Language: Evolving or Degrading?

[Scaff]

Well, even diabetics just go for "hypo".

Mrs Scaff would certainly concur on that (and I double dare Liquid to come over and call her Bone Idle)

 

[photonrider]

'Hangry' is a nonce word for now.
There is no definitive meaning - other than what is being touted by those who use it ( 'to be angry with hunger') and so therefore no proper synonym.
No doubt those with hyperpolysyllabicomania will not like the word and prefer to use hypoglycemia (which covers many issues) or other related words - but that word (hypoglycemia) means many things and not just 'angry with hunger'.

I could easily see the following in novels of the future and could also see the nuances of meaning between the words:

Sam wasn't diabetic but she seemed to be displaying symptoms of hypoglycemia.
"What's wrong, Sam?" I asked. "You don't seem to be your usual self."
"STFU!" She was immediately contrite: "Sorry. Just a bit hangry, that's all."
I threw her a Mars bar. In next to no time she was smiling.
"WTF is 'hangry'?" I asked.
"You don't want to know," she replied. "But you did the right thing."

 

[guywithanAE86]

Based on all the complaint threads in GT6, it's degrading badly.

 

[Imari]

 

[Liquid]

'Hangry' is a nonce word for now.

Please tell me what nonce means in Canadian English. If this was a British owned forum, that would be on the swear filter.

No doubt those with hyperpolysyllabicomania will not like the word and prefer to use hypoglycemia (which covers many issues) or other related words - but that word (hypoglycemia) means many things and not just 'angry with hunger'.

Yes, but due to a lack of sugar was the original explanation behind this awful word 'hangry'. So hypoglycaemic, the adjectival form of hypoglycaemia, is pretty accurate.

Of course, you'll sound like an idiot if this comes up in conversation:

"Man, I'm not feeling it today."
"What's up?"
"Dunno man, just feeling a bit hypoglycaemic."

Hilarity ensues.

 

[Wiegert]

Please tell me what nonce means in Canadian English. If this was a British owned forum, that would be on the swear filter.

Doesn't it mean "now" outside the slang definition?

And "hangry" is more of a neologism/portmanteau than a nonce word. Since it's two words combined to give a new meaning rather than a completely random word that's thought up when there's no other word available (though in the case of "hangry", there was another word).

 

[Liquid]

I've honestly never heard of the word nonce to mean anything except paedophile.

 

[Famine]

I've honestly never heard of the word nonce to mean anything except paedophile.

That is, amusingly, a nonce definition of nonce.

"Nonce" almost literally (no pun intended) means "for now". A "nonce word" is one created for a specific instance - see just about any made up word in song lyrics ("pompatus of love") or literature (anything in Jabberwocky) - though commonly they have meanings rather than the similar "nonsense word" which doesn't. But they don't have to.

 

[Liquid]

That is, amusingly, a nonce definition of nonce.

"Nonce" almost literally (no pun intended) means "for now". A "nonce word" is one created for a specific instance - see just about any made up word in song lyrics ("pompatus of love") or literature (anything in Jabberwocky) - though commonly they have meanings rather than the similar "nonsense word" which doesn't. But they don't have to.

That sort of makes sense. Although I did wonder about a possible alternate meaning.

Not ever - never
Not once - ???

 

[Famine]

If I recall, it's derived from "for the once" through a grammatical snafu which made it "for then once" and then "for the nonce".

 

[Liquid]

"for the nonce".

Not a phrase which would go down well in common British speech.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Some people can't even use whole euphemisms for being drunk. Nobody is legless or steaming, instead people are leggo or steamo.

But this might be a localised thing.

It's a Welsh thing, or so it seems, as in "boy-o". I was was once stopped by a nice police officer there who called me "drive-o", I presume she meant "driver". At the time such nit-picking was very much out of the question.

 

[Liquid]

It's a Welsh thing, or so it seems, as in "boy-o". I was was once stopped by a nice police officer there who called me "drive-o", I presume she meant "driver". At the time such nit-picking was very much out of the question.

Not to divert into a British English semantics thread, but that's a South Welsh thing. It's a big country, y'know. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY says "boyo" where I live, whereas they do say leggo and steamo over the border in England. The euphemisms for being drunk being one 'humerous' syllable is part of the aforementioned trend for shorter words and adjectives.

Boyo is a genuine quirk in one or two of the several regions of Wales with their own distinct accents and vocabularies, and the -o suffix does occur in a few of them. I would imagine because -o is a very common suffix in the Welsh language.

It does bother me that 'Wales' is treated in almost all contexts to be homogenous throughout. If we're talking accents that's like me asking where you're from, you saying Somerset (for argument's sake) and me replying with "Wye aye pet!". It's 'England', right?

 

[Dotini]

"for the nonce".

I have used "for the nonce" for over 40 years as a shorter way to say "for the moment" or "for the time being".

 

[ProjectWHaT]

I've never heard or read the word "nonce" before. Maybe it's a regional thing? Like "y'all" and "you guys" and etc.

 

[Brett]

I too have never heard or read the word 'nonce'.

 

[Omnis]

The language is definitely degrading. CBS News broadcast one of its reporters asking John Kerry about the Ukraine deal he helped broker. Her English was terrible. Considering she is supposed to be a professional journalist, I was shocked at how she spoke. I think she ended her question with two prepositions in a row. Wow.

Who needs English, though? I got Swag.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Not to divert into a British English semantics thread, but that's a South Welsh thing. It's a big country, y'know. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY says "boyo" where I live, whereas they do say leggo and steamo over the border in England. The euphemisms for being drunk being one 'humerous' syllable is part of the aforementioned trend for shorter words and adjectives.

Boyo is a genuine quirk in one or two of the several regions of Wales with their own distinct accents and vocabularies, and the -o suffix does occur in a few of them. I would imagine because -o is a very common suffix in the Welsh language.

It does bother me that 'Wales' is treated in almost all contexts to be homogenous throughout. If we're talking accents that's like me asking where you're from, you saying Somerset (for argument's sake) and me replying with "Wye aye pet!". It's 'England', right?

Fair point, although if you said "why aye pet" at wo ad twek ya inya mooth leek. It's still an English thing though, but thank you for correcting be as to the origin of the Welsh thing in more detail! Interesting that a Breton colleague says "mayo" all the time, like we say "erm", she says it's "mais" and the regional "oh" that you often end a sentence with. Given that Northern Breton and Wales have effectively the same language that's quite interesting.

Back on wa main yammer: what about the word thrice?

Anyone who's ordered in a chip shop will know the rule; the difference between asking for "two" and asking for "twice". Two sausage and chips twice, obvious and easy. The problem is that I grew up somewhere where the word "thrice" was also used (for three, in case you didn't know). I found myself trying to get the extra portion that had been omitted from my order in The World's Unfriendliest Chip Shop, far from home, at the head of a queue of irritated locals while I explained that I'd said "thrice", not "twice".

I've never used the word since, today has been a therapy for me thrice over.

 

[DK]

"Boyo" is somewhat used in Ireland, purely in a sporting context, e.g. during a GAA match or a horse race.

 

[Omnis]

Vernacular is fine. The bigger problem is that people in a professional setting that are supposed to be using English are butchering it. There has to be a professional standard where speaking so poorly in journalism/mass media is at least admonished. Would anchors and broadcasters apologize for terrible english as they do when someone curses on air? Some acknowledgement and humility would be refreshing.

 

[Bo]

I'm one of the only ones at my school whose speech contains things officially recognised as words.

 

[Liquid]

The language is definitely degrading. CBS News broadcast one of its reporters asking John Kerry about the Ukraine deal he helped broker. Her English was terrible. Considering she is supposed to be a professional journalist, I was shocked at how she spoke. I think she ended her question with two prepositions in a row

That's something I really wouldn't put up with.

 

[Omnis]

That's something I really wouldn't put up with.

Hehe

 

[photonrider]

This discussion literally makes me howl, literally.

 

[GBO Possum]

The language is definitely degrading. CBS News broadcast one of its reporters asking John Kerry about the Ukraine deal he helped broker. Her English was terrible. Considering she is supposed to be a professional journalist, I was shocked at how she spoke. I think she ended her question with two prepositions in a row. Wow.

Who needs English, though? I got Swag.

That's something I really wouldn't put up with.

That's something up with which I would not put.

 

[Omnis]

That's something up with which I would not put.

Please don't ruin Liquid's brilliant response.

 

[Liquid]

That's something up with which I would not put.

I literally stand corrected.

 

[Vegard]

The language is definitely degrading. CBS News broadcast one of its reporters asking John Kerry about the Ukraine deal he helped broker. Her English was terrible. Considering she is supposed to be a professional journalist, I was shocked at how she spoke. I think she ended her question with two prepositions in a row. Wow.

Who needs English, though? I got Swag.

What are you observing here?
The degradation of language, or, the degradation of journalism?

 

[Omnis]

Both. Duh.

 

[Vegard]

Both. Duh.

Do you think they're connected?
I see them as connected shadows on the wall, cast by the same entity; western decadence.

Then again; what do I know? I'm just a caveman.