Have you heard that one? Someone saying “a whole ‘nother” in place of “a whole other” or “another”? I hear it frequently. The English language really is becoming “a whole ‘nother” language, just as it always has.
Just today a speaker said “grasp-y” in place of clingy. I’m working on a file at the moment and the speaker is a very articulate professor but has already used words such as “treaty-ing”. Then there are words developed from new technology such as “textlationship”, which is now officially a word in some dictionaries. “Textlationship” means “a relationship or association between people who text each other frequently but rarely, if ever, interact with each other in person.” Sounds like many of us today.
Is this new language development simply because so many of us don’t listen to ourselves speak? Or is it because we can’t think of the right word at the right time?
I have the absolute privilege of listening to hundreds of people speak and I am witnessing our language change. I hear some very strange things. People don’t realise how much they say “um” or “like” or “you know” and other word fillers, and this includes me! When I’m speaking with somebody and I stop to think, I catch myself actually listening to myself speak and I could certainly do with some practice!
I quite often am forced to make up words at those times when I cannot think of the right word. My word is “gallihoot”. It sounds so much more fun than “gallivant”.
What word have you invented?
