Definition-Temporal

Posted on February 27, 2024 by temporal111

Elitist Language

Oftentimes, people might tell you that you’re speaking incorrectly, or that your language is inappropriate or impure. However, this doesn’t have any meaning outside of pure elitism. Most attempts at trying to purify language is a result of the wealthy upper class not accepting the language of the poorer class.

For example, MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who revolutionized the filed of linguistics at a young age, was once asked in an interview what, say, the French theorists mean when they say they want to keep the French language pure. “That doesn’t mean anything” (Chomsky, 1989) was his response. Language is extremely subject to change and evolution. Chomsky goes on to explain that in fact, for most of history, and even in many places today, people speak a different language than the people in the next village over, and the concept of a national language is a modern phenomenon. Because language will naturally evolve anyway, there is no point in trying to control it, and there is especially no point in trying to purify it considering some forms of language to be “impure”, whatever that means, based on things like social class.

An example of how the phenomenon specifically is targeted towards the common man is through the etymology of the word “vulgar”. You might be familiar with the word vulgar to mean disgusting or vile, and it certainly does hold that connotation, but its original meaning was simply “common” (etymonline, 2024), so essentially, a word to mean common was also the word to mean vile and gross. The reason why the word holds this meaning was because the language and habits of the common people was seen as less refined, and that connotation has stuck with the word ever since. Similarly, curse words were seen as vulgar, and the language of the common man, and thus, inappropriate, and that convention is still around today. 

Another huge example of this is the idea of curse words, which are words that are deemed to be inappropriate in certain circumstances. By inappropriate, I mean that if you were to say one of these words at a formal social event, it would be considered rude or inappropriate. Some of these words include but are not limited to: “fuck”, “shit”, “piss” and “ass”. You’ll notice that these words can all be expressed as words with the same meaning, but for some reason are not considered to be inappropriate. Examples of these words, respectively, are: “intercourse”, “feces”, “urine”, and “gluteus maximus”. Now, it may seem strange that there can exist such words that are inappropriate not because of its meaning, as the meaning of words are seemingly their only important property. The origin of these words has to do with the merging of languages throughout history, as well as the role that language plays in social classes. Note, I will not be explaining the history of some other curse words that are more offensive, as their history and origin differ from the ones I will be explaining, that is curse words that have the same meaning as certain non-curse words.

The reasons for why the lower and upper class differ in language varies, but one important example is the battle of hastings. This battle took place in 1066 between the Normans (norse/french people) and the Anglo Saxons (the ancestors of the modern day english), and the Normans were the successors. As a result, the Norman king Edward was now the ruler of England, and thus, the Normans were the ruling class, and the anglo saxons were the poor working class. (Vizarra, 2019). Now, due to the merging of these cultures, the languages also merged, changing the English language. An example of such change is the words used for food. The English were the working class, and thus, were the ones who would farm, and so the words that were used for animals come from  anglo saxon origin, such as cow or pig. However the norman elites were the ones being served the food, and so the words used for the animal once it was cooked and prepared were the words that the normans used for those animals, like beef and pork, both of norman origin. The english words were considered less refined, and sometimes, so bad, that they developed into curse words; like the word shit for example, of Anglo Saxon origin (Dent, 2018).

It’s not just curse words that this happens too. The word “ain’t” used to be considered proper, believe it or not. But then, “ain’t became associated with lower-class characters” (Thesaurus.com, 2019). And now, ain’t is associated with the lower class, improper grammar, and isn’t really even considered to be a word. However, you’ll notice that it’s literally just a contraction that means “not”. This just goes to show that time after time, elites will consider certain forms of language (typically that of the poorer class) to be improper for no good reason whatsoever, and that these norms are carried throughout time, usually unquestioned.

Curse words tend to form around taboo subjects. As (Orlando 2023) put it, “profanity can also come from language involving sex and sexual acts, as well as bodily functions.” This mean that they do form naturally, it’s not all just the doing of elitism, however, elitism clearly exasperates it and creates more ideas of purity in language than necessary.

So in summary, people in power tend to try and control or purify language, seemingly out of an unwillingness to accept other cultures. curse words tend to originate from touchy subjects, but can also be formed and exasperated based on the same concept, by the conventions of the upper class, or in other words, the elites being repulsed by the terrible foul language of the common man. So the next time you feel bad about using a curse word, or that your grammar is “improper” just remember that its vulgarity was completely made up by Norman aristocrats one thousand years ago, and there really isn’t such a thing as proper grammar.

References

Chomsky, N. (1989). Noam Chomsky: upon reflection interview with al page The Concept of Language (Noam Chomsky) (youtube.com)

Dent, S. (2020, October 9). Susie Dent: how English swear words went away from the holy and back to the shit again. inews.co.uk. https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/susie-dent-english-swear-words-171621#:~:text=The%20word%20comes%20from%20%E2%80%98scitte%E2%80%99%2

Dictionary.com. (2019, August 11). Why Is “Ain’t” Such A Controversial Word? Thesaurus.com. https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/aint-amnt-haint-baint/

Orlando, A. (2023, September 5). The history of swear words: Where the &%@! do they come from? Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-history-of-swear-words-where-the-and-do-they-come-from

Vizarra, I. ( 2019, October 14). Battle of Hastings: The War that Changed the Course of English Language Forever. Medium. https://medium.com/@ianvizarra/battle-of-hastings-the-war-that-changed-the-course-of-english-language-forever-c85f3d1269b7

vulgar | Etymology of vulgar by etymonline. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/vulgar C%20%E2%80%98excrement%E2%80%99%20%28and%20not%2C,majority%20of%20swear%20words%20are%20Anglo-Saxon%20in%20origin.

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4 Responses to Definition-Temporal

  1. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    March 2, 2024 at 9:40 am

    Before I even read it, I’m inclined to enjoy any essay that cites both Noam Chomsky and Susie Dent.

    This little nugget from Dent caught my eye right away:

    Indeed every century’s attempt to eradicate objectionable words has failed, simply because there is no utopia devoid of the emotions that prompt them

    (By the way, don’t pick up any bad punctuation tips from the English Dent. She puts her periods OUTSIDE her SINGLE quotes, two obscene gestures we fought a Revolution over, . . . and won.)

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  2. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    March 2, 2024 at 9:43 am

    Thanks for requesting Feedback, Temporal. I’m eager to get started.
    But first, some business:

    1. I made some style revisions already, to your Title and the word “References.” Please observe these changes and incorporate them into future essays.
    2. MAKE NO CHANGES TO THIS POST YOURSELF.
    3. WHY?
    4. BECAUSE YOU’LL NEED A CLEAN FIRST DRAFT FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO.
    5. INSTEAD . . .
    6. Copy and paste the complete contents of this post into a new post you will call Definition Rewrite—Temporal.
    7. Make all your revisions to the NEW POST.
    8. At the end of the semester, you’ll put BOTH the original draft AND the rewrite into your Portfolio to demonstrate that you revised your work in response to feedback.
    9. I’ll leave the first round of feedback here.
    10. But all the rest of our business will take place on the Rewrite.

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  3. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    March 2, 2024 at 11:05 am

    Oftentimes, people might tell you that you’re speaking incorrectly, or that your language is inappropriate or impure. However, this doesn’t have any meaning outside of pure elitism. Most attempts at trying to purify language is a result of the wealthy upper class not accepting the language of the poorer class.

    —This will need some clarity.
    —”I don’t not disremember nothing I might not do last night” is flat-out incorrect and can’t be dismissed as an elitist overreaction.
    —I will hope to wean you completely from the use of second-person language (“might tell you that you’re speaking”) by May.

    For example, MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who revolutionized the filed of linguistics at a young age, was once asked in an interview what, say, the French theorists mean when they say they want to keep the French language pure. “That doesn’t mean anything” (Chomsky, 1989) was his response.

    —I will also dissuade you strenuously from using parenthetical citation tags. You’ve identified Chomsky already as your source. If you need to mention the interview or the title of an article in your text, that will be the way to distinguish between multiple sources.

    Language is extremely subject to change and evolution. Chomsky goes on to explain that in fact, for most of history, and even in many places today, people speak a different language than the people in the next village over, and the concept of a national language is a modern phenomenon. Because language will naturally evolve anyway, there is no point in trying to control it, and there is especially no point in trying to purify it considering some forms of language to be “impure”, whatever that means, based on things like social class.

    —This is fine as far as it goes, but you’ve started two arguments without reconciling them, which would seem a simple job.
    —1. People will object to “your” language as “incorrect” if they consider your word choice vulgar.
    —2. Language is local and evolves so that differences occur naturally in both time and space.
    —The claims are neither complementary nor contradictory, so how do they relate?

    An example of how the phenomenon specifically is targeted towards the common man is through the etymology of the word “vulgar”.

    —Which phenomenon?
    —Get that period inside the quotation marks. This is America. 🙂

    You might be familiar with the word vulgar to mean disgusting or vile, and it certainly does hold that connotation, but its original meaning was simply “common” (etymonline, 2024), so essentially, a word to mean common was also the word to mean vile and gross.

    —Lose the parenthetical citation marker.
    —Lose the second person.
    —You’ve said almost precisely the same thing twice in one sentence, once before and once after the parentheses.

    The reason why the word holds this meaning was because the language and habits of the common people was seen as less refined, and that connotation has stuck with the word ever since. Similarly, curse words were seen as vulgar, and the language of the common man, and thus, inappropriate, and that convention is still around today.

    —Again, that’s two sentences to do the job of one.

    Another huge example of this

    —Example of what?

    is the idea of curse words, which are words that are deemed to be inappropriate in certain circumstances. By inappropriate, I mean that if you were to say one of these words at a formal social event, it would be considered rude or inappropriate.

    —I see the value of placing the language in a formal/informal context, but you’ve already described the words themselves as vulgar and inappropriate, so you’ll want a more pointed transition to words that are vulgar EVERYWHERE (your first claim) to words that are rude IN PLACES (your second claim).

    Some of these words include but are not limited to: “fuck”, “shit”, “piss” and “ass”.

    —Punctuation. We won the Revolution.

    You’ll notice that these words can all be expressed as words with the same meaning,

    —That’s not what you mean.
    —They can all be expressed USING WORDS THAT HAVE the same meaning.

    but for some reason are not considered to be inappropriate. Examples of these words, respectively, are: “intercourse”, “feces”, “urine”, and “gluteus maximus”.

    —You know what I’m going to say here.

    Now, it may seem strange that there can exist such words that are inappropriate not because of its meaning, as the meaning of words are seemingly their only important property.

    —Ummmm . . . .
    —Does it seem strange that the person married to your mother would react differently to being called Father, Dad, Daddy, Pops, Male Progenitor, Old Man or motherfucker?
    —It’s something, but it’s not strange.

    The origin of these words has to do with the merging of languages throughout history, as well as the role that language plays in social classes. Note, I will not be explaining the history of some other curse words that are more offensive, as their history and origin differ from the ones I will be explaining, that is curse words that have the same meaning as certain non-curse words.

    —I can’t tell from that sentence which type you plan to explain and which type you don’t.

    The reasons for why the lower and upper class differ in language varies, but one important example is the battle of hastings.

    —What’s up with the lower-case proper names in this paragraph? It seems deliberate, but dangerous, if it goes unexplained, in an essay that demands we pay strict attention to words.

    This battle took place in 1066 between the Normans (norse/french people) and the Anglo Saxons (the ancestors of the modern day english), and the Normans were the successors. As a result, the Norman king Edward was now the ruler of England, and thus, the Normans were the ruling class, and the anglo saxons were the poor working class. (Vizarra, 2019). Now, due to the merging of these cultures, the languages also merged, changing the English language. An example of such change is the words used for food.

    —This section could be radically reduced without loss of meaning. Consider this version: “When the French (Normans/Norse) defeated the English (Angles/Saxons) at Hastings, their languages blended and evolved across class lines.”

    The English were the working class, and thus, were the ones who would farm, and so the words that were used for animals come from anglo saxon origin, such as cow or pig. However the norman elites were the ones being served the food, and so the words used for the animal once it was cooked and prepared were the words that the normans used for those animals, like beef and pork, both of norman origin.

    —This section could also be radically reduced. Consider: “Words for food the conquerors were served at their dining tables by the losers—beef, pork—derived from French, while the words for the animals raised for food—cow, pig—evolved from the Anglo-Saxon origins of the defeated English.”

    The english words were considered less refined, and sometimes, so bad, that they developed into curse words; like the word shit for example, of Anglo Saxon origin (Dent, 2018).

    —Don’t see how this belongs in the food section.

    It’s not just curse words that this happens too. The word “ain’t” used to be considered proper, believe it or not. But then, “ain’t became associated with lower-class characters” (Thesaurus.com, 2019). And now, ain’t is associated with the lower class, improper grammar, and isn’t really even considered to be a word. However, you’ll notice that it’s literally just a contraction that means “not”.

    —What words are contracted to make “ain’t”?

    This just goes to show that time after time, elites will consider certain forms of language (typically that of the poorer class) to be improper for no good reason whatsoever, and that these norms are carried throughout time, usually unquestioned.

    —You miss an opportunity here, Temporal, to reveal the “good reason,” which, I think you’ll agree, is a deliberate tool to oppress anyone not born—or carefully educated to appear to have been born—into the ruling class.

    Curse words tend to form around taboo subjects. As (Orlando 2023) put it, “profanity can also come from language involving sex and sexual acts, as well as bodily functions.” This mean that they do form naturally, it’s not all just the doing of elitism, however, elitism clearly exasperates it and creates more ideas of purity in language than necessary.

    —They do, but, as Dent notes, they also cluster around blasphemous evocations of sacred subjects. You’re not obligated to consider those types of curses, but your readers who care will wonder why you didn’t acknowledge that you’re limiting your scope deliberately.

    So in summary, people in power tend to try and control or purify language, seemingly out of an unwillingness to accept other cultures.

    —Again agreed. But . . .
    —Other “cultures” only?
    —Or are you willing to consider the class-based discrimination of the powerful elite that represses any attempt of the underprivileged (marked by their “incorrect” diction) to “pretend” to positions of wealth and power?

    curse words tend to originate from touchy subjects, but can also be formed and exasperated based on the same concept, by the conventions of the upper class, or in other words, the elites being repulsed by the terrible foul language of the common man.

    —That’s tossing a bone to the class argument.

    So the next time you feel bad about using a curse word, or that your grammar is “improper” just remember that its vulgarity was completely made up by Norman aristocrats one thousand years ago, and there really isn’t such a thing as proper grammar.

    —Hmmmm . . . .
    —There’s such a massive difference between curse words and “proper grammar” that I can’t think how to reconcile the two except that they can be used to stereotype their users. I don’t see how you can find room in 1000 words (or even 3000) to develop both.

    You may be experiencing the misfortune of having chosen a topic that your picky professor thinks is really important to get right, Temporal.

    Anyway, I’ve invested an hour here, at least, so by the terms of our contract, you owe me at least an hour of revision time on this argument. I hope the feedback was at least as helpful as it was surely aggravating.

    Provisionally graded at Canvas. It’s not the grade you want, but regrades are always available (required, to be honest, on Portfolio arguments) following significant improvements.

    Remember, MAKE NO CHANGES TO THIS POST. Copy your text into your new Def/Cat Rewrite post and make all your revisions there.

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  4. davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:
    March 2, 2024 at 11:08 am

    In case you thought I wouldn’t notice, I see you clocked in at 1001 words, which is fucking awesome. 🙂

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