Woohoo: English mutability
The word “mutability” comes from the word “mutation,” and refers to the way things change. When it comes to English, the ability to both absorb other languages and change over time has earned it the reputation of being mutable.
English comes from Romanic and Germanic backgrounds. It spits the harsh consonants of German, and guards the silent letters of French. The phrases, “gazuntite” or “ménage à trois,” sound almost English due to prevalence, but we’re still left to stop and think, if only momentarily, of these root languages.
English words also have the ability to change in meaning with regular use. When we hear a colloquial word taken from a different English culture, we are left to truly listen to the word and decide why that particular sound means what it does.
So, English doesn’t get stale. It stays dynamic, it arouses the ideas behind words, both where they come from and what they mean.
Boohoo: “literally”
“Literally” literally means nothing now.
No matter what, this sentence makes sense. The word is widely used as it has been for the majority of my life: meaning “exactly, actually, truly.” In Google Dictionary, under its definition reads, “used for emphasis [. . .] while not being literally true.” Literally can literally mean “actually” or “not actually.”
I recognize English changes, even for the worse sometimes. But I’m not one of those people who will start crying over text message language. “U” logically replaces “you.” “R” can replace “are.” These aren’t destroying the fundamentals of the language: they don’t make a word simultaneously mean something and its opposite!
Are we taking English too far? I’m not sure.
Maybe what worries me most about this is my reluctance to do anything other than complain about it.
I’m worried by my reaction to a word actually changing: how I want to stop and sit crossed-armed, inwardly scared of the blisteringly fast pace at which the world is changing.
