Regarding the verb usage of the word "table" - I learned long ago that it means the opposite in the UK than in the US - "to table something" in the US generally means to set a topic or situation it aside for discussion later, but in the UK, it means to bring it to the group for immediate discussion.
@@netgnostic1627 I was gonna say the same thing. bleeuughhghgghghgh. I never use this expression as a result lol. Also, if I might add a little Canadian tangent. I used to pronounce the word inventory the British way until getting made fun of enough to stop. How lovely. So now I say "inn - v'n - Torie" instead of "in - VENT - urry". But I prefer the second pronunciation because to me it's like an inventory would have things you could use to invent? lol. So it's like, a list of materials on hand? I started using "inventory" at a young age because it's what they called your "bag" in older Pokemon games lol.
Salamander I wonder if it has something to do with pitch? Men and women who speak with the fray and have deeper voices it doesn’t sound annoying I believe. But to me men and women who have higher voices and they fray it’s sounds annoying to me. When the guest voice coach was doing it it didn’t sound annoying at all.
Same! When I heard Erik doing it, I was reminded of male actors giving speeches in movies or something like that. He sounded profound, serious, respectable... a bit attractive, even. But the woman? She sounded so bored and like she'd rather do anything else than what she was currently doing. So uninterested. The bias surprised me greatly.
Fun fact! Blue eyes are caused by a lack of the melanin pigment (or collagen deposits), and light bouncing off the Iris, "scattering" the light, and reflecting back blue tones (the same reason the sky reflects blue). So when you put someone with blue eyes in front of a blue-ish screen, often their eyes appear to match more closely because it's reflecting back the light- also why blue eyes seem to "change colours" more often depending on how much light is refllecting!
I miss the doctor who reviewed medical scenes in movies and series. Hopefully she's doing fine these days working in her field... [edit] There's a recent update of what she's been up to! Just as I expected, it's been beyond hectic for her dealing with both trauma patients and Covid. Dr Onishi is a warrior!
Cute! I think people are afraid to use proper language. Like it makes them look stuffy or not cool. It's like when people don't want to stand straight.
No people just use words in different ways over time their is no true correct or wrong way of speaking the way we talk is constantly changing and that’s just how it works
@@boxman5381 That's true, but also people just don't want to bother learning the right use of a word so those of us who take the time become obsolete because of these inattentive folks and it's annoying.
Right, because part of what he wants his audience to be aware of is that language, like anything else that makes up society and culture, is continually, albeit slowly, changing and adapting in time.
Everyone who actually starts studying language will quickly come to realize that language prescriptivism (saying this and that is wrong and you should use such and such instead), for everyday use at least, is pretty stupid 😁
Australians with thick accents use uptalk ALL THE TIME. I am an Aussie and you get used to distinguishing between a real question and aussie uptalk. i remember reading an article about how UK employers found people who uptalked a lot were less desirable and seen as insecure, but not if they were australian. I think it’s because we learn to uptalk while saying what we mean with confidence (because uptalk is used so commonly when not posing a question).
4 роки тому+749
My Spanish teacher once said that language behaves like a living organism; it spreads, evolves and also dies.
Another folk etymology example: “Goodbye” used to be a contraction of “God be with ye”. Eventually people started saying “Bye” as a shorthand for “Goodbye”, turning the definition of “Goodbye” to something more similar to “Good parting”.
it's crazy because in German the equivalent to Goodbye is Auf Wiedersehen (as in a phrase for more formal settings), which literally means "May we meet/see each other again", so it'd actually be more similar to saying "see you". But in my head "Good-bye" and "Auf Wiedersehen" mean the exact same thing, because they're used in the same context. But then you have the German phrase "mach's gut", which would translate to something way closer to the literal meaning of farewell/goodbye and is way less formal, so it would be used in the same context as "see you" in english. So the literal meaning is actually completely opposite to the context the phrases are used in in each language. Does that make sense?
My husband came up with a wonderful word that doesn’t exist but should. He said he was “flustrated.” I think it’s a brilliant combination of being frustrated, heightened with the embarrassment of being flustered. I nominate this for the next Merriam-Webster go round!
I love this video so much. I was such a stickler for "grammar rules" when I was a kid but I've since taken a genuine interest in languages and linguistics and discovered the concept of descriptive linguistics and came to favour that way more than the prescriptive variety. These two just inspire me to pursue further studies in linguistics :)
First time I was in the US, I was blown away by always being asked if I wanted a SUPER SALAD with my dinner.. It was only 7 years later I was told it was a Soup OR Salad.
My first language was technically Spanish BUT I’m more fluent in English and let me tell you, that happens to me still😭😭 every time I’m like how does this always happen😭😭
@@JonH611 How about "shouldn't've"? The impressive double contraction. Which makes me wonder-- are there any triples? ..."Shouldn't'ven't"? Is that a word? Like, expressing regret for failing to do something? "I shouldn't have not done that," turns into "I shouldn't'ven't done that."
But late on the reply, but I’d like to mention I’ve won an argument because the opposing party used that and I told them their opinion was moot due to the fact that they can’t even speak English properly despite it being their first language.
I've always seen that phrase as ironic, something like "I could, technically, care less, but only a little", rather than as an eggcorn of "I couldn't care less". Like it has that 90's "talk to the hand" flavor of sarcasm. Maybe that's just my brain rationalizing it though :p
also when ppl online write about how they find smth rlly upsetting by going "i literally balled" or "i was balling so hard" like pls i'm begging u to learn how to spell bawling
@@reshirman no, the meaning of 'of' in the place of 'have' is not correct no matter your dialect. They are too commonly used to be just considered 'basically the same word'.
not me staring for 14 minutes at erik singer's bookshelf and wondering exactly what system he uses that puts GOTHAM next to Scandinavian Comfort Foods, The Swedish Christmas Table, and William Shakespeare
😂😂😂 I "literally" got about halfway through your first sentence before bursting out laughing!! I was thinking the same thing! ..Almost darn near peed m' pants.
I took a linguistic anthropology course in college and that was when I finally realized: the more you learn about language, the more you realize that breaking the "rules" is a key component of communication. It's how languages evolve.
@@blackeyedsusan727 The languages does evolve though. Regardless of whether it's a "stupid error", if enough people do/say it then the language will change, it will grow and evolve into something different then what it was prior to that "stupid error".
Thank you for this video! I just now found this while looking for vocal fry info. This has been one of the most enjoyable presentations about language that I've seen/heard in a long time.
I like to say it both ways. “Play it by year” still works if you take the meaning of “year” to be “time”. As it we will determine what we’re doing in due time and “play it by ear” if we’re waiting on word about the plans we’re talking about.
"Literally dying" means you are actually dying, so when you say that it means you are physically dying and are about to leave this planet forever. So only say that when you are, in fact, dying.
The eggcorns remind me of when I was in high school and I learned that “if it’s any constellation” was actually “consolation.” I always assumed that “if it’s any constellation” referred to a bad situation that may paint a bigger picture. Like a single star is just one moment. But if you put all of the stars together, you get a constellation. So if there is a bad or sad moment, I would say, “If it’s any constellation,” followed by a silver lining or the final end result. Like yeah, you may have messed up in your band performance, but if it’s any constellation, I didn’t hear it and I thought he performance was quite good. That’s how I used it growing up, and I was so confused when someone corrected me
Ah yes....this is a perfect example of not reading enough (which I commented about somewhere up there ^^^). If you never see the words in print, you just rely on what you hear and make up the meaning to go along with it. I'm glad you learned the correct word! And you're here today still learning about language. My favorite mistake was "make due". I was in my 40s (and had studied languages for years and read a LOT of books) when I realized it was actually "make do". I literally died. 🙃
Exactly! Lol I've been trying to say this but people get so mad when you correct them. It makes no sense and changes the meaning. You're trying to say you dont care and yet you are saying "well I could care less" like...what??
YES! That drives me crazy too. If they COULD care less, then they care at least a bit. But if they couldn't care less, they don't care at all. Jeez, some people just don't think!
FUN FACT: With "literally" I've been able to observe a shift in my native Polish. Young people increasingly use two separate words for this: 1) "dosłownie", a word equivalent to "literally", which has been undergoing the same semantic shift as it does in English, now used as a non-literal intensifier 2) "literalnie", an English carbon copy neologism, used for *literally* literal things. Just an interesting way to solve this problem, I think.
Maybe we can use "actually" more often? "I made a cloning machine last night. Look at this selfie I took. I am standing next to a clone of myself. I am ACTUALLY beside myself."
I've noticed I when I use literally my meaning depends on the tone. if I use literally in an exaggeration, it's pronounced in the standard form. I literally died. but if I say something and I mean it LITERALLY, I emphasize the literally, especially the t in literally, so its I LIT'rally got hit by a bus. the T sounds almost like a tch so its I LIT(CH)'rally
The more I study linguistics, the more I let go of the stupid prejudices that I used to have....but I will never not be at least a little angry when I see someone write apart instead of a part. As in "I'm so glad I got to be apart of your special day!"
I agree with you, because there's a huge difference between making a so-called mistake where everyone understands what you mean and people are just being sticklers, vs. your example where the mistake changes the meaning of the speech. That's just bad communication.
@@hartmarque wait one second.İsnt everyday correct?i always thought its typical for english to merge words together and create a new one thats used a lot like anyone,everybody, anyhow,anywhere and all these kinda words
I was always a bit annoyed when teachers would correct students who asked, “Can I go to the restroom?” If you look at Oxford Languages’ definitions, the word “can” also means “be permitted to”, so, “May I go to the restroom?” isn’t the only way to phrase that question.
I suspect that definition is a product of incorrectly using the original term, in the same way “literally” is now in some dictionaries defined as “metaphorically”. The teacher is, then, begging the question (per XKCD 2039)
@@pcarrierorange The issue is, society as a whole uses "can" and "may" interchangeably. It has been in the vernacular of the people for at least 4 generations now, hence why it is in dictionaries.
What Dorcas said. While you might be annoyed, in a working environment where you want to set certain 'tones' in your communications, using the wrong implication can cause acceptance or anger. It might not matter as much if you're in the 'detail' level, but someone who can communicate and also do 'detail' gets more.
Thank you so much for emphasizing that the language is not static and that new or "incorrect" uses of words are a part of the language's evolution. So don't hate, embrace. (unless it's should of/should've :D)
When they mentioned "to table," I thought they might bring up the miscommunication over its meaning that delayed WWII by a few weeks. British table means discuss now. American table means discuss later. Everybody wanted to discuss now but instead they fought about whether or not to table. We can't table it (we can't delay). We must table it (we can't delay). It caused a delay. Now that's ironic. Don't you think?
This reminds me of this workshop I went to where we were asked to write down on a piece of paper what “feast” meant to each of us using a synonym or simple phrase. Everyone had mostly written down different things. Communication is definitely a skill beyond linguistics, such as knowing* your audience and making the effort to confirm understanding which some may foolishly think they don’t have time for. It‘s always beneficial to speak simply or plainly rather than trying to sound smart but it can be hard to turn off for some and some concepts can be difficult to simplify.
I’m watching this 4 years after it was originally “aired” and just love it. My dad, who passed a year ago today, always had some great ones…Alzheimer’s to him was old timer’s. Uber to him was Hoover. The list could go on but it all gave a great chuckle instead of being a bit sad, so a big thank you!
As a math nerd, I always bite my tongue when people say they did a "360" when they mean 180... A full circle (360 degrees) gets you back to where you started, whereas 180 degrees is moving in the opposite direction. I don't love correcting people so I don't say anything, but I hope this helps someone LOL
Thank you for not correcting them. Grammar policing is the second cringest thing you can do when talking to someone XD second only to making things out to be Sexist or racist when they aren’t
@@NeevTHM nope still math 🤣🤣🤣 maybe you are right but i never thought mathematics to be plural i mean its just one subject named mathematics and math is short for mathematics 😂😂 idk math sounds right somehow
My mom (a native Spanish speaker) works with a lot of young people who always say, “I’m like....” She thought they were saying, “I’m Mike.” She thought it was an American phrase. 🤣
Senor Diego you’d be surprised at how easy it is to pickup on characteristics and qualities of people just by observing them. Not saying you should completely believe what you see on the outside as some people can put up a front but generally, it’s easy to understand a person, try people watching sometime 😭 a lot of women are good at it too
This guy is literally the smartest guy I’ve ever heard of. Really nice that he’s able to quickly diagnose all these pet peeves. Watching this video gave me a new leash on life, so now I want to have a burger with him. Hopefully the waiter doesn’t take too long to quickly table us because nice food is something I’d literally hate to have to agonisingly wait around for. Woodchuck.
This is the same guy who's said that he doesn't understand language or the point of words having a meaning to them. This guy might be smart, but he definitely doesn't sound that way based on what I've heard him say. He's actually argued for words to be misused.
When people write “apart” instead of “a part.” (e.g. I’m so glad to be apart of this organization). They’re *literally* saying the exact opposite of what they mean.
@@koolmaaan the linguistic tonal style of that "hi" would be recognized as sounding sultry by most folks with an understanding of tonality. However, I don't think it was intentional on her part. You don't need to be attracted to someone to recognize and identify cultural associations of "sultriness" in the inflections of someone's voice.
A good family friend of mine though it was “Gorilla Cheese” for 35 years until she saw it written on a menu and didn’t know what a “grilled cheese” was.
It's funny that most of this video is talking about letting language evolve, but the comments are full of people complaining about their own pet peeves 😂
This is very common in African languages especially Bantu languages. We sometimes just have 1 word used 7 times just depending on how you pronounce it will change meaning
Except that 'literally' has been used as an intensifier for, *literally*, centuries. It's ok to use literally when you actually mean figuratively. www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally
My fav eggcorn: "Grading on a curb." I have this picture in my mind of a professor sitting on the curb of a busy street, red pen in hand, papers flying, as the traffic whizzes by.
How about grating a hunk of cheese on a curb hoping that the cheese will fall onto the plate sitting on the street that you then bring back inside the restaurant to serve to the customer ?
@@melissak8892 because of words like choose/booze which are pronounced like lose, so people assume thats how it's spelled. I definitely recoil when i see a loose in the wild used wrong lol.
This guy just voiced all my thoughts (as a hobby linguist) on language in a single video. I love how he talks about saying things "wrong" is just how language changes. My parents get caught up on the slang of "kids these days." "You guys give a bad meaning to everything"-- which is really the pot calling the kettle black because their generation had plenty of their own slang. The way I see it, often the purpose behind slang is to fill a need in a language that wasn't being met before, and a lot of our "accepted" words now were once considered slang. Slang is fascinating to me for that reason-- it's like watching language change right before your eyes. And also, who gets to dictate right and wrong when it comes to language? It really boils down to what the natives say. I learned Spanish in the US, so I learned lots of different kinds of Spanish all at once. I resisted saying "parquear" for "to park" for the longest time because I saw it as "wrong." However, I eventually came to realize that I had never once heard someone say the "correct" word, which was "estacionar." I realized that if the native speakers have no problem with parquear, then who was I to tell them that it was the "wrong" word? There really isn't a right or wrong.
@@prince-rk7nl I think you’re onto something. For me, I think the user’s accent might also have something to do with it? I’d have to listen to a wider sample though.
There's an old adage, "Never laugh at someone for mispronouncing a word. They likely learned the word by reading". I suppose there is an inverse adage, "Always laugh at someone for committing an Eggcorn, it means they learned a word by not reading".
I learned my English by watching TV starting at age 5, once I had learned my second language well enough to read the subtitles through which I understood the English spoken, and by age 7 I was more or less fluent in conversational English. So, the problem wasn't "not reading", I just mostly read in my 2 first languages that I was more surrounded by. I'd like to know how many languages these "spelling shamers" knew at the age of 5-7.
Yeah, as an American, trying to guess the verb equivalents of nouns in Russian is nowhere near as easy. Like, throw in -овать or maybe a -нуть and add a random prefix...and maybe you'll be right. And don't even get me started on trying to determine what the perfective or imperfective aspect would be.
Less widely known but no less exciting is the English ability to adjective nouns. In my final year of high school my classmates decided that "ruckus" was an adjective meaning wild, fun and cool - as in, "that was a ruckus party last night." Despite my initial protests that that wasn't how words worked, I eventually had to admit that it nicely filled a gap in the language.
Normal people: "There's a right way say things. People should use it!" Linguists: "Language is fluuuuuiiidd!! Nothing is permanen! ANARCHYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Hahaha, that's how I've been since taking semantics & linguistics courses. I care less & am not as rigid about language as before, but I know the rules & have helped teach English.
Yes! I used to be a stickler on English grammar (my first language) but with other languages that I have studied, I often say things I know are grammatically incorrect because I want to sound like a native, not a textbook.
I saw a TikTok saying this and I agree, literally doesn’t have a “new” meaning, e.g. “Im literally going to kill you” when someone is being annoying is just hyperbole, not a new meaning, just as you could equally say “I’m going to kill you” without changing the meaning of the word kill. Now I see that the first sentence is somewhat breaking the 4th wall by using the word “literally” without precisely meaning it, but it’s still the same phenomenon overall.
My favourite language change is 'awful'. It literally meant "awe-full" or "full of awe"... so not only were things like floods and war awful, but also sunsets and cathedrals. Then, when that shifted to only pertain to bad things, we had to come up with 'awesome' to fill the linguistic void.
Unquestionably wrong, that one. 'Hold down the fort' is another one. In fact, just watch David Mitchell rant about it: ua-cam.com/video/om7O0MFkmpw/v-deo.html
Ugh..Y'know what sucks? Having known and used the proper form since childhood but being surrounded by so many 'stupids' who use the improper form and then finding yourself in a conversation with someone 'on your level' and accidentally using the improper form due to the unconscious adaptation to in group behaviours.....
“I could care less” is my pet peeve. No. You COULDN’T care less. You’re saying it doesn’t matter to you, therefore you could not possibly care less. I could care less means that you currently care. I hate hate hate when people say it wrong, and my best friend says it wrong all the time. It takes every ounce of my self control to not correct her.
Everyone would always confront me about that its "actually 'you could care less' not 'you couldn't care less'" Took me 3 years constantly explaining it for my inner circle to finally understand
FEAR The Walking Don I know that’s the point, I was just saying that my brain was still having trouble recognizing the word, even knowing it’s meaning and definition.
Very entertaining and informative. For eggcorns, how about "Duck tape" (a tape created with duck fabric) evolving into "Duct tape" (even though the tape is not good at taping ducts, especially heating ducts).
As a barista, it bugs me a little when people pronounce espresso as "expresso", but I wouldn't correct them. I know what they meant, so it doesn't really matter.
I mean spresso is an italian word, so i guess you can choose how to say it. Because espresso means pressed out, in spanish we translated it to it's literal meaning as expreso. So what you are getting is the same word with the same meaning but with the pronunciation in spanish and in italian.
I'm really enjoying your videos, especially when you remind us that language changes over time and to be more comfortable with the changes. I moved to Oklahoma a few years ago and constantly cringe when people use the wrong tense of verbs when talking. "I seen him yesterday ". It just seems to be a thing here.
it makes sense though. the fact theyre even engaging with the matter to the extent that they would provide this remark means they really think it's not worth their time to care at all, but they care enough to reply.
Isak A. Maybe they weren’t asking to be part of the matter in the first place, but I think “I couldn’t care less” makes sense bc it means they didn’t care at all to begin with, so they actually can’t care any less
Almost. My college English prof went on for half an hour once about this, not to inform us. But just because it annoys him when people get these wrong lol
As the man said in the video, these are rules we learned in elementary school/grammar school/ senior elementary/ junior high, depending on where you live. You dod not need to go to university to learn what he has said.
I don't know why anyone would consider the verbing of nouns a peeve. It's probably what I like most about english as a non native speaker, it makes it so fun and flexible
Because it's hugely overdone, especially by marketers and creative writers trying to imitate Hemingway by paring down their sentences as much as possible by forcing nouns to do excessively heavy lifting.
I appreciated this talk emensly! I enjoy etymology and this taught me not to take myself too seriously. The evolution of language is fluid, and we should remember this and remain as such.
An old boss used to tell us "mock my words..." and we all did mock them when he wasn't around
Oh this made me laugh out loud.
YO LMAOOO
Sounds like your boss was Michael Scott... 😂
Thanks Bryan, I truly needed a laugh tonight. LLAP
Maybe it was his accent...please see his other video about dialects...
I saw someone in the comments of his other videos call him dialect daddy. I think about that often.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Father phonetics
Grammar Grandma
That's his official moniker now
I mean...that person wasn’t wrong 👀
this is the linguistics class i never knew i needed
lmao i saw you earlier in a ''what not to wear in russia'' video
omg yoooooo
Fancy seeing you here Damon!
oh hey there damon dominique
Omg hi Damon! Love your videos!
This is the most educated _"everybody just chill"_ I've ever seen.
And people really should chill. I speak English as a second language and yooh... no one is the master of pronunciation
"Don't take things for granite."
"My sediments exactly."
~Johnny Hart (BC, The Wizard of Id)
Brillant 🤣😅😆
Rules that are written in stone. 😎
@@katniptime4me ba dum tssss
😆😆
Oh my God I've never seen anyone reference the Wizard of Id, I read so much of it when I was younger
Can we get him to talk about curse words? Origins and how people became offended by them? This would be interesting to see.
Vsauce did a video on that a while back ua-cam.com/video/Dd7dQh8u4Hc/v-deo.html
Yas! Sorry, yes!
I wrote my masters thesis on this topic! It was fascinating.
Yeah, they can't they would get demonetised. :D
@@brookem4835 I wrote my Bachelors thesis on the same topic :D
Eliza had the slickest “hii” I’ve ever heard in my life
0:58
You're welcome
@@jiitkha Thanks. But yeah she did. Real smooth.
She sounded like Siri
Fr Fr
yeah had to watch that a couple times not gonna lie
Regarding the verb usage of the word "table" - I learned long ago that it means the opposite in the UK than in the US - "to table something" in the US generally means to set a topic or situation it aside for discussion later, but in the UK, it means to bring it to the group for immediate discussion.
Really shows the difference in American vs. British customs/ideals
In Canada, some people use the British way, some the American way. Very confusing!
@@netgnostic1627 I thought Canada's English was more similar to British than US.
A parliamentary process origin?
@@netgnostic1627 I was gonna say the same thing. bleeuughhghgghghgh. I never use this expression as a result lol. Also, if I might add a little Canadian tangent. I used to pronounce the word inventory the British way until getting made fun of enough to stop. How lovely. So now I say "inn - v'n - Torie" instead of "in - VENT - urry". But I prefer the second pronunciation because to me it's like an inventory would have things you could use to invent? lol. So it's like, a list of materials on hand? I started using "inventory" at a young age because it's what they called your "bag" in older Pokemon games lol.
i didn’t understand how differently vocal fry was perceived in a feminine vs. masculine voice until this demonstration. that is so interesting!
Same! I was cracking up, the bias has never even occurred to me.
It was pretty shocking. Somehow on a female voice it sounds more bored or annoyed, while on a male voice it’s just... kinda gravelly. Weird
Salamander I wonder if it has something to do with pitch? Men and women who speak with the fray and have deeper voices it doesn’t sound annoying I believe. But to me men and women who have higher voices and they fray it’s sounds annoying to me. When the guest voice coach was doing it it didn’t sound annoying at all.
Same! When I heard Erik doing it, I was reminded of male actors giving speeches in movies or something like that. He sounded profound, serious, respectable... a bit attractive, even.
But the woman? She sounded so bored and like she'd rather do anything else than what she was currently doing. So uninterested.
The bias surprised me greatly.
I honestly didn't notice a difference...
Erik: "They're called eggcorns"
Me: "Oh, you mean bon apple tea"
Teeth*
bone*
*bomb*
Bun apple teeth
I love egghorns
"Hi Eliza"
Eliza: "Hi"
Me: OMG SO SMOOTH, SO HEAVENLY, THE MOST ICONIC HI I'VE EVER HEARD
I'm glad I'm not the only the person who had this intensely specific reaction!
I FELT SO GOOOOOD 🤣🤣🤣 I thought I was the only one
My first thought was, does she narrate audiobooks?
that’s how you know you’re socially awkward, when normal conversation stands out 😂😂💀
@@dancingdoungnut
LMAO! TooMeIrl
This happens to me all the time.
The oe person who could correct almost anyones speech and he tells us to take it easy. Amazing.
Love his energy.
*anyone's
My sister thought it was “hammy-down” her whole life, as opposed to “hand-me-down.”
Very funny!
'cause the clothes were always too big and it made her feel hammy in them? 😂
I was just coming to the comments to say the same thing! 🤣
ME TOO
I thought this for a while as a kid.
The paint matches his eye color... they really did that.
Must be his house though 😂
No it’s just a hole in his eye
anhart Lmfao
anhart He’s an eye hold?
Fun fact! Blue eyes are caused by a lack of the melanin pigment (or collagen deposits), and light bouncing off the Iris, "scattering" the light, and reflecting back blue tones (the same reason the sky reflects blue).
So when you put someone with blue eyes in front of a blue-ish screen, often their eyes appear to match more closely because it's reflecting back the light- also why blue eyes seem to "change colours" more often depending on how much light is refllecting!
Two Erik videos in a week? Even WIRED know he’s carrying the whole channel.
LagiNaLangAko23 Oh yeah I rate her too
I miss the doctor who reviewed medical scenes in movies and series. Hopefully she's doing fine these days working in her field...
[edit] There's a recent update of what she's been up to! Just as I expected, it's been beyond hectic for her dealing with both trauma patients and Covid. Dr Onishi is a warrior!
Whaaaa where is the other one???
The lawyer was also very fun!
Him and almost impossible but idk if they r doing that anymore :(
My pet peeve is when people say wreck havoc, instead of wreak. If you wreck havoc, you essentially create order, lol.
Cute! I think people are afraid to use proper language. Like it makes them look stuffy or not cool. It's like when people don't want to stand straight.
No people just use words in different ways over time their is no true correct or wrong way of speaking the way we talk is constantly changing and that’s just how it works
@@cockeyedoptimista All I can say to that is that their values must be very different than mine!
@@boxman5381 That's true, but also people just don't want to bother learning the right use of a word so those of us who take the time become obsolete because of these inattentive folks and it's annoying.
@@proudanachronist9314 Thanks for the comment.
I wish I could just absorb his cerebral juices. His intelligence is so savoury.
I am both inspired by and grossed out by the creativity of your language.
@@LillibitOfHere LOOOL XD
wow so creepy
ya he sounds really smart. I think it's the way he talks
Dude, prion diseases aren’t cool.
What I love about Erik is that he's an expert on language and uses that expertise to tell us to not get so hung up on the rules of language.
It’s true. People that most get their knickers in a twist about language use rarely know much about the reality of language use.
Right, because part of what he wants his audience to be aware of is that language, like anything else that makes up society and culture, is continually, albeit slowly, changing and adapting in time.
No real linguist is a prescriptivist.
Everyone who actually starts studying language will quickly come to realize that language prescriptivism (saying this and that is wrong and you should use such and such instead), for everyday use at least, is pretty stupid 😁
⁰
My sisters ex boyfriend used to say “You never know what the future has installed for you”
😂
Pictures the future as some weird looking handyman.
Well he does have a good point.
@@pupip55 the actual saying is : "you never know what the future has in store for you" in store not installed
@@pupip55 thats why its funny to some people and annoys others and some just don't even know the difference.
Australians with thick accents use uptalk ALL THE TIME. I am an Aussie and you get used to distinguishing between a real question and aussie uptalk. i remember reading an article about how UK employers found people who uptalked a lot were less desirable and seen as insecure, but not if they were australian. I think it’s because we learn to uptalk while saying what we mean with confidence (because uptalk is used so commonly when not posing a question).
My Spanish teacher once said that language behaves like a living organism; it spreads, evolves and also dies.
Lol, then why can't we kill upspeak and vocal fry!?!?🤣
@@LindaC616 you can't really kill it but it dies off if people stop using it
its true i was the teacher
@@LindaC616 Because people have such intense feelings for it. The best way to kill an idea is to be indifferent, and forget.
Best way to put it
Another folk etymology example:
“Goodbye” used to be a contraction of “God be with ye”. Eventually people started saying “Bye” as a shorthand for “Goodbye”, turning the definition of “Goodbye” to something more similar to “Good parting”.
when i realized that the danish farvel for goodbye just literally meant fare-well and that farewell is the same deal, iunno you feel pretty blind
I would’ve never known this
it's crazy because in German the equivalent to Goodbye is Auf Wiedersehen (as in a phrase for more formal settings), which literally means "May we meet/see each other again", so it'd actually be more similar to saying "see you". But in my head "Good-bye" and "Auf Wiedersehen" mean the exact same thing, because they're used in the same context. But then you have the German phrase "mach's gut", which would translate to something way closer to the literal meaning of farewell/goodbye and is way less formal, so it would be used in the same context as "see you" in english. So the literal meaning is actually completely opposite to the context the phrases are used in in each language. Does that make sense?
“God be with you” is how you greet people in Gaelic, too!
Wow that’s really interesting, I never knew that! Thanks for sharing 😊
When people say “I could care less” but should be saying “I couldn’t care less”
YES!!!!
that bothers me so much lol
Fr
I like to think of it as a threat. "You know how much it looks like I don't care right now? Well, I could care (even) less."
@@Warkipine that could be reasonable, but usually it’s used in the sense that someone is trying to demonstrate how nonchalant they are about something
My husband came up with a wonderful word that doesn’t exist but should. He said he was “flustrated.” I think it’s a brilliant combination of being frustrated, heightened with the embarrassment of being flustered. I nominate this for the next Merriam-Webster go round!
Your husband didn't invent that word. It's a very common mispronunciation that has been around for decades.
That's a fun portmanteau that I may, in fact, steal.
Him: Here are these language facts
My brain: His eyes match the wall behind him
I totally lost some of the information being presented because of that!
Now I can’t unsee it 😂
he has blue eyes, and a green wall though o.O
Now it's bugging me that it's not a perfect match lol
I like the way your mind works..
can’t help but feel like this guy looks like a roman emperor.
Or the model for David
I think you mean Dennis Reynolds
I think he pulled off the vocal fry of the Gettysburg Address because he looks a bit like Lincoln.
A Hollywood version perhaps, Romans did not look Anglo despite of what your deficient education made you believe
Yeah he literally does
My god. I have never heard anyone saying “Hi” smoother than Eliza Simpson.
Thank you. i was thinking the same and was looking through the comments to see if anybody else got soft knees when she said „hi“...
James May.
Robert or James Welsh 😊
I love this video so much. I was such a stickler for "grammar rules" when I was a kid but I've since taken a genuine interest in languages and linguistics and discovered the concept of descriptive linguistics and came to favour that way more than the prescriptive variety. These two just inspire me to pursue further studies in linguistics :)
First time I was in the US, I was blown away by always being asked if I wanted a SUPER SALAD with my dinner.. It was only 7 years later I was told it was a Soup OR Salad.
"blown away"? By a salad. Mkay....
🤣🤣🤣
@@dang2443 clearly they aren't a native English speaker so chill. I wonder how many languages you speak, much less perfectly. Pft
My first language was technically Spanish BUT I’m more fluent in English and let me tell you, that happens to me still😭😭 every time I’m like how does this always happen😭😭
I've been laughing at this comment for 20 minutes. Thanks for posting it
Most hated eggcorn: "I could of" instead of "I could've"
Could of, would of, should of.. made it a contraction with have! 🤬
Yea! Why is everyone afraid of the word "have"?
@@JonH611 How about "shouldn't've"? The impressive double contraction. Which makes me wonder-- are there any triples? ..."Shouldn't'ven't"? Is that a word? Like, expressing regret for failing to do something? "I shouldn't have not done that," turns into "I shouldn't'ven't done that."
Should be "I could of" instead of "I could have". People understand could've but sometimes people think it means "could of"instead of "could have".
YES
Erik needs a whole show for himself. It's as simple as that.
I love Erik.
This guy just summarized my four year linguistics degree in 15 minutes!
Get wrecked lmao
First, I highly doubt it. Second, nice use of exaggeration. Third, if you're serious you didn't study. Fourth, college was a waste of time for you.
@@konroh2 wow youre such a fun dude
“Could care less” is mine. Basically saying you still have some care available.
But late on the reply, but I’d like to mention I’ve won an argument because the opposing party used that and I told them their opinion was moot due to the fact that they can’t even speak English properly despite it being their first language.
@@saberwing753 Haha! I see “could care less” quite often.
I've always seen that phrase as ironic, something like "I could, technically, care less, but only a little", rather than as an eggcorn of "I couldn't care less". Like it has that 90's "talk to the hand" flavor of sarcasm. Maybe that's just my brain rationalizing it though :p
@@Platanov Agreed, I tend to interpret it as "I could care less, but only if I really tried" in order to feel less peeved :D
you mean you do care? lmao
seeing “should of” instead of “should’ve” makes me wanna cry
Also "now and days"
you shouldn't of told me your weakness
Agreed
also when ppl online write about how they find smth rlly upsetting by going "i literally balled" or "i was balling so hard" like pls i'm begging u to learn how to spell bawling
@@sophiewells9755 I was bowling so hard I had a strike
Can we all take a second to appreciate what a specimen of a man this guy is.
kinda disappointed I had to scroll down this much to find a comment like this
Yes lmao. Those arms and that chest, just choke me already 😂
I concur. I enjoy watching his videos. I learn something new and enjoy the view 😅
Actually, the word specimen originally has nothing to do with men who were special.
Just a second? 😍
I will “literally” die on the hill defending my peeve when people type “would of,” rather than “would’ve.”
Because it is LITERALLY grammatically incorrect.
@@baileyrob I would of agree with you before, but after watching this video, I don't think so
@@reshirman no, the meaning of 'of' in the place of 'have' is not correct no matter your dialect. They are too commonly used to be just considered 'basically the same word'.
@@baileyrob that would of been correct before, but not anymore
@@reshirman I ofn't got a clue what you're talking about. Of you had your pills today?
not me staring for 14 minutes at erik singer's bookshelf and wondering exactly what system he uses that puts GOTHAM next to Scandinavian Comfort Foods, The Swedish Christmas Table, and William Shakespeare
😂😂😂 I "literally" got about halfway through your first sentence before bursting out laughing!! I was thinking the same thing!
..Almost darn near peed m' pants.
I was doing the exact same! ;)
Oh he uses the Putin-Dair Classification Sytem
someone with many varied interests
I had the same thoughts ... an array of books with no particular order or grouping .. lol ;)
I like how when he demonstrated vocal fry, he instantly turned into Matthew McConaughey
I found the comment I was looking for lmao I wanted someone else to notice
Alright alright alright
All I'm saying is when he did the comparison between the two, he did the vocal fry once and she did it twice
@ThiagoPlaying That’s just tubular!
I heard Brad Pitt, oddly enough I don't care for his voice
I took a linguistic anthropology course in college and that was when I finally realized: the more you learn about language, the more you realize that breaking the "rules" is a key component of communication. It's how languages evolve.
Agreed. But the stupid errors so many people make cannot be regarded as "evolution"
@@blackeyedsusan727 The languages does evolve though. Regardless of whether it's a "stupid error", if enough people do/say it then the language will change, it will grow and evolve into something different then what it was prior to that "stupid error".
This should be a top comment
Which is why petty people who are hung up on dictionary definitions and proper grammar are uptight fuckwads.
Slang is the poetry of everyday speech. It’s breaking the rules, for the fun of it. 🤷🏾♀️
Thank you for this video! I just now found this while looking for vocal fry info. This has been one of the most enjoyable presentations about language that I've seen/heard in a long time.
My pet peeve is when people hear "should've" and write it as "should of" not realizing that they are hearing a contraction of "should have".
If that becomes an eggcorn, I would just assume people are getting dumber each year.
Calm down, guys. Its just a typo.
@@titocristobal5573, it wouldn't be an illogical assumption.
@MC King Oh my god. I haven't encountered that yet, but if I did, I think I would have a visceral reaction.
Gaaahhh, I love you. Thanks for pointing this out.
I literally HATE that. It's way more than a peeve for me 😂
I know multiple people who think the phrase is “play it by year”, when it is most definitely “play it by ear”.
Haha! I wonder if they also "fly by the seat of their aunts"?
Ugh, I have a hatred of “play by ear” that to this day I don’t know why hahahahaha never heard people saying “by year” though, that’s curious
I like to say it both ways. “Play it by year” still works if you take the meaning of “year” to be “time”. As it we will determine what we’re doing in due time and “play it by ear” if we’re waiting on word about the plans we’re talking about.
I've always wondered if the people who say those things have ever broken it down to realise what they're saying makes no sense....
Up until I read this comment, I was completely unaware that this eggcorn existed! I play music, so "Play by ear" is the only thing that makes sense!
“I’m literally dying.”
“Aren’t we all?”
I’m a demigod I cNt die
Always a little by little 🙈
Well, it's 2020, so, ... yeah.
"Literally dying" means you are actually dying, so when you say that it means you are physically dying and are about to leave this planet forever. So only say that when you are, in fact, dying.
You guys are silly...i mean nice.
The eggcorns remind me of when I was in high school and I learned that “if it’s any constellation” was actually “consolation.” I always assumed that “if it’s any constellation” referred to a bad situation that may paint a bigger picture. Like a single star is just one moment. But if you put all of the stars together, you get a constellation. So if there is a bad or sad moment, I would say, “If it’s any constellation,” followed by a silver lining or the final end result. Like yeah, you may have messed up in your band performance, but if it’s any constellation, I didn’t hear it and I thought he performance was quite good. That’s how I used it growing up, and I was so confused when someone corrected me
Lol. Reminds me of the "Knowledge is power, France is bacon" meme. xD
Ah yes....this is a perfect example of not reading enough (which I commented about somewhere up there ^^^). If you never see the words in print, you just rely on what you hear and make up the meaning to go along with it. I'm glad you learned the correct word! And you're here today still learning about language. My favorite mistake was "make due". I was in my 40s (and had studied languages for years and read a LOT of books) when I realized it was actually "make do". I literally died. 🙃
late comment I know but I think this eggcorn is lovely in its own way xD I love how you assigned that meaning to it and I like your reasoning so much
Everyone else: [comments about the linguistics in the video]
Me, a Norwegian: omg he has so many books about Scandinavian cooking
i'm not norwegian but i noticed that too! love it
I was drawn to the bookshelf too.😄
Swedish christmas cooking, which made me curious as well :), maybe saw that because I am Swedish.
I saw the comfort food and was like “hey I have that book! “ seeing that was a total unexpected happy surprise
BRUNOST
I can’t stand when people say “I could care less” when they mean they don’t care. It’s “I couldn’t care less” !!!
Exactly! Lol I've been trying to say this but people get so mad when you correct them. It makes no sense and changes the meaning. You're trying to say you dont care and yet you are saying "well I could care less" like...what??
I had to look for this because so hate it so much as well.
YES! That drives me crazy too. If they COULD care less, then they care at least a bit. But if they couldn't care less, they don't care at all. Jeez, some people just don't think!
the way i handle it is just to convince myself they’re being sarcastic. i know it’s not true but the lie helps ease the pain a little bit....
I came to the comments to say exactly this
FUN FACT: With "literally" I've been able to observe a shift in my native Polish. Young people increasingly use two separate words for this: 1) "dosłownie", a word equivalent to "literally", which has been undergoing the same semantic shift as it does in English, now used as a non-literal intensifier 2) "literalnie", an English carbon copy neologism, used for *literally* literal things. Just an interesting way to solve this problem, I think.
That's pretty cool.
Taaak!
Maybe we can use "actually" more often? "I made a cloning machine last night. Look at this selfie I took. I am standing next to a clone of myself. I am ACTUALLY beside myself."
I've noticed I when I use literally my meaning depends on the tone.
if I use literally in an exaggeration, it's pronounced in the standard form. I literally died.
but if I say something and I mean it LITERALLY, I emphasize the literally, especially the t in literally, so its I LIT'rally got hit by a bus. the T sounds almost like a tch so its I LIT(CH)'rally
Something I have heard at least 7 times are younger people saying "I'm weary of..." when they mean either wary of or leery of.
"Sinister" originally meant "left-handed" and I just love this ridiculous, fluid language of ours.
Because being left-handed was correctly seen as being a sign of evil.
@@thejagman22 "Correctly"?
@@akizeta That's correct.
FASCINATING!!
The word for right handed being "Dexter" as in dexterous.
The more I study linguistics, the more I let go of the stupid prejudices that I used to have....but I will never not be at least a little angry when I see someone write apart instead of a part. As in "I'm so glad I got to be apart of your special day!"
Wait but don’t they have different meanings? I thought apart means separated and a part means a piece of.
@@JacquelineUnderwood Exactly, they do have different meanings. That's why it annoys me so much when people say apart, when they meant to say a part.
@@amyparker9816 I agree. "Everyday" is the one that does it for me.
I agree with you, because there's a huge difference between making a so-called mistake where everyone understands what you mean and people are just being sticklers, vs. your example where the mistake changes the meaning of the speech. That's just bad communication.
@@hartmarque wait one second.İsnt everyday correct?i always thought its typical for english to merge words together and create a new one thats used a lot like anyone,everybody, anyhow,anywhere and all these kinda words
I was always a bit annoyed when teachers would correct students who asked, “Can I go to the restroom?” If you look at Oxford Languages’ definitions, the word “can” also means “be permitted to”, so, “May I go to the restroom?” isn’t the only way to phrase that question.
ENGLISH MODAL PARTICLES USUALLY HAVE MANY DIFFERENT MOODS THEY CAN REPRESENT
I suspect that definition is a product of incorrectly using the original term, in the same way “literally” is now in some dictionaries defined as “metaphorically”. The teacher is, then, begging the question (per XKCD 2039)
@@pcarrierorange The issue is, society as a whole uses "can" and "may" interchangeably. It has been in the vernacular of the people for at least 4 generations now, hence why it is in dictionaries.
The difference is in the implied politeness no the meaning itself
What Dorcas said. While you might be annoyed, in a working environment where you want to set certain 'tones' in your communications, using the wrong implication can cause acceptance or anger. It might not matter as much if you're in the 'detail' level, but someone who can communicate and also do 'detail' gets more.
Thank you so much for emphasizing that the language is not static and that new or "incorrect" uses of words are a part of the language's evolution. So don't hate, embrace. (unless it's should of/should've :D)
So if "silly" used to mean "blessed", then slapping someone silly would mean approximately the same as beating the devil out of them.
Underrated comment
RIP devil
Oh my god😂😂😂
I like the way you think lol
I relate it to The Fool in the Tarot -- the Fool is blessed
EGGCORN: My deaf stepmother says "Old Timers' Disease" when she really means "Alzheimer's Disease".
So funny! It reminds me of my young sonwho used to say rubber balls instead of vegetables.
Perhaps she's making a pun?
This is funny 🤣
ahahaha great one!!!
But is she wrong tho
When they mentioned "to table," I thought they might bring up the miscommunication over its meaning that delayed WWII by a few weeks.
British table means discuss now. American table means discuss later. Everybody wanted to discuss now but instead they fought about whether or not to table.
We can't table it (we can't delay).
We must table it (we can't delay).
It caused a delay.
Now that's ironic. Don't you think?
It all depends on where the table is.
The first intelligent comment on here haha
🎶 IT'S LIKE RAIaaaaAAAAN ON YOUR WEEDING DAY 🎶
Just commenting to let you know I greatly appreciated this tidbit of information.
This reminds me of this workshop I went to where we were asked to write down on a piece of paper what “feast” meant to each of us using a synonym or simple phrase. Everyone had mostly written down different things. Communication is definitely a skill beyond linguistics, such as knowing* your audience and making the effort to confirm understanding which some may foolishly think they don’t have time for. It‘s always beneficial to speak simply or plainly rather than trying to sound smart but it can be hard to turn off for some and some concepts can be difficult to simplify.
I’m watching this 4 years after it was originally “aired” and just love it. My dad, who passed a year ago today, always had some great ones…Alzheimer’s to him was old timer’s. Uber to him was Hoover. The list could go on but it all gave a great chuckle instead of being a bit sad, so a big thank you!
As a math nerd, I always bite my tongue when people say they did a "360" when they mean 180... A full circle (360 degrees) gets you back to where you started, whereas 180 degrees is moving in the opposite direction. I don't love correcting people so I don't say anything, but I hope this helps someone LOL
@@iiwi758 I see what you did there...;)
@@iiwi758 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for not correcting them. Grammar policing is the second cringest thing you can do when talking to someone XD second only to making things out to be Sexist or racist when they aren’t
@@NeevTHM it's math
@@NeevTHM nope still math 🤣🤣🤣 maybe you are right but i never thought mathematics to be plural i mean its just one subject named mathematics and math is short for mathematics 😂😂 idk math sounds right somehow
My mom (a native Spanish speaker) works with a lot of young people who always say, “I’m like....” She thought they were saying, “I’m Mike.” She thought it was an American phrase. 🤣
that’s so sweet 🥺🥺🥺
If my husband isn’t this understanding, calm, and accepting, I don’t want it
As a husband I strive to be more like this guy. What a pleasant person to be around, he really seemed so genuine and calm.
I don't think "he" would want to be called "it."
hkspowers003 as a husband, please stfu forever.
David David relax softie
Senor Diego you’d be surprised at how easy it is to pickup on characteristics and qualities of people just by observing them. Not saying you should completely believe what you see on the outside as some people can put up a front but generally, it’s easy to understand a person, try people watching sometime 😭 a lot of women are good at it too
This guy is literally the smartest guy I’ve ever heard of. Really nice that he’s able to quickly diagnose all these pet peeves. Watching this video gave me a new leash on life, so now I want to have a burger with him. Hopefully the waiter doesn’t take too long to quickly table us because nice food is something I’d literally hate to have to agonisingly wait around for. Woodchuck.
I recognize your effort, and for that I respect you.
More people should finish their arguments with Woodchuck. Woodchuck.
Actually, this comment literally made it worth watching this video.
@@cherylkalberer1045 not figuratively?
This is the same guy who's said that he doesn't understand language or the point of words having a meaning to them.
This guy might be smart, but he definitely doesn't sound that way based on what I've heard him say.
He's actually argued for words to be misused.
When people write “apart” instead of “a part.” (e.g. I’m so glad to be apart of this organization). They’re *literally* saying the exact opposite of what they mean.
Isn't it funny that "apart" is spelled together and "a part" separately? Really makes you think...
I love your literal accentuation
Guy Flies haha thanks ;)
Maybe and may be too.
@@wafimarzouqmohammad8054 that's horrid, thanks
i wasn't prepared for eliza's sultry "hi".
@@koolmaaan the linguistic tonal style of that "hi" would be recognized as sounding sultry by most folks with an understanding of tonality. However, I don't think it was intentional on her part.
You don't need to be attracted to someone to recognize and identify cultural associations of "sultriness" in the inflections of someone's voice.
i reacted to it too omg
@@koolmaaan i wasn't looking at the video. just listening. her "hi" made me look. good job reaching though...
@@jdavi6241 thank you
huuh omg right
I had a professor who was a lot like this guy. She made advanced grammar really interesting and fun.
I just love magnificent teachers.
"For all intensive purposes, dialect coach Erik Singer is literally an expert when it comes to language. " This sentence nearly broke me.
A good family friend of mine though it was “Gorilla Cheese” for 35 years until she saw it written on a menu and didn’t know what a “grilled cheese” was.
😂🤣😂
Katie W. Still not as bad as THIRTY FIVE YEARS
Holy smokes my toes even curled while hearing this, just ugh.
@@katiew. Lmfaoo me too! Till I was like 8
People are just funny.😂
I feel like Matthew McConaughey's career has thrived off of his vocal fry speaking tendency.
And it annoys me when he does it too.
That's the east Texas accent
Yeah, because it wasn't the chiseled Jaw perfect hair or six pack....
He's eye candy and a terrible actor
L. David Roberts But he’s won an Oscar so that statement is kind of false
@@l.dorado5729 You're making some solid points, my man.
It's funny that most of this video is talking about letting language evolve, but the comments are full of people complaining about their own pet peeves 😂
Ironic, no?
Timothy Wright No need to be So rude. You obviously care enough to leave a comment .
Timothy Wright Oh! Ok. Sorry about that
it's the difference between evolving and devolving....
@@dabeage so where in the English language is devolving
I find it FACINATING that in some languages, the tone of how you say something completely changes a word.
This is very common in African languages especially Bantu languages. We sometimes just have 1 word used 7 times just depending on how you pronounce it will change meaning
... fascinating* ...
"I'm literally dying.."
Yes, yes you are, all of us are, literally dying at all times until we're literally dead.
Exactly
Except that 'literally' has been used as an intensifier for, *literally*, centuries.
It's ok to use literally when you actually mean figuratively.
www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally
@@zbdmo4914 except when people who use it don't actually know how to use it because they *literally* don't understand the word they're saying.
This is a favorite phrase of reality show contestants.
SilentNeutral they don’t understand that it’s used as an intensifier?
My fav eggcorn: "Grading on a curb." I have this picture in my mind of a professor sitting on the curb of a busy street, red pen in hand, papers flying, as the traffic whizzes by.
Wow... I've NEVER heard that one. Amazing!
Grading on a curve is a thing. I've never heard of grading on a curb.
Doggy dog world is my fave
How about grating a hunk of cheese on a curb hoping that the cheese will fall onto the plate sitting on the street that you then bring back inside the restaurant to serve to the customer ?
Or "play it by year" rather than play it by ear
When people use “loose” instead of “lose” I die a little inside.
Same. I absolutely despise this one. To/Too is a close second. This is a quick way to make me stop reading someone.
It happens shockingly often!!
Why is this so common??
@@melissak8892 because of words like choose/booze which are pronounced like lose, so people assume thats how it's spelled. I definitely recoil when i see a loose in the wild used wrong lol.
Quite for quiet, principle for principal and then for than are some of my least favourite mix ups.
This guy just voiced all my thoughts (as a hobby linguist) on language in a single video. I love how he talks about saying things "wrong" is just how language changes. My parents get caught up on the slang of "kids these days." "You guys give a bad meaning to everything"-- which is really the pot calling the kettle black because their generation had plenty of their own slang. The way I see it, often the purpose behind slang is to fill a need in a language that wasn't being met before, and a lot of our "accepted" words now were once considered slang. Slang is fascinating to me for that reason-- it's like watching language change right before your eyes.
And also, who gets to dictate right and wrong when it comes to language? It really boils down to what the natives say. I learned Spanish in the US, so I learned lots of different kinds of Spanish all at once. I resisted saying "parquear" for "to park" for the longest time because I saw it as "wrong." However, I eventually came to realize that I had never once heard someone say the "correct" word, which was "estacionar." I realized that if the native speakers have no problem with parquear, then who was I to tell them that it was the "wrong" word? There really isn't a right or wrong.
The male vs female vocal fry comparison was eye opening
I think its less male v female and more high vs low pitch. I find everything more annoying in higher pitches
@@prince-rk7nl I think you’re onto something. For me, I think the user’s accent might also have something to do with it? I’d have to listen to a wider sample though.
I definitely heard it more clearly with the higher pitched voice
@@prince-rk7nl Women usually have higher pitched voices lol 😂
I felt like the guy was genuine, but the girl was almost preaching to me. Maybe I've seen too many feminists freakout videos.
my mum would say “a blessing in the sky” instead of “a blessing in disguise” 🤣
That's cute lol
That’s so sweet I think that should be a new one
close... enough??
yeah not really, but it sounds nice
I like this, I want to use it lol
My brother went to watch “The Master of Disguise” with a friend. The friend’s dad thought it was “The Master of Da Skies.”
There's an old adage, "Never laugh at someone for mispronouncing a word. They likely learned the word by reading". I suppose there is an inverse adage, "Always laugh at someone for committing an Eggcorn, it means they learned a word by not reading".
😂
😂😂😂😂
I learned my English by watching TV starting at age 5, once I had learned my second language well enough to read the subtitles through which I understood the English spoken, and by age 7 I was more or less fluent in conversational English. So, the problem wasn't "not reading", I just mostly read in my 2 first languages that I was more surrounded by. I'd like to know how many languages these "spelling shamers" knew at the age of 5-7.
@@DasObscure I knew 3. I still get pet peeves in all of my languages. It’s one of the benefits of being fluent in more than one language lmfao
But eggcorns are often mishearings of cliches writers are trying to avoid.
When people say, "mute point", instead of, "moot point". Also, "On accident", instead of "by accident"
As a russian, I find the ability to "verb" nouns one of the most attractive features of the English language.
Interesting!
you just did it there!
Yeah, as an American, trying to guess the verb equivalents of nouns in Russian is nowhere near as easy. Like, throw in -овать or maybe a -нуть and add a random prefix...and maybe you'll be right. And don't even get me started on trying to determine what the perfective or imperfective aspect would be.
Less widely known but no less exciting is the English ability to adjective nouns. In my final year of high school my classmates decided that "ruckus" was an adjective meaning wild, fun and cool - as in, "that was a ruckus party last night." Despite my initial protests that that wasn't how words worked, I eventually had to admit that it nicely filled a gap in the language.
i like that they can come and go as a fad and you can get creative with them
Normal people: "There's a right way say things. People should use it!"
Linguists: "Language is fluuuuuiiidd!! Nothing is permanen! ANARCHYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
Hahaha, that's how I've been since taking semantics & linguistics courses. I care less & am not as rigid about language as before, but I know the rules & have helped teach English.
2b2t
Yes! I used to be a stickler on English grammar (my first language) but with other languages that I have studied, I often say things I know are grammatically incorrect because I want to sound like a native, not a textbook.
Permanent**
Onarchy? Anarchy. When I fight I make the other side panicky
My favorite verbing of a noun: "Beer me!" - Andy Bernard
Excellent! I'm gonna try that only with a cracking, up-talking voice "Wine meeeee!"
THE FIRE'S SHOOTING AT US
Beer me, is much older than that, it was on the Simpsons in the early 90s, back when the show was well written.
Lord beer me strength...
I saw a TikTok saying this and I agree, literally doesn’t have a “new” meaning, e.g. “Im literally going to kill you” when someone is being annoying is just hyperbole, not a new meaning, just as you could equally say “I’m going to kill you” without changing the meaning of the word kill. Now I see that the first sentence is somewhat breaking the 4th wall by using the word “literally” without precisely meaning it, but it’s still the same phenomenon overall.
My favourite language change is 'awful'. It literally meant "awe-full" or "full of awe"... so not only were things like floods and war awful, but also sunsets and cathedrals. Then, when that shifted to only pertain to bad things, we had to come up with 'awesome' to fill the linguistic void.
I hated when awesome became an expression that never went away...meaning awe-inspiring, originally
Terrific.
My biggest pet peeve with language is when people say ‘I could care less’, because it means the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you’re trying to say!
I could care less but that would take too much effort.
Unquestionably wrong, that one. 'Hold down the fort' is another one.
In fact, just watch David Mitchell rant about it:
ua-cam.com/video/om7O0MFkmpw/v-deo.html
Ugh..Y'know what sucks? Having known and used the proper form since childhood but being surrounded by so many 'stupids' who use the improper form and then finding yourself in a conversation with someone 'on your level' and accidentally using the improper form due to the unconscious adaptation to in group behaviours.....
@@kevinbooth- its only improper because youre mad about it. words dont have meanings, they have uses.
I've rationalized it as "I could care less, but I don't even care enough to care less about it".
It's my way of coping whenever I hear it 😵
I could listen to this man for hours, in fact that's what I am doing now
Literally
@@v.e.jansen7720 Literally literally
The thing that got me was when he said "coexist together" at the end
“I could care less” is my pet peeve. No. You COULDN’T care less. You’re saying it doesn’t matter to you, therefore you could not possibly care less. I could care less means that you currently care. I hate hate hate when people say it wrong, and my best friend says it wrong all the time. It takes every ounce of my self control to not correct her.
Just say it in a nice way and teach her. She probably/ obviously doesn't know and you don't want her looking like an idiot in the office... do you? 😊
Everyone would always confront me about that its "actually 'you could care less' not 'you couldn't care less'"
Took me 3 years constantly explaining it for my inner circle to finally understand
I always interpreted as being able to care less, but you don’t care enough to do so!
Agreed!
Lei T. Correct her then
Whenever he says “eggcorns,” even knowing the definition, my brain is still like “ACORNS”
FEAR The Walking Don
I know that’s the point, I was just saying that my brain was still having trouble recognizing the word, even knowing it’s meaning and definition.
Had a coworker who used this eggcorn: 'They blamed it on him...he was the escape goat.'
It's like saying it with a spanish accent 😆 e-scape goat
My fiance says that all the time.😂😂 he doesn't believe that it's scapegoat.
@@christinabrenneman7641 call off the marriage.
Or buy him a dictionary.
😆
@@gregbradshaw8441 😂😂😂
lol That's one wily goat
Very entertaining and informative.
For eggcorns, how about "Duck tape" (a tape created with duck fabric) evolving into "Duct tape" (even though the tape is not good at taping ducts, especially heating ducts).
“I could care less”
I get irrationally angry over this one.
I could care less
Pronouncing exspresso, exspecially, and should of... all make me justifiably angry.
Well, sometimes I actually could manage to care a little bit less. Not usually, but occasionally!
I could care less
@@mariocastro6895 why?
When he did the vocal fry reading of the Gettysburg Address, he sounded IDENTICAL to Matthew McConaughey
What. What are you doing here?
Kayano Kaede youtubers watch videos like us viewers :oo
Alright alright alright...
Oh, hey man!
I thought he sounded like george clooney
As a barista, it bugs me a little when people pronounce espresso as "expresso", but I wouldn't correct them. I know what they meant, so it doesn't really matter.
Lydia because it’s simply wrong I guess, it kind of bugs me too just because I know how to pronounce it and they’re not doing it the right way😂
I feel the same! Also when people say axe instead of ask
@sika no fvcking way haha, no one pronounce pizza as pixa right? right?
@@rafaeterna1081 unfortunately some do..
I mean spresso is an italian word, so i guess you can choose how to say it. Because espresso means pressed out, in spanish we translated it to it's literal meaning as expreso. So what you are getting is the same word with the same meaning but with the pronunciation in spanish and in italian.
I'm really enjoying your videos, especially when you remind us that language changes over time and to be more comfortable with the changes. I moved to Oklahoma a few years ago and constantly cringe when people use the wrong tense of verbs when talking. "I seen him yesterday ". It just seems to be a thing here.
I hate when people say: “I could care less”. If you could care less why don’t you? It’s: “I couldn’t care less”. It’s couldn’t, not could!
It's couldn't, could not! 😉
I think it’s a very American thing to say ‘I could care less’. Gets on my nerves!
it makes sense though. the fact theyre even engaging with the matter to the extent that they would provide this remark means they really think it's not worth their time to care at all, but they care enough to reply.
Isak A. Maybe they weren’t asking to be part of the matter in the first place, but I think “I couldn’t care less” makes sense bc it means they didn’t care at all to begin with, so they actually can’t care any less
SAME. One of my slight linguistic pet peeves
This is such a college-level, super informative lecture. Can’t believe we get to watch it for free!
Linguistics major here, trust me, this is nothing like a college-level lecture (crying 😭).
Almost. My college English prof went on for half an hour once about this, not to inform us. But just because it annoys him when people get these wrong lol
Are you serious?
As the man said in the video, these are rules we learned in elementary school/grammar school/ senior elementary/ junior high, depending on where you live. You dod not need to go to university to learn what he has said.
I don't know why anyone would consider the verbing of nouns a peeve. It's probably what I like most about english as a non native speaker, it makes it so fun and flexible
I think because more often than not, in my experience, its used in corporate jargon - to action, to sunset, to interface, to dogfood...
It mostly just sounds really cheesy to me. Like they're trying to be quirky or creative, but it's so overdone that it's lame.
Someone told me once that English was hard to learn, but worth it because of it's flexibility, too. I think that's interesting.
Verbing really weirds the language, but that also makes it more efficient.
Because it's hugely overdone, especially by marketers and creative writers trying to imitate Hemingway by paring down their sentences as much as possible by forcing nouns to do excessively heavy lifting.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a while. (I'm speaking, of course, for all intensive porpoises...)
LOL. The best I've heard is "she's going to order the Seizure salad".
My favorite: "The ship was lisping."
Meg Ryan ordered one in When Harry Met Sally
XD I couldn't stop laughing at this, imagining a vibrating bowl of leaves
Could somebody explain the joke to non-native speaker please?
@@xyu1uyx It's supposed to be "Caesar salad" not "seizure", which is a medical condition.
Better Title: Erik Singer refuses to leave the set so we let him rant to us on camera.
I think that's just his house and he's hijacked the UA-cam channel.
Which I am 100% okay with.
“Vocal fry can damage your voice”
*California has left the chat*
It doesnt really, singers (especially low singers) use it all the time.
@@reubenshiflet you missed @wouldn't you like to know 's funny joke (winky eye emoji here).
@@reubenshiflet ^ this
I didn't realize people dislike it lol
Poor Matthew mcconaughey
Wait what? The vocal fry register isn't sung in very often. Even by low voiced people
I appreciated this talk emensly! I enjoy etymology and this taught me not to take myself too seriously. The evolution of language is fluid, and we should remember this and remain as such.