Semantically Challenged

I love linguistics. I guess for most people it's an unusual, and slightly sad admission to make. Mainly because many people don't really have much an idea of what it is, other than that it involves words and language. Just to set the record straight - I'm not the kind of person who cringes when I hear someone use who instead of whom (even though I know when you're supposed to use whom), and I don't revert to a foetal position when I hear someone say "Me and my friend went to Gloria Jeans" instead of "My friend and I...". I do have a thing against the use of youse, but I think that's the part of me that's anti-bogan, and not my linguistics side, since I do understand why people feel compelled to use youse...

I love linguistics because I think it gives you an insight into people and society, and the intrinsically-curious part of me always wants to know the motivations behind people's actions and decisions. I like how hearing someone's voice can immediately tell you so many things, like where they're from, what kind of school they went to, or if they're suffering from Wernicke's Aphasia.

Even looking at a language as a whole, it also shows you a glimpse into past speakers' lives. Look at the word bye: it's a shortening of goodbye, which in turn evolved from God be with you, showing you the importance English speakers used to place on religion in Ye Olde Times.

And did you ever wonder what would have happened in situations when two cultures meet when they didn't share the same language? Did it involve lots of miming and pointing? Sure, you can cluck and flap your arms as wings to indicate chicken, but how would you mime "yesterday"?

Anyway, that's the kind of stuff I'm interested in, and after a run-in with a Quiz-show contestant, I worked it that it may in fact be my passion. So I decided to set up this blog as a way to post interesting linguistic tidbits and stuff that I find, as well as motivation for me to keep reading up on linguistics stuff. If someone else finds enjoyment from my blog, then that's a also a bonus.

If anyone's reading this blog, please leave me a comment or easy-to-answer linguistics question, or if you also love linguistics and wanted to post too, let me know as well...

Enough ranting from me today. I'll try to post something semi-informative soon.