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timepiececlockHello, hello folks! I have Linguistics field project that I need you guys to help me with. You see, I was collecting data IRL, but I lost some of the documents and I need new data from people. Can you help me in my time of emergency? I need to get at least 18 people to fill this out, the more the better. Men are especially welcome since there's so few on my friends list. Er... that I know about, anyway. ;P
If you guys could answer these 8 survey questions, that would be great.
If you could then create a link in your journal to this entry to spread the word about my survey, that would be even better. But that's not part of the survey, so you don't have to and you could just answer the questions.
Thank you so so much.
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SURVEY
Gender:
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech:
Age:
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
----------------------------------------
Thank you for participating. NOTE: The age question is very important so please be honest about it... my project involves the perspective of people over 30 because that's an age wherein I judged that people would have lived long enough to accurately measure some changes in the language over longer periods of time. Of course, if you want to fill it out for fun, you're welcome to do so. Just make sure you tell me so on the age question. :)
EDIT: I've got enough now, thank you!
If you guys could answer these 8 survey questions, that would be great.
If you could then create a link in your journal to this entry to spread the word about my survey, that would be even better. But that's not part of the survey, so you don't have to and you could just answer the questions.
Thank you so so much.
----------------------------------------
SURVEY
Gender:
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech:
Age:
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
----------------------------------------
Thank you for participating. NOTE: The age question is very important so please be honest about it... my project involves the perspective of people over 30 because that's an age wherein I judged that people would have lived long enough to accurately measure some changes in the language over longer periods of time. Of course, if you want to fill it out for fun, you're welcome to do so. Just make sure you tell me so on the age question. :)
EDIT: I've got enough now, thank you!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:15 pm (UTC)Gender: Female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: United States
Age: 19
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:22 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 33
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Of course. Language is always changing.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant affect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Certainly. People now talk about their DSL lines, their cable TV, their TiVo's, their websites, HTML, URLs, email, disk space, downloading music, surfing the web, etc.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
Since 1990, casual access to the Internet has become widespread. Before then, I don't remember people talking about websites or email very often. It was mostly confined to computer geeks. But pretty much everyone knows about email (and about computer viruses, and email attachments, and digital photos, etc.). So I guess I would say that a huge number of new words and concepts have entered the language.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
URL, website, email (I used email before 1990, but I was definitely among a small number of people I knew in that regard), computer virus, DSL, upload, download, HTML, disk space, surfing the web, going online, checking email, hotlinking, bandwidth (and bandwidth theft), high-speed connection, frames (on websites), etc. -- These mostly relate to some meetingplace between technology and regular life.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I'm rather fond of the influences of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on idiom, which have also spread beyond fans of the television show and have invaded speech on a wider scale.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
I'm not fond of the increasing useage of acronyms (DSL, USB, HTML, URL, etc.), because they make language more difficult for outsiders to interpret. I'm also not fond of the increasing useage of "netspeak" by the younger generation. It's difficult for me to even describe it to you, because it makes so little sense to me. It seems to be derived primarily from the ultra-abbreviated text messaging systems they use to communicate with each other on their pagers and such.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Hmmm. That's a difficult one. But I guess I would have to go with Homer Simpson's "Doh!" It's just so expressive of something no other single word really captures.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 09:04 pm (UTC)I also am not fond of acronyms. There's precious few that I use regularly on LJ and even less IRL (<--- that being one of the few.)
"Doh!"
:grin: wonderful answer.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:28 pm (UTC)Gender: Female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: US (Pacific Northwest, Canadian Parents)
Age: 29 (though, if you run short on data, I'm far closer to 30 than I am to 29, and almost everyone from my high school class would now be 30, and I'm filling the rest out for you just in case.)
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant affect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Fairly significant (PS, this should be "effect")
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
TLAs and netspeak are far more common, and the dropping of articles and pronouns (a habit seen mostly in email communication) seems to be spreading.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
Google (as a verb, technological), IM (as a verb, technological), Hellmouth (other), RAS/RAS in (as a verb, technological--the TLA stands for Remote Access Server. To RAS in is to connect to the RAS for the sake of doing work. "I had a cold, so I just RASed in."), Nilly (verb, sort of technological, as it's a verb formed on an internet community.)
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
Change in language is neither positive nor negative. It just is.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
See above, though I hate it when people say URL as "Earl" rather than as "U-R-L" and wish they'd stop.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
At the moment, probably google.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes, and it completely affects my answers. I've been known to describe damned near everything in tech terms without meaning to do so.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:53 pm (UTC)Fairly significant (PS, this should be "effect")
::blinks:: ::rereads:: oh, hey, you're right! I'll change that. :)
Survey
Date: 2004-03-15 08:38 pm (UTC)1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes. It changes with every generation.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant affect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Definitely.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
You don't have to explain what "the net" is to kids anymore, for example. They generally are much more computer savvy than many adults -- their grandparents' generation, in particular.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
playa(M), rad(M), dotcom(T), spam(T), fanfic(F), hip-hop(M), hook up(M), da bomb(M), slash(F), vid/vidder(F), slashdot(T), hacker(T)
Source: T=technology; F=fandom; M=music/TV
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
It seems more fluid and alive -- innovation helps to keep a language fresh. Lots of new words pop up every minute and spread really quickly. I think because people are much more connected now (the net, MTV), changes in language happen much more quickly and spread more widely than they did in say the 60s or 70s.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
Language is cruder now. Lots of slang is sexist or racist, but fewer people are offended these days.
7. What's your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Spike! Joking ... Probably bling bling. It just sounds perfect for what it describes.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes, I do, but I don't think that fact had an impact on my answers above. I hear new terms everyday at work that will only become widespread 2-3 years down the road but I didn't list them here.
Re: Survey
Date: 2004-03-15 08:51 pm (UTC)Gender: F
The country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 38
Re: Survey
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:51 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 52
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes, somewhat. Language is "slangier" and less traditionally grammatical, and some of the slang is completely new. Oh, and cursing is a LOT more commonly accepted.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant affect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Significant, but not enormous. I use a fair amount of computer metaphors: fatal error, memory overload, hard reset, core dump. (FYI, if conventional grammar matters to you, that's "effect," not "affect" that you want there.)
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
The internet makes my personal vocabulary larger, because I interact with a wider variety of people, in more specialty fields. I don't have children. I think the people I know also use more computer metaphors.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
These are always hard to think of on cue. Lots more acronyms: TMI comes immediately to mind. "Hosed"; "24-7" "dotcom"; "kewl" (though "cool" is much older); "no-brainer"; "Gen X"; "I'm down with that" is just coming into my vocabulary now. The newer "-ist" words: classist, ageist.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I kind of like it that cursing is more acceptable, though I do wish a lot of people (including me) would reserve "fuck" as a compliment, rather than an insult. I like the richness of some computer metaphors and I almost always like Black slang and new teenage slang when it comes along.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
Since I don't watch much TV, I get lost when there's new TV slang that enters the language (it was years before I knew "yadada yadada" was from Seinfeld for example. I tend to like slang, and like watching language evolve. I don't care for the way advertising slogans get used as core language, but that's more than 15 years old.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
No single favorite comes immediately to mind. I'll let you know.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
No, but lots of my friends do, and I'm sure that does affect the way I use language.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 09:24 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: U.S.A.
Age: 31
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
No. (With that no being due to the word "significant".)
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
I think there have been minor but multiple words that have been introduced to the English language due to the popularization of computers and the Internet. I wouldn't consider it particularly monumental, but rather the constant evolution of language that occurs as various trends and/or new technologies rise to the forefront.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
Network (the verb), significant other, telecommute, fax, vox, cell phone, worms, viruses, geek, nerd, spam (UCE), hacker, cracker, email, designer games (meaning well-designed, usually German, board games), autopay (of bills), banner ads, civil union, Internet, online, ecommerce, fanfic, slash (as a type of fanfic), google (as a verb), low carb diet, DVD, nurse practicioner, foobar.
The majority are related to technology, but others have to do with other societal changes.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I'd say, "none". Language changes, and it rarely is to create clarity or deeper understanding, but rather to fly with the newest trend.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
People online who spell phonetically, particularly using just letters rather than full words, e.g., "KEWL DUDEZ, U R ROKKINGG!!!!" It's often incomprehensible, and is so unstandardized that it's different for every person.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Just as I don't think they generally improve (or hurt) the language, I don't have a favorite. There's usually something that's a bit funny at the moment, but that's it. Weapons of Mass Destruction would be the current phrase that makes me laugh because of its patheticness.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes, and I'm sure it's gives me a better understanding and immersion into tech words than the average person in Boise.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 09:29 pm (UTC)SURVEY
Gender: Female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: American southwest
Age: 22
Thank Kimberly_a for pointing me here :)
Date: 2004-03-15 09:34 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 30
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Absolutely
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Again, absolutely
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
I think my vocabulary has changed in many ways: 1) There is so much technical and computer related "lingo" in our language now and it's almost impossible to communicate with others without using these terms. (e-mail, URL, World Wide Web, Yahoo, Google, IM, text message, bytes, windows, desktops, DSL, ISP, POP, dot-com) 2) With so much information available in one place, I come across many words that are "new to me" and motivate me to look them up (also much easier with online dictionaries). Language that I should/could have learned through schooling is expanded now by the new exposure to words and the easy access to learning them. 3) Communities, chatrooms, online games... these settings and more encourage you to interact with people from other countries whose own language begins to get incorporated into your own. I personally find myself incorporating subconsciously a lot of terms I learn from friends in England, such as numpty, whinged, ring you, full stop, hoover. 4) Communication seems to be much more informal these days through online interaction and therefor I find more euphonisms as well as acronyms are incorporated into my speech.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
As listed above, computer related lingo as well as words and phrases picked up from others in different regions of my own country as well as other countries. TV, music, and movies have also had a continual impact upon my language.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I think the ability to broaden your vocabulary (not even with new words or slang, but existing ones that perhaps with out the internet one might not have been exposed to it) is a wonderful positive aspect. Also, when I was younger and did much more traveling, I found that much of the slang that was used was centralized to particular areas. Now that individuals are able to communicate regularly with people from all over, slang is more generalized over larger areas.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
I am personally not fond of the laziness that the internet has seemed to spawn within individuals. The increasing use of acronyms for just about everything. Poor grammar being accepted more and more. The use of net-speak (U R 2 QT!)
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
I think the words I've used more regularly now are numpty and wassup.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
No, I do not work in the computer/tech industry.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-15 10:58 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 31
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Definitely.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
In speech, it involves the application of highly useless, but cool-sounding buzzwords and catch phrases. In meetings and client visits, terms like IPO, tech bandwidth, verticals, e-whateversneatlatthemoment, b2b are tossed around to prove how cool and up-to-date we are.
I believe, however, the most drastic changes have taken place in the form of digital text emphasized over personal (including telephone) communication. The proliferation of e-mail, chat, newsgroups and boards combined with immediate gratification makes it easy to change from what used to be a more formal and laboriously edited process into a simple click of the "send" button. As a result, partly because of ease as well as expediency, my written communication has a much more casual flow to it.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
See buzzwords and Seinfeld.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
Unicode. Globalization of not only tech termonilogy, but of slang - take the rapid proliferation of (often annoying) anime pseudo-cutespeak for example. Would have happened much more slowly without the technology of immediate text transfer.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
IFHA (I fucking hate acronyms). I also loathe 'neatspeak' and 733+. Buzzwords suck as well, but I use them so much, I forget they're there.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Douchebag. Heh. I'm twelve.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes. I work in the localization industry and have to deal with linguistic and technological issues on a regular basis.
thanks for the answers
Date: 2004-03-16 11:21 am (UTC)Word. So with you there.
Is that David Duchovny on yur icon? ::drool::
Re: thanks for the answers
From:Re: thanks for the answers
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-16 12:25 am (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: Australian, which was traditionally largely Uk-English, but my speech is heavily influenced by US TV. I deny it not ;)
Age: 27
no subject
Date: 2004-03-16 01:24 am (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: United States
Age: 42
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990? Yes
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years? Yes
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet? More Internet, computer, and high tech terms in common use.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life? I'm most aware of technology related terms: Web, Usenet, Internet, google (v.), tivo (pvr), dish (satellite dish), ringtones, dot-com, brick-and-mortar, dot-boom, dot-bomb, e-tail, blog
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond? I don't feel positive or negative about the changes in language since 1990.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike? I don't like "corporate double-speak," and it seems to have become somewhat more prevalent, but it's been around for a lot longer than 15 years.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years? I don't think I have a favorite.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey? Yes, I'm a technical writer/editor. I guess I might be more knowledgeable about terminology changes than some, and so more jaded.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-16 04:03 am (UTC)SURVEY
Gender: Female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: Australia (& England)
Age: 33
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Yes
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
IT related terminology more widely used. Increased use of profanity and (particularly sexually specific) slang in every day conversations or in public.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
Mainly technological - modem, laptop, iMac, DVD, pay TV, etc.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
The internet has allowed subcultures to define themselves and their own terminology (in some cases to form), and for others to be exposed to that, in a way that was not possible prior to the populisation of the internet.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
I wonder if the impersonal nature of internet communication (you're looking at a screen, not another person) encourages people to be less disriminating in their use of language. If, in chat rooms, emails, message boards, you are consequently exposed to swearing is there an influence there for you to 'pick up on it' (in the same way that you pick up on terminology?) and, if you start to *use it* online (as opposed to passively receiving via TV and movies) will you be more inclined to *use it*, verbally, in real life?
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Doh!
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
No. Librarian. But we have internet PCs that we assist or supervise the public in using.
thanks for filling it out!
Date: 2004-03-16 11:19 am (UTC)Re: thanks for filling it out!
From:Re: thanks for filling it out!
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-16 05:46 am (UTC)1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Oh boy. Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Yes, especially since I'm in the computer profession. We've tended to humanize computers, take on their aspects. We interface. My boss continuously says, "We'll talk about that off-line" during phone conferences, meaning he wants somewhere private to yell at me. We talk in inputs and outputs.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
Well, there's the technical aspects - we talk about the Internet a lot more because it's a lot more popular. It's exposed me to different points of view, which has influenced me. I've noticed writing styles have become more "web-friendly." Technical manuals pre-Internet are long, 200 page books. Everything now is bulletpoints, short and to the point (no pun intended).
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
See question two for some examples. In writing, I've seen people use <tags> and </tags> to denote a change in tone, like "<sarcasm>oh, that's real smart</sarcasm>". Cntrl-Alt-Delete to kill a process (or pre-Windows domination, Cntrl-C) expanded to just killing a line of thought; just mentioning control keys in real speech is kind of geeky.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
Language seems to have become more inclusive. New terms have come about (like the below-mentioned metrosexual) that didn't exist in the old times. Once we've given a term to something, we can discuss it, and we can acknowledge it. I'm not talking political correctness, but that has something to do with it - it's a combination of realizing that words can hurt, coupled with the self-actualization of a group taking over the language, or the terminology that describes itself.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
Leet speak, and the general degradation of the written word. I guess I'm of the school that writing, even informal writing, should be of a higher class than speaking. Even writing that is not permanent (IRC, for example).
7. What's your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Hella. Or metrosexual.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes - programmer and web developer, and before that, technical writer. The slang I am exposed to is computer-influenced. "I grep that," for example, using the grep UNIX command as slang for understand. Or using the ! for not in writing.
On a side note, there's a chapter on The Victorian Internet on how the telegraph influenced language. Very interesting.
Good luck.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-16 11:38 am (UTC)My community pride means I have to point out though that "hella" is not a new word. As a San Jose resident I can testify that hella has been a commonly used slang word in Northern California for a long time. I've thought about it before and I would guess the entymology orginially came from the expression "a hell of a."
It has three uses: 1) a synonym for "very" as in "this is hella cool." 2) a synonym for "really" as in "this hella sucks." 3) a synyonym for "a lot" or meaning a great amount of something, as in "there are hella people here today."
Damn that Gwen Stefani! She marries the man I wanted to marry and offers our slang up to the word in a bad pop song. Curses.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:10 am (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: the south
Age:41
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
completely, the internet has changed the way we speak
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
yes
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
completely
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
let's see, the use of initals, like brb, bbl, and wtf
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
makes writing quicker but it's not as personal
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
the lack of personality
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
where's the beef
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
no
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:48 am (UTC)Gender: f
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: US
Age:37
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990? Very much so. In 1990, I knew very few people withhome computers, these days, I talk to people, even people over 65, about email, the web, mp3's, bandwidth, modem, tivo, mouse, monitors, digital, googling, etc.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years? See above, yes.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet? Yes. Especially thoes younger than me, and those in their 30's or older that worked with a computer at all.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life? Email, snail mail, google as a verb, to "search" stuff on the "internet", bandiwdth, wireless, laptop, download, modem, mouse, tivo, ipod, blackberry, scan (we scan everything at work now and then email rather than faxing), spellcheck, this is a small list of common stuff that I could use with pretty much everone I know, including parents and senior citizens, and they would understand what I mean. Personally there are many more words and phrases I would use, but going by more common knowledge, I'm not sure everyone would understand.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond? I'm not sure they are positive or negative, they simply are requred to be able to expres yourself in the most succinct way posssible.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike? I actually find most netspeak annoying to read.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years? "google" as a verb.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey? I dont work in the computer industry.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 06:45 am (UTC)Gender: Female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: United States
Age: 43
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990? To a certain extent, yes; but then, idioms and slang are changing all the time.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years? Yes.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet? A fair amount.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life? URL, gigabytes, "@" meaning "at" instead of "each". Those are technology oriented. Phrases such as TMI are not. I think some slang has spread more widely because of broader, faster communication.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond? Um, I'm not sure how to answer that one.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike? Net speak -- whoever thought of it should die
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years? This is like James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio. :) e-mail
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Worked in an IT department for five years and yes, it did have an effect on my answers.
Survey
Date: 2004-03-17 07:04 am (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech:USA, Northeast
Age: 49
If you are 29 years or younger, do not fill out any more questions. You may leave now with my thanks.
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Yes
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
Many, many more technology-based terms
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
Multitasking, login, sysop, username, password, bandwidth, broadband, etc., etc. Yes, they all relate to technology. Other new vocabulary in my life relates to specific interests/hobbies I have become involved with.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I wouldn't say that there are positive or negative aspects. language is a living thing, it changes.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
Inappropriate verbification. "Impacted" is the one I hate most. An event has an impact. "Impacted" is something that happens to wisdom teeth.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Can't say I have one. But e-mail is my favorite new technology!
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
I do work in the tech field, which probably means that I know/use more geek vocabulary than your average non-geek.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 09:57 am (UTC)I am the most fluent in English, but my phrasing is influenced by Chinese (where I lived until ~4 yrs old).
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 10:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:wait!
From:survey
Date: 2004-03-17 10:13 am (UTC)female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech:
United States
Age:
36
If you are 30 years or older, please answer the following opinion questions to the best of your ability, and feel free to elaborate as much as you like:
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990?
Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years?
Yes.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
Well, there's the obvious "internet," "email/snail mail," "IOW/LOL/ROTFL" things that are only post-internet. The words "slash" and "fanfic" are probably more widespread because the phenomena are more widespread. I think that we turn verbs to nouns more, ie "I'll have to google that" or "I need to do some journaling tonight."
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
New: get online, face-to-face friends or rl (real life) friends (vs. online friends), plus the stuff mentioned at 3. These generally relate to technology or to the changes that technology has created in other areas of my life.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
I think that people are more accepting of new terms because we've had to come up with them. So certain slang and idiom shifts have been more readily accepted than they might have been in, say, 1970.
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
I dislike slang/idioms that deliberately change the spelling of words for no apparent reason: "plz" for "please" "teh" for "the" (done deliberately) and so on.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
Google.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
Yes, I do. I probably spend more time online than many people so a lot of terms are more transparent to me due to exposure. There's a good chance that non-computer/tech folks would be less fond of LOL, ION, and so on.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 11:42 am (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: United States
Age: 22
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:15 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: US
Age: 47
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990? Yes
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years? Yes
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet?
a. it changes faster
b. changes are more geographically uniform (slang in different regions is more similar)
c. whole new areas of slang e.g. chatspeak
d. more slang gets into writing for school because slang is more of a variant on *written* language, not just on speech
e. because of the written character of this slang, it is full of abbreviations like WTF or OMG.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life?
-- too many to count, but whole new categories include:
a. many more abbreviations -- WTF, OMG
b. emotive expressions (?don't know what to call this) -- kids will say "sweatdrop" or "headdesk"
c. zillions of tech-based expressions, especially ones that parallel people, etc., with computers: "My brain is down."
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond?
-- because I'm in the web/computer industry, I can understand what my kids are saying!
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike?
-- hideous spelling covers the world
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years?
-- I can't pick just one! I like *headdesk*, it's so useful in life. But I'm sure if you suggested other things, I'd change my fickle mind.
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey?
-- yes, and as I said it makes me feel less as though my kids are speaking a foreign language.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-24 12:43 am (UTC)b. emotive expressions (?don't know what to call this) -- kids will say "sweatdrop" or "headdesk"
That's fascianting. I've never heard "headdesk" before. But I have to ask... do any of your kids like anime or manga (japanses comics)? Because "sweatdrop" is a cultural borrowing from that (at least, that's been my only experience with the term). In anime shows one of the trends is that when a character is nervous, embarrassed, or confused, a giant comical sweatdrop appears on or in the area around their head. That's taken form in internet speech as an action term, written in ::sweatrop:: or **sweatdrop**, a carryover from anime/gaming fandom into other internet stuff. I've never heard it spoken aloud though. That would be interesting.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:22 pm (UTC)Gender: female
Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: united states of america
Age: 23
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:25 pm (UTC)Favorite idiom: "squick". A useful word we should have had before.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-17 12:48 pm (UTC)USA (border south dialect region)
37
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Much more computer related terms in everyday speech, also influence of japanese pop culture, especially from animation and comics
4. html, internet, world wide web, megapixels, jpg, gif, bitmap, website, webpage, blog, live journal, motherboard, google it, search engine, digital camera, mp3, dvd, cd-rom, anime, manga, shoujo, shonen, josei, seinen, hentai, bishonen, seiyu, fuku, zasshi, tankobon, cosplay, karaoke, baka, otaku, mahoushojo, yuri, yaoi
5. Japanese terms introduction has caused a bit of a two way cultural exchange- fulfilling a dream that has long been hoped for on both sides of the Pacific
6. Insulting words for women or parts of the female anatomy in everyday youth speech
7. Cosplay
8. No, but have several family members in it- siblings, father and uncle. Yes, there probably is some influence, as I was already using terms like Floppy disk, disk drive, computer monitor, BASIC- the computer language, binary code, COBOL, FORTRAN, program (as a verb) 20 or more years ago (floppy disk, disk drive, 20 years ago. Computer monitor 25 years ago, the computer language terms 30 years ago.)
Your Survey
Date: 2004-03-17 01:39 pm (UTC)Nationality/ the country of residence which most affected your speech: USA
Age: 31
1. Do you think language and vocabulary in common daily use has changed since 1990? Yes.
2. Do you think widespread computer technology has had a significant effect on the vocabulary you use and understand in the last 10-15 years? Somewhat.
3. How would you say the vocabulary of you, your children, or the people you know has changed since 1990 with the popularization of the internet? Obviously, there is computer terminology which has seeped into the national language as a whole, along with abbreviations and alternate spellings which have become common in general usage. However, I think the usage of these terms is more pronounced in the more computer-literate sections of the population, especially those under 25 and those in the computer industry.
4. What are some new words, phrases, idioms, or other bits of figurative language you might use now that you did not use 10-15 years ago? Do these relate to technology or to other things in life? Most of the terminology which I use that I did not 10-15 years ago has to do more with social changes and pop culture, rather than technology. Technology plays some part, with computer and cell phone terms in use. However, I find myself using words like "baby-daddy" and other societal/cultural references more often.
5. What are some positive aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. that have occurred since or resulting from the 90s and beyond? I think there is a mass levelling of vocabulary going on in this country which is helpful in some ways and destructive in others. While commonality of usage may be helpful in understanding one another, it also eliminates the unique aspects of segments of the population--you can't tell a southerner by "y'all" anymore!
6. What aspects of changes in slang, terminology, idioms, etc. frustrate you or do you dislike? I hate mispronunciations of words because of laziness. "A'ight"--it grates on me.
7. What’s your favorite word, phrase, term or idiom introduced in the last 10-15 years? I think the afore-mentioned "baby-daddy" is a keeper, "SO" for significant other, and the newest: "wardrobe malfunction".
8. Do you have a job in the computer/tech industry, and if so how might that affect your answers on this survey? No--and that is probably why I don't find that technological terms have really changed my life.
Good luck to you!