Well, another year has started and that means it's time to start collecting quotes and language examples for 2018 English Language. It's a daunting task at first, there's no one great place to find examples, they can come from
anywhere...
So that's where
this thread comes in, we're going to create the gosh darn most beautiful English Language resource ever seen.
When you find a relevant quote, news story, language example, or anything else about language that you find interesting, please, please post it here. The more contributors we have, the better this thread will be; the better this thread is, the more you can gain from it.A big thank you to the following users for contributing:
Joseph41, MissSmiley, TheAspiringDoc
Examples
Suffixation in Australian English:
"Another word I don't want to read or hear any more is "plebiscite", that is, unless we can freshen it up, as we do most annoying words in Australia, with an abbreviation. I vote changing it to plebbo." (from
The Age, published in the hard-copy paper on 2 Jan 2018,
link)
Shows the effect of the classic Australian suffixation, which can "freshen ... up" a word, making it more informal/casual
Australian colloquialisms:
"up the guts", "grunners" (from Tradie underwear ad with Nick Cummins, televised during Jan 2018)
Playful Australian colloquialisms, used to create humour and lower informality, reflect Australian identity of speaker
Conversion of word class:
"They comedy-ed us" (comedian Ben Lomas,
The Little Dum Dum Club podcast, 3 Jan 2018,
link)
Playful use of language, done for comedic effect and entertaining function, could be related to profession/youth identity
Jargon:
"off stump", "cover drive", "hook shot", "short boundaries", "leg side" (all used by Adam Gilchrist while commentating the Big Bash, 10 Jan 2018)
Using cricketing jargon to communicate effectively, perhaps marking social boundaries as well
Taboo language:
Aussie tennis player Nick Kyrgios was fined for swearing at the crowd during his Australian Open game. (
ABC News, 16 Jan 2018,
link)
Taboo language used in an inappropriate setting
Quotes
Prescriptivism:
"Linguistic bugbears are always in the eye of beholder..." (Kate Burridge,
The Conversation, 2 Jan 2018,
link)
Double-speak:
"I've spent fifteen years writing books and articles about the the murder of the language by, the public language at least, by managementspeak and all the rest. I don't it's made a scrap of difference, it just gets worse. Goes deeper and deeper into the culture." (Don Watson,
ABC Overnights, 9 Jan 2018,
link)
Jargon:
"The message from many management gurus is that plain and simple English words are what we need to achieve clear communication, and in the interests of de-jargonising modern corporate-speak we could even revive a few." (Kate Burridge,
The Conversation, 2 Jan 2018,
link)
Politically correct language:
"What we’d say must be politically correct and gender nuanced in order to afford respect to women." (Henry Gray, educator at Charles Darwin University, 3 Jan 2018)
Ethnic variation in Australian English:
"If one in four of us are born overseas, why does almost every media portrayal of this difference, have accents that are more crocodile Dundee than Lee Lin Ching? Or the other end of the spectrum, where we are shown as almost caricatures." (Greens MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi,
The Age, 16 Jan 2018,
link)
"For years new migrants have been adopting Australian slang, but the rest of Australia is now assuming their lingo." Many other relevant quotes, with some good linguist quotes too, in this article. (Abbie O'Brien,
SBS, 16 Jan 2018,
link)
Suffixation in Australian English:
"Australian English is a jumble of abbreviations, diminutives, and what are called hypocoristics." Many other relevant quotes in this article. (Dan Nosowitz,
Atlas Obscura, 4 Jan 2018,
link)