Episode 207 The most annoying thing about learning English is also it's best point!

Do you get frustrated with the need to learn three different words to describe the same thing in English? Do we really need all of these synonyms? What actually is the point, the benefit, of having 10 ways to describe rain? Or 100 ways to describe how you feel?

In this episode I'll read a short excerpt from George Orwell's 1984. This book is a dystopia novel, so darkness is kind of the point! He's trying to show us what the worst case scenario might look like, so we can avoid it.

Through this reading you can see one possible idea of what English (or potentially any language) would or could look like if we remove it's variety, if we take out all the antonyms and synonyms, what's left? And would it really matter?

In this episode I mention two other episodes you can check out.
Episode 180 International Influences On The English Language - Talks about the influences of Viking, Indian and African languages on English.
   • Episode 180 International Influences ...  

Episode 179 Why Is English Spelling So Hard?😱 - Looks at the historical roots of some of English's weird spelling.
   • Episode 179  Why Is English Spelling ...  

I also mentioned a recent video by linguist creator Rob Words called 'Tracing English back as far as possible'. This video uses maps and work by current and historical linguists to identify the potential mother of English and what similarities we can find between English and other languages.
   • Tracing English as far back as possible  

I hope you find this episode interesting and it helps you feel a little less frustrated with the diversity and variety in English. It's frustrating to learn, but that diversity is definitely also a strength. Think about how you might use English to express yourself differently to how you might express yourself in your own language.

Sorry, this week the vocabulary is a little more complicated than usual. This is partly due to the high level of the book. I hope you can understand everything OK. All of the vocabulary and meanings are below. It's also my first week not using the subtitling software, I hope the YouTube subtitles are OK!

See you next time.

Vocabulary
Purloin - steal something
Linguistic - the study of languages
Sanskrit - an ancient (still used) language in India
Examine - to look at closely
Proto Indo European - The linguistic name of one of the proposed earliest languages
Incidentally - by the way, used to add more information
Dystopian - fictional story genre with end of the world types of stories
Authoritarian - a form of government that has absolute power over the people
Excerpt - a short piece of something, usually reading from a book
Audacity - bold or arrogant disregard for normal behaviour
Infuriating - to make you very angry
Relevant - connected to something or a context related to our conversation or topic
Definitive - complete and final
Cut down to the bone - idiom - something is reduced as far as it can be.
Obsolete - out of date, no longer in use
Wastage - the process of losing or destroying something
Synonym - words with the same meanings
Antonym - words with opposite meanings
Vague - unclear or undefined
Afterthought - something that we add later
Lack of enthusiasm - not having excitement for something
Thought Crime - this and words like 'New Speak' are vocabulary invented in the book. Thought Crime defines the idea that you can be guilty of a crime just for thinking differently to how the government wants you to think
Rigidly - without flexibility
Subsidiary - less important but related to something
Self-Discipline - to have self-control
Revolution - the act of rising up against an organisation or government and changing it
Literature - the poems, books and words that make up the stories we read, often used for 'great' or 'classical' works
Slogan - a group of words used to sell an idea
Abolished - to destroy completely, usually for organisations, ideas and laws
Orthodoxy - authorised theory, doctrine or practise
Far-right - a set of beliefs that are often related to authoritarian ideas, often describes people who are against immigrants, choice and freedom
Mainstream - commonly in use by the general public
Woke - aware of important facts (especially around racial and social justice)
Wokeism - alert to racial and social injustice, commonly used by the media and far-right people as a derogatory term suggesting someone is too liberal or too open minded.
Irony - to express yourself using the opposite language, usually to be funny or add emotion
Eradicate - to get rid of completely
Radical - asking for complete change
Inflict - to cause pain or discomfort to someone else


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