On slang: “Slang is so much about identity,” Kelly says. It signals solidarity, belonging, and just as importantly: “I am not an authority figure. I am not an adult.”
#ThatWordChat

May 27th (and it will be on their YouTube channel later) thx to @EditorMark
#ThatWordChat

"Experimental psychologist Corinne Jorgenson returns to That Word Chat on May 27 to update us on her explorations of human cognition and artificial intelligence."
https://www.thatwordchat.com/

So what can we do to help protect endangered languages? Apps like Duolingo are now offering courses in rare languages. Others are creating digital archives, youth programs, language camps. Sometimes, just caring is a step toward helping. #RareTongues #ThatWordChat

Compare that to a place like Iceland, where isolation still shaped the language, but the population was relatively unified. Isolation happened at micro scales. The result is hundreds of languages, each surviving side by side.
#RareTongues #ThatWordChat

Then there's modernization. Even robust languages like Icelandic feel the pressure. The dominance of English online and in tech can quietly push smaller languages to the margins, even in their own countries. #RareTongues #ThatWordChat #LanguageShift

Some languages are lost due to colonization, its long tail still erasing native tongues across generations. Others disappear under authoritarian regimes that ban minority languages as a means of control. #RareTongues #ThatWordChat #Linguistics

Premiering today on YouTube:

Kelly Elizabeth Wright joins #ThatWordChat to discuss new words, language in flux, and why linguistic justice matters.

Watch the full episode: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo

Thank you @EditorMark - that was so much fun! You have some wonderful guests on #ThatWordChat

Mastodon friends: It's fun to see previous shows too on the Youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@allens867thatwordchat

Here's the press release (FULL of words) for American Dialect Society Word of the Year 2024:
https://americandialect.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2024-Word-of-the-Year-PRESS-RELEASE.pdf

One submission that Kelly like but didn't make it to the final #WOTY voting round was "corn plating": https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cornplate-corn-plate
#ThatWordChat

"cornplating" - reference to movie Encanto ..woah, I want to look this up.

The American Dialect Society's 2024 #WOTY contest received over 300 submissions. You can submit words all year long. This year's form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfB_r452On3d4Q_dQpisOsiGdenil4XgTho_C4mMdSeL7KbOA/viewform #ThatWordChat

Books to look for: "What the F" by Benjamin Bergen and Jesse Sheidlower's new edition of "The F Word." #ThatWordChat

In this huge space of language variation, we somehow come together and we share ideas. Language variation should be celebrated! #ThatWordChat

When people are struggling with changes in language, Kelly suggests saying something like, "Language change is continuous and ongoing. It's a natural system, which changes over time. Do you stand in the same river twice?" #ThatWordChat

Kelly's hoping to work with the unhoused population in Madison: How do they think about language? How do they use it?
What challenges does the community face when trying to meet their needs and being taken seriously? She's working on building a mobile lab so she can go out to them. #ThatWordChat

Meta linguistics is really cool. Love to hear Dr. Kelly Wright think out loud.

But! If people tell you that something isn't a word but they're using it, then what is a word? If they can tell you exactly what it means and how to use it, that's a real word. #ThatWordChat

In asking students what they think, she doesn't need them to "heighten" their language for her...I really like this.

Kelly takes a lesson from Ron Butters, who said "Words mean what people tell us they mean." #ThatWordChat