presented as convention and fashion, not moral truth. Grammar criticism can serve as a socially acceptable way to express class or status prejudice. If language did not change, it would be dead; its unpredictability is part of what makes it alive and enjoyable.

Data Points: Number of languages written in any real way: Only a couple hundred; or conservatively about 100 - McWhorter contrasts written languages with the roughly 6,800 languages that are spoken. Total languages referenced as spoken worldwide: 6,800 others - Used to emphasize that language is primarily spoken, not written. Approximate time span of human language use: Tens of thousands of years - McWhorter notes language existed long before writing. Time span of writing compared with speech: A few hundred years / relatively recent - Writing is described as a late development that created an illusion of stability. Book timeline example: 39 to 49 years old - Used in McWhorter’s analogy that a snapshot at one age does not define a person forever. Example of modern language change horizon: 50 years from now / 100 years from now - He suggests we could guess some changes, but many would be random and unpredictable. Reference to a past year: 1971 - He notes people from 1971 would sound odd to us because their use of like differs from current speech. Pop-slang sequence in opening: 11pm, 1am, 2am - A humorous student example contrasts lit, turnt, and ratchet over the course of a night.

Pivotal Quotes: "Language is a parade. And nobody sits at a parade wishing that everybody would stand still." — John McWhorter: Core metaphor for why language naturally changes and should not be treated as fixed. "Dictionaries are wonderful things. But they create an illusion that there's such thing as a language that stands still." — John McWhorter: Explains why written reference works cannot capture living speech fully. "If the language stayed the way it was, it would be like a pressed flower in a book." — John McWhorter: Describes the difference between a dead/static language and a living one.

Implications: Listeners should treat language change as normal, not corrupting. For educators and media, the challenge is to teach standard conventions without moralizing, while recognizing that everyday speech reveals how language actually lives.