Guest Writer
Is society influencing your vocabulary?
Have you ever wanted to go to the metaverse? Wait, did you think the metaverse was related to the multiverse theory? Well, you'd be surprised to know that this word has been around since the late 1990’s to describe a virtual reality space where users can interact with a computer- generated environment. Virtual reality has become a recent trend in the gaming world, maybe if you are a gaming pro you may refer to the metaverse more than someone who prefers board games. Maybe if you watch popular youtubers like Markipler with his more famous videos of Help Wanted and FNAF (Five Nights at Freddies) - videos which are in VR (virtual reality), you may know the metaverse. These videos have become very popular, creating a rocket in the usage of this word. Linking to the s curve model by Chen and Bailey, which describes the usage of a word through a graph, sometimes these words may drop. Maybe one day in the future we will live in the metaverse? Or maybe you are the type of person to use “Karen” to describe an angry middle aged woman who likes to complain. People of today's generation may be in shock to know that “Karen” is actually a normal name. But the connotations of the once popular name has now become an insult that will be stuck with you for the rest of your life. Or maybe you just like the name Karen? This is a prime example of Pejoration which is when words start to have a more negative meaning compared to what it used to mean.
Political correctness is hugely important in today's society. As the world changes, so does language changes so that individuals don't feel discriminated against. If one person steps out of line and starts saying something that can be put into a context of being racist, homophobic and sexist, it can change someone's career and reputation. However, we have the reclamation system, where communities can reclaim words that were once used against them and use them in their culture and/or community. For example, the LGBT+ community, particularly gay people, have reclaimed the F-slur and sometimes use it to describe themselves, but not all the time, people prefer not to use it. I feel this is a good way to express their culture.
Language doesn't define you… but the way you use words do. When you were little did your parents ever swear in front of you and then when you repeated the word they would scream at you and lecture you about using those very words. Well, likelihood is that now you sound like a sailor and are f-ing and blinding… or maybe you waited until you were with the “lads”, as they say nowadays, and you let it all out. But back in the day if you swore you’d get a telling off. However, in today's society, swearing is pretty much normal. Maybe because you swear you feel “cool” or seem “cool”, but to the older generation you need discipline and some respect, this could be due to the difference of socialisation of communities. Older generations may have been more likely to have been brought up around respect, whereas younger generations now don't have that same discipline. You can't really win.
Language doesn't define you, it's the society we live in. Society is the one to blame for the language change. Language change is inevitable, it's always going to happen. This links to the theory by Crystal, who describes language change like a tidal wave; it's impossible to stop. People change, cultures/societies change, therefore something is going to be different.
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