Who is responsible for the greatest change to our language? Teenage girls

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-04/teenage-girls-linguistics/104160082

by Tomte • 2 years ago

38 41 2 years ago

abc.net.au

deafpolygon• 2 years ago

So can I assign the responsibility of coming up with "skibidi toilet" to women in general, then?

hkpack• 2 years ago

Rizz up, bro. Your post gives big yikes vibes.

qingcharles2• 2 years ago

Flew too close to the sun, giving me that ickarus.

hun34• 2 years ago

With all due respect, I regret to inform you that your linguistic trendiness has been mogged (blud is seething rn) and your sanity fanum taxed by W rizzlers ong fr fr so scuff no cap

hun34• 2 years ago

(Disclaimer: this is a joke)

crucialfelix• 2 years ago

Didn't you read the article? No cap is out. Even I, a middle aged ex-hipster knew that. ;) (I know, emojis are so over)

I was in Paris and somebody was complaining that that the kids were saying "en vrai" all the time. I explained to her that it's "for real" which is one of my favorite 200x era hip hop phrases.

Most slang goes way back. "Cool" is 1930s black jazz culture, and now every white grandma say it without it even sounding odd.

wrp• 2 years ago

When I worked in Japan, I heard much comment about linguistic innovation among teenage girls. I had the impression that it was more extreme in Japan than other countries, but maybe not.

With linguistic change driven mostly by females, I wonder what this indicates about societies that are or were linguistically conservative, also whether there was a difference between literate and pre-literate societies.

srik• 2 years ago

More tangibly, kawaii culture is one of the most influential cultural revolutions to ever emerge primarily from teenage girls; so Japan is indeed a great example here.

WJW2• 2 years ago

Makes sense. It has been well documented by linguists for decades that women both communicate more than men and also on average use a bigger vocabulary to communicate more precisely. Teenage girls in particular spend more time together than older women, as they don't yet have things like work and parenting to distract them.

It makes sense that the majority of linguistic innovations comes from the most capable practitioners.

082349872349872• 2 years ago

for sure —MUZ

(In my headcanon "super" had come into common use ca.2000, but now I see it was already extant at least two decades earlier: "It's like so bitching 'cause like everybody's like super-super nice")

Ferret7446• 2 years ago

use a bigger vocabulary to communicate more precisely

I contest this point. Dumping /dev/random to stdout does not imply more meaningful communication. I know many people who are fond of saying a lot of words whilst saying nothing at all.

infp_arborist• 2 years ago

So I am guessing if we teach teenage girls (and future mothers) nonviolent communication, we will have peace in our communities in a couple of generations?

krona• 2 years ago

If by 'peace' you mean the coercive control, manipulation and emotional exploitation of those around you, perhaps.

orwin2• 2 years ago

This is a dark view on non violent communication. I don't think it is as useful as it's proponents says, but surely you give it way more power and intent that those techniques really have, no ?

evilfred• 2 years ago

sure, just watch Clueless

RubberbandSoul• 2 years ago

or listen to Valley Girl by Franc Zappa

drewcoo• 2 years ago

Frank.

And the valley girl voice was his daughter, Moon Unit.

Here they were on Letterman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijg2_vVyu0Q

cenamus• 2 years ago

rty32• 2 years ago

>> Gretchen: "That is so fetch!"
>> Regina: "Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!"

So now we know there is some linguistic context to that conversation.

physicsguy• 2 years ago

Slay

orangepanda• 2 years ago

If you're on … a train or a bus, what you should do is position yourself as close as possible to a group of young women

No, I don’t think I will

watwut3• 2 years ago

How to look like a creep 101.

qwery2• 2 years ago

I was almost surprised that anyone printed that 'advice' but then I remembered it's ABC News Online, Australia's most trusted news service. It's probably a misquote and/or the person who they thought they were quoting actually died three years ago and had a completely different name.

In any case, barf me out. No way. Gag me with a spoon.

thelastparadise2• 2 years ago

Barf me out too, indeed.

latexr• 2 years ago

It gets funnier:

(…) position yourself as close as possible to a group of young women and then shut your eyes and listen.

Like a cartoon character faking being asleep. Yes, I’m sure those teenagers won’t find that creepy or weird at all and will continue speaking as if you weren’t there.

Though in fairness, they’re quoting a woman. Maybe the interviewer was also a woman and they were really speaking one-to-one, not thinking that specific section would be quoted.

guenthert• 2 years ago

Teenage girls? Fer sure, totally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb21lsCQ3EM

zmgsabst• 2 years ago

What happens if you include image memes? ie, the dominant mode of chatter in male circles.

I’m not sure how you’d quantify generic “meme rate of change” though, across such disparate mediums.

fakedang• 2 years ago

Yeah sure, bussin' fr no cap.

dist-epoch2• 2 years ago

Phrases that are "out": no cap

Time to update, ser

dist-epoch2• 2 years ago

"Women seem to have an innate linguistic ability that's superior to men's," she says.

Imagine saying that, but in reverse.

WJW2• 2 years ago

"Men seem to have an innate tallness ability that is superior to womens'?"

What is wrong with that? You seem to be trying to make some sort of American culture war argument out of something completely uncontroversial.

qwery2• 2 years ago

You might also be interested in Dr Geoff Lindsey's video on 'vocal fry'[0] which is a linguistic phenomenon also associated with young women (although it isn't that simple). Dr Lindsey's channel is totally bitchin' like you wouldn't believe. You'll love it! I'm sure.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0yL2GezneU

qingcharles2• 2 years ago

Dr Lindsey's channel is totally bitchin' like you wouldn't believe.

On god fr fr no cap.

ddmf• 2 years ago

When you mentioned vocal fry and I saw a YT link I thought I was going to see this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHHt-tYS2es

It's a shame it didn't get renewed.

mnk47• 2 years ago

Often slang has originated from marginalised groups such as the queer community or POC (People of Colour).

And that hasn't changed, that is still exactly the case. When it's not 4chan lingo (which mostly stays in text/image form), it's AAVE. Not sure why it's always "Gen Z" or teenage girls getting credit for this.

Just look at their list of phrases that are "in":

Phrases that are "in"

Bet — 'I'm down'. For example, if someone asks you to go out for dinner, you say 'bet' You devoured/ate — said in response to someone succeeding with style Full send — not caring, just going for it Slaps — If something slaps, it's really good (normally in a food context) Ceebs — a variation of CBF [can't be f*ked] Ick — a sudden feeling of grossness, often about a person's behaviour or mannerisms

out of these, only "Ceebs" (sounds like the a twist on "can't be arsed") and "Ick" aren't AAVE.

And the list of phrases that are "out":

No cap — the truth Lit — something is great, but now considered very "2017-2018" Fam — used in reference to friends Slay — used when someone performs well, but considered dated and you'd only use the term ironically

These are all AAVE.

Who is responsible for the greatest change to our language? Teenage girls

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