Language Log blog

The Language Log was started out of the Univeristy of Pennsylvania, so, naturally, the bloggers all have Ivy League vocabularies. In fact, it seems as if each post serves to remind readers just that. So, I don't recommend perusing the Log unless you enjoy reading the dictionary in your spare time. I have nothing against the dictionary; but as I read the articles/blogs posted to the website, I found myself wishing that I had gotten to know Webster better. Oh well.

Anyway, the main reason the Log seems to have created is to dissect every phrase, jargon, and misused word. There are definitely some interesting parts to some of the posts, but for the most part, it was hard for a mere journalism student to sit through. Perhaps that has to do with how nearly every blogger subscribes to the same blog structure: Slab huge chunks of text from another author and write a few lines about how a word on the 17th line was the subject of a heated debate. Then, talk about something completely different than what you originally intended. I suppose bloggers are allowed to do whatever they want, but still. Don't intentionally try to lose me, so that only the best and most dedicated language freaks survive the entire post.

still, there are some definite interesting things about the blog. For example, I learned a new slang term from reading one blogger's take on "salted.” Apparently, it’s a third-party insult used by school kids exclusively in the Boston area.

Here's how I think it's supposed to be used:

LITTLE BOBBY

(to Little Joey)

You smell!

Little Joey fights back tears.

LITTLE HORATIO

You got salted!

It’s kind of amusing; I think I may use it myself. But that's not the point of the post. The cool thing was how the blogger used the observations of another author to comment on the slang. The blog's author, Benjamin Zimmer, talks about how the author of the article commenting on "salted" is essentially stroking the egos of Bostonians. I agree. Boston seems to pride itself on having a weird lexicon, so by pointing out how different they supposedly are, the author feeds their egos. Zimmer says of the author whose story he is referencing:

“Baker, however, wants salted to say much more about ‘this city, its people, and our wicked sense of humor.’ Investing so much revelatory power in one particular word can make for a compelling magazine article, but it's another form of pop-Whorfian reductionism nonetheless.”

So basically, the Boston kids who use the term “salted” don’t actually know what the word they’re saying means and from where it originates. And by acting like they are so special, Bostonians are trying to create their own self-fulfilling prophecies. If we tell everyone we're different and unique, maybe people will believe it!

Although i agree with Zimmer, he took way to long to say that. The part I quoted was the last bit of his rather long entry.

my favorite post was talking about how German uses ridiculously long compound nouns. Take Generalstaatsverordnetenversammlungen for example. Mark Twain says it means "General-statesrepresentativesmeetings." Twain was pretty much the entire post, which was great, but kind of defeated the purpose of having a blog by a bunch of U Penn grammar crazies. Still, someone's gotta be the language police.