Aug 18
This latest missive from me comes shortly after my successful romp through history, modernity and chaos. Or: just a pretentious way of saying I recently took a trip to the US. Though I spent but just over a week south of the 49th, mine eyes were indeed opened.
Opened to the preponderance of language that permeates in Boston and New York.
Mine ears were opened to the idioms and dialects of “Valley Girl,” “Frat Boy” and every other conceivable form of human species.
Prashant was “shocked” to hear me quickly pick up the language of the Bostonian mass transit system, quaintly called the “T” by locals. When I merely uttered, “Let’s T it,” the look of dismay on his face clearly showed that I had fully assimilated some semblence of local slang.
Likewise, after a few short days in New York, I quickly talked about riding the 6 uptown to the Met, and taking the 7 express to Main Street. To the uninitiated, this language may seem foreign, but makes perfect sense to those in the know.
All of this verbal spewage was sparked in part by an article I read in the New York Times Magazine (Sunday August 15) here: Mouthfuls, by William Grimes. (Viewing this piece requires FREE registration to the New York Times…and if you aren’t already subscribed, do so now!)
Language is an important concept; it allows us to communicate the describable and attempt to decipher the indescribable. How many times have you floundered for a certain word, reduced to flubbering your tongue? How many times have you erased or crossed out a certain word because it’s just not “right”?
Yet at the same time, language involves two of the most important senses we possess: sight and hearing. One unit of language has to be represented in both media; visually and aurally. Without one, the other is merely a whisper in the wind, merely the organization of curiously shaped objects.
Next time you read something, stop, take a step back, and marvel at the wonder that is language. The first step towards evolved thought is to recognize the power of language.
Class dismissed!
