John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Does texting mean the death of good writing skills? John McWhorter posits that there's much more to texting -- linguistically, culturally -- than it seems, and it's all good news.
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Slash must be a 2013 thing that lasted for exclusively the duration of this TED talk
I've never seen it until this talk
I think BTW, or Oh, would prob be a more common subject changer but same idea.
I've seen people use /s to indicate sarcasm, but that's basically it?
Dr. McWhorter is, in my opinion, the best linguistics teacher around. He is really interesting to listen to, and he can teach you a lot. Not only is there linguistic knowledge and expertise in what he says, but there is also wit and knowledge of what is going on in the world in general. I suggest that everyone purchase and read his many books, and also buy the 4 courses he offers as part of the Great Courses series of The Learning Company. You won’t be disappointed. This man has a lot to teach, and he does so with grace, charm and unbridled efficacy.
PSA: many linguists vehemently disagree with McWhorter on his unsubstantiated claims like one about people using "unadorned" language are uneducated and "basic," that they speak "undoubtedly like when [language] first emerged among people who didn't have writing," or another one that racism "is not an obstacle to people being the best they can be" because black people "will express their grievances and whites will agree that they are racist."
He's very smart but please do not take everything he says as fact, or even debatable within his field.
He's such a great public intellectual
@@LaymansLinguist where did he say that -did he say it like you framed it?
look up any of his columns about race. he's a good linguist but his ideas about racism and discrimination are quite awful in my opinion @@mdef4092
Agree with your statement.
Amazing his take on LOL as an emphatic marker !
Brilliant
Err, empathetic
Yes, it's different but McW literally says, "It's a marker of empathy". So, yeah, Nick Patella is correct. McW means "empathetic marker", not an emphatic marker.
@Sarinitty’s Poems they're different words, but empathy is the word John McWhorter used around 7:30
Not quite a "take" though lol. This is the truth that most Gen Z, and maybe millenials, share already. We're all very aware that saying lol simply means "This discussion is lighthearted"
He's not saying it's not possible to text in proper English. What he's saying is that you should judge texting the way you judge speech, not writing. Young people aren't idiots. One doesn't text one's boss with the same casualness one would text a peer or a friend, just as you wouldn't SPEAK to your boss the same way you would speak to a peer or a friend. If you do know someone who is doing that then yes, they need to be corrected, but I would bet the majority have more common sense.
@rxp56 I think commonsense answers that question.
It's broader than that. He's arguing against prescriptive linguistics, and for descriptive linguistics.
"young people aren't idiots". Like have you, like ever, like heard a teenager, like talk before, like ever?
@@alimanski7941 or he's saying that getting the message across is what matters, or, precedence/shmecedence
pgpyn
I've never used "slash", nor have I heard or seen anyone else use it.
true story
u not using it does not mean it does not exist
I have definitely used it and seen others use it. Sorry for the old response
Me neither.
I think it would be interesting to see the demographics of people who use it. I’ve never heard it used myself, and I spend a lot of time texting and on the internet in general. I wonder if it has anything to do with age group or location
I also didn't know about "slash". For me, "Slash" is still the guitarist from 'Guns 'n' Roses'.
I love how TED talks take huge topics from their respective fields and make them accessible to everyone, like you don't have to be a Linguists to learn from this and I love that.
Linguistics I always thought was about language. To me that also meant communication. Your talk here was about methods of communication and how that impacts our “words”. This talk was about communication moving forward. I am younger than most of (maybe all) of the elected members of our Federal government. I have a decent education. My grandparents were farmers and cowboys. My Nana always said He don’t and she don’t. But she also only had a 6th grade education. She read a learned but that old “he don’t” never left her. My nana also used older terms for many things. Colloquial terms for different times and regions? There is skillet vs. frying pan. To my Nana it was a skillet. Or- spider if it had legs to go over a camp fire. I know my family moved west. Through Ohio, Dakota, Minnesota, Montana. Then in 1930s west ending up in San Bruno
near San Francisco. The stories my nana shared were amazing. My family were Scots. Some were sent here as defeated warriors after Culloden (one of the few not killed) and others as indentured servants. Language and stories were important to us.
wut r u tlkng abt m8
crackthecorn
urite liek a caevmaN.
😂
Bro wtf that’s poggers . Lol 😷 cog Tun long lol
he got the “lol” thing so right lol
lol ikr???
Very interesting. However, I've never heard of or even used "slash".
Same
Slash .. where have you been?
No way how is that possible??
/////
haha don't seem to have caught on
Never heard of "slash" written out.
I listened to him in a language series on Audible... He looks so different than I thought he did. Still a brilliant man... my fav
***** not really... he sounds younger really.
Brandon W yes, I would listen to it while working. it was a great survey of linguistics and helped narrow what linguistics I like to study privately
im a teen (16) and this is super true i use texting slang such as lol all the time and most of the time i don't even realize it or the implications behind it. also there's differences between subtle slang such as "haha" and "ahaha" and the like, or "lolll" and other things that's just come to be so natural for my age demographic that we don't realize it! so interesting, thanks for sharing
I think this is a brilliant view of how communication and language evolves over time. Looking at texting as "fingered speech" and developing multi-lingual skills is a great observation. As a communication instructor, if I can get over the fact that you're not necessarily thinking about punctuation and capitalization while texting, then so can everyone else.
As a communication instructor, can you please give me your take on his use of the word "bi-dialectal?" (@11:53). Seems like dialect is a product of your environment and not something you can toggle back and forth with (Unless you are Hilaria Baldwin, of course... 😃 )
There are always barriers. The point is that some change sticks.
I recommend you read Dr John McWhorter's books. They're the only linguistic books I can recommend to non-linguists, as he is very entertaining and precise. His best works are "The Power of Babel", "Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue" (my favorite), "Word on the Street", and "What Language is (And What it Isn't And What it could be)".
I've never heard of slash, that's a situation when you would normally just send the second part as a different text...
I heard a few months ago that people are actually saying "lol" in conversation. If this is true, then texting really has affected language. Having said that, languages have and always will evolve over time. If you could go forward a couple of hundred years in, say, New York, the language you'd hear would probably be recognisable as English but would sound different due to the influence of a global network of which we are all now part of.
I've never heard of slash... I just transition without that. I use "anyways" instead.
This was a brilliant speech, it gave me a completely new perspective on a subject which I had been too critical about for some time.
This is so interesting! I love how I've heard so many talks that show things from a different perspective. They take something we consider bad and show us how it's just a different form of something good. I love how some things we consider to be evidence of society degrading can actually be seen as society evolving as it usually does.
this is one of the best ted talks i've seen!!
I really don't understand, if texting is limiting/ruining your writing skills you have the capacity to study and expand your grammar, vocabulary etc. if you don't have the capacity you can get help.
if texting is limiting your communication, or face to face, skills then you have to put the phone down and start to slowly get the confidence to talk to people. You can do this by watching videos or getting ideas/opinions from friends/teachers. You have the ability and resources to perfect your communications skills, why make up excuses?
Of course this may not apply to people with anxiety, or other problems, since it may be harder for them.
Also, of course it is easier said than done.
Please correct me if I'm wrong and any other thoughts are welcomed. ^^
Do you agree with old-fashioned book/magazine article reading, talking to people, and putting your phone down (shutting it off)? I bet you do. Your response read like someone who cares about their communication. Unfortunately, the youth of today (and those that grew up in the 90s/2000s, and my peers from the 70s/80s that lacked reading/writing skills) are inarticulate and complacent. Not all, but many. It's not cool anymore to be able to speak or write clearly. Sad.
I agree with his idea of a new language developing. That's definitely plausible. It frustrates me, however, when I see someone writing something so incredibly wrong that it can't be understood. Or even someone writing 'would of' instead of 'would have'. Acronyms and new terms are fine, but I wish people would be more aware of their butchering of language like I mentioned before.
He has phenomenal diction!
He said "non male person" so certainly not so phenomenal.
@@avik4122 May be he meant it as a collective for females, non-binary, trans people?
I could listen to him 24/7! In a time of tRump he is like ICU to the ear and intellect!
He's a professor with a PhD in linguistics so what exactly did you expect? Would love to see all the times you've complimented white speakers on being able to talk.
Kathleen Whitcomb Lol way to make that compliment a racist comment. McWhorter would’ve been against that race-baiting. I’d look up Jon McWhorter’s views on race politics before deeming him a victim of racial oppression. Some people don’t like to be called victims without their consent.
this guys is such a good speaker - great voice
Iv learned from this presentation:
LOL: Is a pragmatic particle.
SLASH: is a texting marker to change a topic.
our teacher said to watch this, so my module brought me here
same
My favorite part of this speech is the point that 'kids these days' sentiments & pessimism is not unique to any particular group or era and can give way to progress and innovation.
Thanks for the input.
I agree with everything here. But I gotta point out: Christopher Hitchens casually spoke in beautiful, eloquent prose paragraphs
I'm sure he means most people under typical circumstances. There always have been and will be highly literate, eloquent, intelligent exceptions.
Macks on a Mission Of course
Ok, but he worked on that. It's an art he developed, not a casual feature of human language.
@@solarprogeny6736 oh of course. I just had to give a shout out to my boy
@@macksonamission1784 Of course
He's quite right about the fact that our writing evolves inasmuch as our speaking, and that texting is essentially fingered speaking.
That problem may occur only if everybody is reducing themselves to text. People write to construct or organize their thoughts about very complicated matters and many people use short forms in writing to get it all down, but that doesn't mean it's reducing their ability to have complex thoughts.
I love McWhorter's lectures
one of the few times that i DON'T regret spending my time on watching the videeo.
I love the various topics that John pays attention to.
I always use the King’s English, even while texting.
I love this guy.
I could listen to this man talk/teach all day.
I think about capital letters and punctuation in texting...but I'm the only person I know who texts in "written English".
Laura C Get to know me. I do that too!
+Laura C One interesting thing is that when you're texting, it's boring to take long writing a long text while the other person sees a "Laura is writing...". You're compelled to deliver your thoughts in smaller chunks of text, each of those being a complete phrase. Since each message is in a different "bubble", the use of dot, for example, is less necessary.
Laura C Likewise!😊
I agree. I often have to ask for standard English because I don't understand the abbreviations.
I do it as well. I have this compulsion with people understanding me, so I'm careful to correct voice dictations and will even end a text conversation with "give me a call" if I'm not getting my point across. I'm sickened by "I don't like talking, I prefer texting" - I hear this from time to time and cannot understand how someone can be that way. I do have the luxury of Google Voice, so I can type my texts on a true QWERTY and have fewer mistakes! My voicemail prompt is also short and sweet and is like the old-fashioned machines - that annoying woman doesn't follow my prompt! No one likes to leave a voicemail anymore and I think it's due to that annoying extra prompt that comes with cellular services. Language and clear communication is critical, and I see that it's eroding our relationships. Teach your children to read at an early age so they continually see examples of proper spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc. They need to be able to articulate their own ideas!
Wow, good ear! I never would've thought that but after you say it, I can definitely hear it too!
This gave perspective. Often we do judge those by how well you "text" to one another. The use of a word vs the amount of commas he used. Also, I don't use lol as much of a marker but more the mood I am in. For example, if I know my text could possibly be taken negatively, I put lol. I never used slash, tho
Interesting talk. The problem I see with the txt to revolution - is that so much of it is a temporary fashion statement, and how it rapidly evolves on a whim, or to reflect what's popular now.
So if I don't have occasion to be firmly plugged in to young people, or pop culture - I can't commnicate properly or decipher properly. This difficulty also be faced by people learning the language as well.
It just seems to be creating even more barriers to being properly understood.
I've always felt this way about internet chat / instant messaging, feels exactly like speaking; seems like a no-brainer, really. I suppose its not quite as obvious with texting, which feels like a heavily constrained version of the former
Lol I see what you did there
if you like it, pursue it. you never know where you'll end up. i started studying linguistics in new york three years ago, and now i'm in korea. i want to write a book about how english has affected korean, and why it matters.
definitely read some books. John McWhorter is one of the few linguists who can keep your attention throughout the book. Whorf is an interesting read, but many of his ideas have been tossed.
I know this is 9 years ago, so you're probably long returned home, but where is it that all the linguists hang out in Korea? Asking for a friend (and my kid).
I honestly LOVE texting. It gives me more time than a real conversation to organize my thoughts. I'm also generally lazy in my correspondence, so I like being able to wait a while before responding.
I ABSOLUTELY HATE texting. Too much room for misinterpretation. Maybe it's just my dry (sarcastic) sense of humor and analytical criticism.
Also, it's much worse when communicating with people with whom there is a cultural difference.
Great STUFF! man that was good! I love me some TED talks!
very intelligent man
Brilliant speaker! I enjoyed the talk very much.
Such a good video! And a really good speaker! :D
My sister and I don't really change subjects when texting. We add subjects. We will talk about multiple things at once. Eventually, a subject will drop off but by then others are added to the conversation.
The Pen has died. Long live the PEN.
For the frst time i respected the txt msg.. a must listen talk for language teachers in school..
great speaker, great talk
We live in the technological era. The development of technology grows at an exponential rate, and we are currently in the wave of constant technological advances that are hugely changing what it means to be a human. We evolved to survive as hunter and gatherers, but now the main thing you have to worry about is how much green paper you can collect by spending most of your existence in some place you don't want to be. This guy was too late to the party, but for the younger people who grew up on the internet, we are different then those who grew up having to looks things up in an encyclopedia...man I could keep going to reach my point but I'm high as a kite on marryhwonna. Give me a thumbs up if you made it this far. Have an excellent day, my friend!
Ya man blaze it
Lost me when John said, "We don't think about capitalization when talk, so why should we when we text..." Because when we text we are TYPING and with the written word, it had been common to be cognizant of capitalization, spelling and context. I still like John though, so much so that I will make sure that I will continue to write his name using capitalization.
In a time of tRump he is like ICU to the ear and intellect!
I'm definitely digging the new intro :)
This encouraged me to keep up with my Spanish.
It's cool man. If you were responding to my other comments in this thread (human improvement and such) I would just say that progress doesn't necessarily mean seeing obvious growth or improvement. There's only so much that's actually physically possible, and it might just be that improvement of life quality is going to necessarily reach a plateau. But really this is a discussion for the other video's comment thread.
Interesting. My and my friends usually use "btw" in this context. Like: "And then I told him that I don't want to see that film. Btw, I bought a new t-shirt today".
Where is this person 8 years later?? Do you still use "btw"?
Very well said, my dear sir. Although I'm pretty much the last person anyone would want to hear from on this video, it has to be said that this is, indeed, very accurate. Most students, me among them, live in a double standard in which we communicate with others. Upon the social aspect, I, for example, would greet with "HAI BEHBI ILU
I wonder if the slash arises from folks using voice to text. they might type a / symbol to change subjects but if they're dictating and say "slash" the v2t might just insert the word there rather than the symbol. then it becomes a thing
I don't think it's quite so modern, but I grew up in the early AOL days and it definitely *did* become more popular along with other tech speak... Really good hypothesis!
Great talk!
Slash? Idk about that one.
Love this! Fantastic thanks!!
"lol" means "I'm done talking with you now"
Hey how are you doing?
I’m 75 now and yes I do regularly text on my phone and tablet but I don’t fall into the trap of abbreviations or emoji’s. Not long ago I ran into my English teacher at a party. She was a real life English Major and to her texting is the beginning of the end of civilization. I told her about a texting exchange I had with one of my nieces where she texted the word Proly instead of Probably. I could see the shudder pass down through her body and her head began to shake.
This man just spoke my mind. Language changes, folks! Don't fight it, embrace it.
Do You still hold that opinion, because seeing how people write words wrongly on purpose now a days makes me wonder if speech is going down the drain like the amount of stupidity going on in the world of the internet now a days, young people seem a lot more lazy and dumb then ever, and their use of words that don’t exist mirrors their stupendous behavior.
Very informative. Slash, I need Slash in my texting.
It's interesting watching this and realizing how texting has changed in the 7 years since it was posted. Saying 'lol' now almost makes you behind the times, like a parent trying to be cool texting with their kid.
Insightful talk.
is anyone watching this in 2020?
How about 2021? Just discovered him on Great Courses Plus. He is a joy to listen to.
nice video, i was actually thinking about the evolution of language through texting the other day.
One of the best TED Talks for a long while
In the spirit of Norma Loquendi (“Consuetudo, jus et norma loquendi…” : The right method of speaking and pronouncing is established by custom... ), one almost has to accept that language usage levels and forms will multiply and ramify with the emergence of new platforms. Those of us who have lived through six or seven decades would be well advised to maintain the closest possible ties with our grandchildren - they may laugh at us, but they can also assist us in our effort to remain au courant.
I see. So "slash" is the new btw.
Awesome talk by an awesome person!
Illuminati confirmed......... This was in my recomended and m..... My last name is McWhorter😶
They're coming for you.
MrC0MPUT3R oh SHIIIIII......
John mcWhorter is a professor of linguistics (Harvard? UChicago?) who did a series of lectures that I listened to. It was the Teaching Company or one of those college course type of things. It was the most fascinating, fun, just plain Interesting 36 hours I have ever spent. I think he has a book out based on the lectures. The main thing I got from it is, language changes always, constantly and it is normal and healthy. Attempts to control language by setting spelling rules and.
Why this amazing speaker reminds me by the way Frank Underwood speaks in the house of cards?
Amazing video!!! Love it so much!!
"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning."
To continue, I'm done. There's no point in continuing this conversation, because ultimately I agree with you.
I just disagree that disliking those conventions is ludicrous. Yes, even if that dislike increases into hatred. At least they're passionate about something. As silly as I find that, I can at least be jealous of their passion. And argue with/or against them, the reasons why they should/shouldn't be angry. Rather than just saying they're being silly.
I don't know about you all but It's killing my oral communication skills too :(
That's an interesting point. Perhaps he would consider that a side effect of becoming, essentially, bilingual. :)
Great talk. Love it
This is too long. I'm texting during it.
Get to the point. We text because we are forced to. Every one takes too long to talk about things that don't matter and aren't funny enough to hold our attention.
What is this slash business.
Right
maybe you should get some ritalin. I've heard that is now trendy in the usa.
teh pwnerer I don't need Ritalin lol I'm a graphic design major which means I can work on one project for 6 hours straight don't you worry about my attention span hun ;) i also use to be in fine art so that was 4 hours spent drawing with a pencil lol
***** Oh please hun..... I doubt you've ever even scratched the surface of the things I think about on a daily basis. I just do it more quickly than most and while I'm doing 5 other things. By all means utilize your time differently than me, and live a life full of drawn out unimaginative speeches.
hydraelectricblue If you actually watched it, you'd know the speaker defends the behavior you value so highly :)
I have to show this to so many people now
I write and text properly out of respect for my reader, and I expect the same respect.
*Things* such as LOL, IDK, IKR, OMG, BTW, BRB, TTYL, LMAO, TF, WTF, et cetera indicate laziness or tiredness of thought. They offer very little insight or intellectual value. If you're so rushed or pressed for the time and energy it would take to say something meaningful, perhaps you should get some rest or focus on your pressing task at hand.
It sounds as though you're begging to be trolled. I guess there aren't enough trolls on a TED video though to get you any replies.
+Adam Wojtczak, what is trolling?
Llewellyn - Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying this!
Llewellyn von Hellen rly its less a matter of lack of time, but more a thing of style - and perhaps increased speed. I dont think or believe that lack of proper grammar or w/e indicates meaninglessness. You are really overthinking things, and sound really condescending while doing so.
What i mean is that you come to wrong conclusions for the wrong reasons.
Read one of his books. Great man!
if we can just ignore @WhatTheHEllFTW grammar for a moment, I would like to point out that he is right. His argument,points and everything he stated is completley right. If you can't understand his last sentence I won't blame you but just try to change the tense of the words, then most probably you would understand.
If you are thinking of closing this video jump to 8:34 and wait a little.. was not too stoked about this talk about but in the end. It was awesome. Slash ordering a makey makey inspired from that other talk.
10/10 for delivery and content.
Guess I could see that. Although I still (when I actually do send messages) still fully type out every word. Now if I'm LOW on battery, and it was ABSOLUTELY needed I MAY use short hand.
So right. I LOVE text, twitter FB and RUclips speak and find it fascinating. I have always thought people who say texting is killing language need to put their critical thinking caps on.
Such a good talk!
day one lecture he's given 100 times. collects check from Ted
Nice talk indeed!
Internet chatrooms have also evolved their own sort of parlance and casual dialogue in written form. When I'm online with people over chat platforms like Discord, we have a mixture of conversational English and chat slang. Some of the people I chat with use more slang then others, and among my group of college aged artist/writer peers online we have a variety of slang that tends to show up more in online chatrooms than in mobile texting conversations like "babbin" or "swol" or "fingerguns" or "chinhands" or even just a good old fashioned "keyboard smash," like so... "amuhvfgdcfrcxzesr."
Yoiks!
wow...great talk!
This man rapidly becoming the one true voice in America. Remember, please, that this man is thoughtful,. kind, and cares about people!
this is a very important talk, and i will link it at many occasions.
it has become too common for people to believe that language ought to be something dead, that is defined once and should not be allowed to vary or - god forbid - evolve in any way.
i'm afraid that this very attitude might kill language, so i am grateful that scientists like John McWhorter speak out against it.