tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56451385109293718.post3140361749189668861..comments2024-03-28T08:58:30.675-04:00Comments on Passion for the Past: It's Only Words...Our Ever-Changing LanguageHistorical Kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04979801752112100293noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56451385109293718.post-88598141041095768982012-04-16T20:18:30.662-04:002012-04-16T20:18:30.662-04:00I'm sure you are correct Pam. I'm more awa...I'm sure you are correct Pam. I'm more aware of it now.<br />By the way, my ancestors in England were cockney's - I love it!Historical Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04979801752112100293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56451385109293718.post-8086824469815039782012-04-16T14:51:52.121-04:002012-04-16T14:51:52.121-04:00Hi Ken-
I love the changing of language, too. But...Hi Ken-<br /><br />I love the changing of language, too. But in reality, it probably always changed at the rate it does now. As long as people are communicating clearly to each other, changes are inevitable. When you think about it, the lower classes in this country have introduced many of our slang words that have become mainstream, even though we really don't have a class system. In England, the Cockneys have evolved their own complex slang, as they are considered the low class in a very class-structured system. Very interesting!<br /><br />-PamPam of Eastlake Victorianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18149348967860577425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56451385109293718.post-56027124829652154192012-04-03T07:40:00.161-04:002012-04-03T07:40:00.161-04:00From Steve - - - -
Hi Ken, I tried to comment on...From Steve - - - - <br /><br />Hi Ken, I tried to comment on your blog, but it didn't give me anything for the visual verification to prove I'm not a robot, so I'm gonna send the comment this way:<br /><br />Thanks for the great blog and the note about Wolman's book which I'll check out. An interesting thing about that quote from Dickens' The Christmas Carol is that people would talk like that and people had the attention span to take it all in and understand it all.<br /><br />You might be interested in another book called Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. He doesn't so much talk about the history of our language, but about the shift from a print-based language to to our present sound-bite, media snippet language and the effect that has had on our way of perceiving the world. Here's an example he give from part of a speech by Abraham Lincoln: "It will readily occur to you that I cannot, in half an hour, notice all the things that so able a man as Judge Douglas can say in an hour and a half; and I hope, therefore, if there be anything that he has said upon which you would like to hear something from me, but which I omit to comment upon, you will bear in mind that it would be expecting an impossibility for me to cover his whole ground." Whew! That's hard enough to follow in print. Can you imagine that the average person at that time could follow him - and respond in kind if given the opportunity.<br /><br />So, just a long comment to note that our language has changed a lot in the last 150+ years, and not just in terms of vocabulary.<br /><br />Take care,<br />SteveHistorical Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04979801752112100293noreply@blogger.com