Ten language commandments or compersonments: take your pick
So, about the little exchange captured below. Was it a dumb thing to say? Yes. Will conservatives treat it like a war crime for months to come, which is also dumb? Yes. Naturally.
So, ten things.
- Language changes all the time.
- Language changes because society changes.
- Language evolves as people evolve.
- Language changes because no two people experience stuff the same way.
- We changed the anthem last week to make it gender-neutral. No one died.
- But: society shouldn’t have changes in the lingo dictated to them by the powerful. Ask indigenous people about that.
- And: changes to the language shouldn’t be passed along in a patronizing, condescending way. And: MEN, STOP INTERRUPTING WOMEN!
- Also: don’t let language do your thinking for you. Ever, ever.
- N.B.: imposing arbitrary language changes tends to divide people, not unite them.
- His noster maximus anxietas, et bene facis. Which (I think) is Latin for: “If this is all we have to worry about, we’re doing okay.”
Watch Justin Trudeau Correct a Woman To Say ‘Peoplekind’ Instead of ‘Mankind’ https://t.co/FbFn2x3p5m pic.twitter.com/xLbjSTmwNL
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 6, 2018