A few stolen minutes out of your day to talk words and communication, because our daily lives are surrounded by the evolution and influence of words. Forget the grammar police. There is so much more to this conversation.
Episode #32 – Threatened Languages, How Come We Say “How Come” & the Latest in Words You Should Know
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Approximate transcript:
Welcome to Episode 32.
The Latest in Word, Language & Writing News
Let’s talk the latest in word, language, and writing news.
Here’s your update.
We’ve talked about how 2020 and COVID-19 specifically have both had effects on the English language. Terms we wouldn’t have known or properly considered in January of 2020 are now jumping into regular usage—“WFH” (as in work from home), “infodemic” (as in a pandemic of incorrect information), and “Zoom fatigue,” among many others, But another fascinating piece of news about language in 2020 is how language learning has not only gone online but expanded dramatically in its possibilities.
For example, with many indigenous American languages falling out of usage, Middlebury College in Vermont, offered a pilot program that was intended to be a two-week summer immersive (in class experience) around the Abenaki language, an indigenous Algonquin language once native to Quebec and New England. (And listeners, if you can correct my pronunciation, I encourage you to send me a note!) Many have been concerned that the majority of the native speakers of this language have slowly been passing away while English has been encouraged for younger generations. But because of the surge in virtual teaching possibilities during the pandemic, a new class that was seeing interest of one or two people a week in the spring, a class that was meant to be in a classroom, now has two to four requests per day and has gone virtual, which means anyone, anywhere has the potential to take it. Online classes allow for new possibilities, and students from Abenaki communities across Canada, the U.S., and even Europe are now getting involved. The community has further connected, and the Abenaki language has come alive in many ways again. So there’s a win for 2020.
Of course many other indigenous languages, which have been on the brink of extinction have been further threatened by the coronavirus era. When the few speakers left of a language are all community elders, those most at risk of disease are the carriers of language. The language of the Yawalapiti, an Indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest is one of these languages on the verge of being lost, and the coronavirus has been hitting this population hard. More details on this and similar indigenous language news stories, as always, are in my show notes.
An interesting twist to the language preservation stories of 2020 is the invention of a new algorithm out of MIT that not only deciphers lost languages but also can identify relationships between different little-understand language systems.
It’s been said that most of the languages that humans have spoken have disappeared and that of those that we speak today across the earth, half are expected to vanish in the next 100 years. Just take that in for a moment. Half.
There’s a lot to think about in the world today, but this is a news item little discussed. Why not bring it into your next small talk at the start of your next Zoom call. Oh no, now you’re thinking about Zoom fatigue again. Sorry about that.
English Language History & Trivia
Moving on to English language history and trivia, there are so many topics I want to cover in this section of the “Words You Should Know Podcast,” because as words surround us every day—spoken words, written words, digital words, artificially intelligent words (I don’t know, go with it), I keep finding myself asking “How come?”; “How come?”; “How come?”
Why do we “hit the books,” “hit the sack,” “hit up our friends” when we’re reaching out to them? Why all the violence, people. How come we say these things?
So, that’s where we’re going today, not the “hitting up” actually, we’ll save that for later, but how come we say “how come”?
Now this one’s interesting, because it’s another example of a longer phrase that’s been tightened over the centuries.
What was once “How did it come about that…” or “How comes it” has evolved into the “How come?” we know today. These earlier versions had been used by Machiavelli in “The Prince” (1513), as he wrote, “How comes it that the Church has attained such greatness in temporal power”; William Shakespeare used it in 1597 play “Love’s Labours Lost”: “How come you thus estranged?”; Herman Melville used it in his lesser known, “White Jacket,” also known as “The World in a Man-of-War” (published in 1892). He wrote, “How came you here at the guns of the North Carolina.” I could go on, but I won’t. It’s all over the place in old writing, but as words have evolved and the fittest and often the most succinct survived, “How comes it” and “How did it come about that” transformed into simply “how come?”
My favorite old usage along this linguistic trail is an old hyphenated adjective phrase, “how-come-you-so,” meaning intoxicated. Oh, wow, you had a bit too much of that IPA and were a bit how-come-you-so last night, weren’t you? I love it. Thanks to Merriam Webster for that one.
And yes that “how come?” can pretty much mean “why” for all intents and purposes, which is always interesting, because we do already have a word for that, so how come we need another? Why is that? How come? Oh, English language, you’re kind of funny sometimes.
But you’re going strong, even if not always logical.
Language Challenge
Speaking of old words and old expressions, here’s today’s language challenge for you. How do you spell “linchpin”? A court case, a chemical compound, a maniacal scheme … these can all have linchpins, an essential component of the whole, something without which everything else will fall apart. But how do you spell it? L-Y-N-C-H-P-I-N or L-I-N-C-H-P-I-N?
The answer goes back to the 1200s, and you can find details, as always, is in my show notes at GetAGripOnYourGrammar.com
So how are you holding together, folks? Here’s hoping your grammar and word choice aren’t something that are making you feel like you’re falling apart. But if you’re looking for that linchpin, I can at least help reassure you about its spelling.
Personal Update:
And finally, for my personal update, as of the release of this podcast, I am two weeks away from the launch of my newest book, The Family Story Workbook: 105 Prompts & Pointers for Writing Your History. All pre-orders that come through the ever-fabulous Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia come with some exciting extras too. Check that out on my website.
The virtual book launch is planned, where I’ll be joined by a number of amazingly talented authors and wordsmiths for an online program again with Fountain Books, and my virtual book tour planning is well underway. Oh the things we never saw coming in January 2020, but I’m thrilled at the possibilities of personal connections across the world.
And, of course, I should add that “National Novel Writing Month” is just about to begin, yes November is “NaNoWriMo” for short, that month of the year creatives across the globe attempt to write a full novel within the confines of the month. I love the push. And, of course, I’m cheering everyone on and will be sharing lots of #writingtips from my book, The Novel Editing Workbook, on Twitter and beyond.
We talked a lot of lost languages at the start of this episode, but I want to take a moment to speak to lost stories, the ones you always wanted to write down, the ones you always wanted to complete, the ones (true or fictional) that you always wanted to tell. What better time than now, folks?
Lost languages and lost stories, we can get to work on that in our own little ways. How come? Because it’s simply what we’re meant to do.
Join 1,000+ subscribers and sign up for my English language tips and trivia email newsletter for more articles and podcasts like this.
If you like what you’ve been hearing, don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast (via Apple Podcasts, Android, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or RSS) so you’ll never miss out on another word you should know. Many thanks to those of you who have taken the time to rate my show wherever you listen.
Words. Language. Communications. We’ve got this.