19 December 2012
Hello. The word Hello was invented as something to say for people picking up and answering the telephone. Invented. So then why aren't waggwan, rast and nutter REAL English words? They too were invented. Is it because of convention? Is it because 'waggwan' as a greeting is not used as often as 'Hello'? Or is it because it is more modern? Exactly what aspect of 'waggwan' as a word being used today separates it from the "more real" 'hello'?
It's slang, Okay; it's of a colloquial register and specific only to london dialects but nevertheless it is a word used and understood in England, by English people, but yet is not a constituent of the English Language.
Who defines these rules? What makes language have meaning? Words only have meaning within their sentence (within a context) and outside of that words don't really have an objective definition (meaning can change with accent or tone etc.)
If my friend and I jointly assign a sound, not a word but more of a clicking noise, to mean 'a book', and we both understand and can use the new 'word' - does that then make it a part of the English language?
What if I got over half the UK population to understand this clicking noise as meaning 'a book' and 14million people commonly used it alongside other words in the English language in everyday speech.
If the majority of our population understands and uses a new word commonly in their daily speech does that then make it part of our language?
I love language and trying to explore how we use it.
Stay posted for some awe-inspiring Words of the Moment. Today's Word: Pandiculation: the state of stretching and yawning at the same time; I pandiculate; he/she pandiculates; 'look over there she's undergoing pandiculation'
Words Of The Moment • Opuss № I