#Language evolves

[nerdygaymormon]

[amikyle]

Something occurred to me about neopronouns. I was talking with a friend who uses he/they about pronouns and how they think their pronouns are boring, while I think it’s nice that he has pronouns that are socially recognized as pronouns whereas my e/eir/em use gets multiple questions and debates. Despite them being around for over a century. Which made me think about words that entered the English language in the last 100 years. That people use without batting an eye.

So here’s my (slightly bitter) list of words to use the next time someone says they can’t wrap their head around older words:

- TV/ television

- microwave (yes technically the word existed, but not in the modern definition)

- bikini (again, only the Atoll existed until the invention of the clothing garment)

- LCD (the words existed separately, but never as an acronym together)

- computer (which changed definition from a human to a machine)

Feel free to add more. I only gave this a few seconds of thought so I might add more later

[quinloki]

It’s wild how young some words are, or, maybe, how old I am xD

Anyway, here’s a link to Merriam-Webster’s website for what year a word first showed up in print. (English only, I think, feel free to share if you know of other languages for this!)

But some of these floored me because I didn’t realize certain concepts and technologies were coming into print the same year I did 😳

Lookup what year you were born and see what words surprise you.

[clancyreinhart]

If we learned anything from 2024 American Dialect Society Word of the Year "rawdogging", just because the initial use of a term was sexual, that for mean it can't expand through usage.

I cannot begin to explain to you the disappointment I felt on finding out that “match my freak” was a sexual thing and not a level of how insane you are with your friends

[creature-once-removed]

.

[pangur-and-grim]

[mallardgryph]

i would argue that a lot of the words that are traditionally considered swear words, fuck, shit, cunt, etc etc are not really the taboo words they once were, and we have new swear words now. ones that i certainly won't repeat. ones that are actually offensive to marginalised groups. i think those things being taboo is far more important than..... words like fuck. Oh no, a reference to intercourse! How vulgar.

You know what really fucking Annoys Me about internet censorship is stuff like swear words being heavily censored because that's entirely an American cultural hangup being forced on the rest of us. I don't know a single country where swearing is as taboo as it is in America. In fact most languages have swear words that would have the same effect on an American as giving a Victorian chimney sweep a pepsi max cherry.

[weaverofink]

oh shit metal stole tails' speak & spell

[ohitslen]

Living together.

The snail video if you are interested :)

[elizabethan-memes]

"Why is English so full of irregular verbs and counterintuitive pronunciation" because we made a deal with the devil in exchange for ungendered nouns* and a one-size-fits-all definite article.

"It wasn't worth it" as I said. A deal with the devil.

*except ships.

[21st-century-minutiae]

Raspberries are a popular fruit common in 21st century grocery stores. They are often sold in recyclable, single use, plastic cartons. While they are in season in the mid to late summer, they are often sold year round in grocery stores, with their prices rising when out of season.

Raspberries can be eaten raw, or baked into jams/sauces, or mixed into smoothies, or used as decorative edible finishes for dessert items. Raspberry jams are often served with chocolate. They are extremely convenient to eat as they do not require peeling and their seeds are easily digested without issue.

Raspberries are usually juicy, and quite sweet with a hint of sour, though the particular flavor varies based on how ripe they are.

Denizens of the early twenty-first century will know what raspberries are. It might even be their favorite fruit.

~ Red and Green ~

[dimetrodone]

Trying to brainstorm ways for electroreception based languages could work practically (spec bio wise, not humans lol), but the range for it sensory wise seems pretty limited (compared to vocal and visual communication which you dont need to be right beside a person to communicate with them)

[thevalleyisjolly]

It's a minor detail but I'm so emotional over Doctor Who making the universal human language in the future based on Cantonese.

[neechees]

White person making fun of aave but chalking it up to "weird" tiktok speech & then defending themselves by saying its about "how language evolves" when rightfully told that what they just said was antiblack

[christinaroseandrews]

Okay but, you do understand that what you have described with how ravage is being used now is how ravish was being used back in the 19th century. As you said, "ravish" used to mean to rape and now it does not. What you're seeing is in real time the process that a language goes through to add a different meaning to a word.

Language changes. Evolves. Words that meant one thing in the past means something else completely now. And this literally is how language does that. It's done it with "literally" which now has the meaning of figuratively in it's definition. Look at the second meaning.

This isn't a homophone situation where somebody has confused "waste" with "waist" and "vial" with "vile." And while some people might be using it "incorrectly" if the meaning is able to come through without breaking the majority of readers' immersion then the author hasn't failed. They have communicated their thoughts effectively. Which is really all language is.

Being pedantic about language and grammar throws up barriers to authors which really can stifle an emerging artists growth. There is proof of this, and it even showed up in an episode of Adam ruins everything about school. https://www.trutv.com/shows/adam-ruins-everything/season-2/episode-6/adam-ruins-what-we-learned-in-school

Let the person whom the artist has chosen be the one to help shape their story. In the case of a novel that has been written for monetary gain AKA published on places like Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Apple, then it is your right as a reader to point out in a review that the author has you feel used language incorrectly and might benefit from a better copy editor. But I am going to tell you that as a professional editor that this "error" is not really that big of a deal. I likely would flag it if I were doing a copy of it with a question of "did you mean x word?" But if the author chose not to change it I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

One final point I want to make has to do with how writing is being done nowadays. Many authors, including professionals, are writing using talk to text whether it be through a program like Dragon or on their phone. And these programs are ridiculously terrible at understanding words that come out of people's mouths. In fact, I am currently using my phone to write this post, and I have had to go back numerous times to correct something weird that talk to text has gotten it wrong. Additionally, as @thebibliosphere has pointed out, programs such as Grammarly, pro writing aid, and even Microsoft's built-in grammar & spell check are now flagging things that are correct as incorrect. And in some cases even changing things without the author's permission. I have absolutely had my word processing program make changes to something I was typing. It did it as I was typing this. And I have had to go back to change it because I either wanted the incorrect or what it changed it to was not what I was trying to type. But many people trust these programs to be correct. They trust them more than they trust themselves. So in some instances you might be penalizing an author who really did mean to use the correct word but either the program in which they are typing changed it/messed it up or the program that they use to help keep their language consistent screwed them over. It happens. I see it everyday.

I guess ultimately what I'm trying to say is that language evolves and it's important be tolerant toward your fellow authors. This goes quadruply so for authors who are creating fanworks.

And that's all I got to say about that.

Ravage /= Ravish and I am begging every writer to learn the difference

In its current sense, ravish means "to overwhelm someone sensually or sexually." Before the 20th century it meant "to rape," and more originally "to seize and carry off." Today ravishing someone, or part of someone if you want to use it as a transitive verb, means you're making someone feel overpowered or overcome by the intensity of your erotic attentions.

Ravish no longer denotes or connotes nonconsent or any unwillingness on the part of target (unless you use it as an intransitive verb and make it clear from context that you mean it in the old-timey rapey way), but its history as a word for rape leaves it with two unavoidable connotations and an optional third:

That the ravisher is inflicting something on their partner, and it's overpowering. Submission, pleasure, love, affection, sensation. Kisses, touches, worship.

That the action the ravisher is performing will leave their partner in a weaker state than they were before. Someone who has just been dealt with ravishingly is left debauched, wrecked, undone, forgetting themselves, overwhelmed.

That the ravisher is taking something from the being ravished or forcing them to give something. This connotation only appears if you use words and show actions around your use of ravish to show that this is what you mean. The result is despoiled.

Meanwhile ravage means "to destroy" or "to cause extensive damage to." Devastate is its closest synonym in meaning per Merriam-Webster. Ravaging is what bears and tigers and big sharks do to people and what hurricanes and forest fires and dragons do to cities. It is not inherently a sexual word: if you are ravaging a person, you are causing them grievous physical harm.

Unless your character is literally tearing off their partner's lips, they're probably ravishing their partner's mouth with kisses. Unless they're ripping out chunks of scalp, their fingers are probably ravishing their partner's hair. They kiss and bite their way up their partner's throat ravishingly. But! When they've finished fucking, the bed and sheets may be ravaged.

I know ravage has become a popular verb to use to describe intense erotic actions, but I am begging you, writers--on my knees if that's how you want me--to resist the conflation of these two terms! They're both valuable words with distinct meanings, connotations, and echoes, and collapsing them into one meaning doesn't just add a weird jarring note of severe injury to your sex scene, it robs you as a writer of two gorgeous, terrible, fascinating words.

[hawnks]

The thing about romance novels is that everyone loves to hate on them but they WILL save your life if you let them