RARE PHOTOS: Bad linguistics reddit - The Real Truth

Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher, considered by some as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, once argued that reality is shaped by the words we use. He argued this with a simple drawing of a triangle. The triangle could be considered as a hole, a solid shape, a mountain, wedge, and so many more things.

When we think of all these various things the triangle represents, these concepts summarized by words, it gives meaning to what we see. 

The same rule applies to everything around us. Our Bored Panda interview guest for today, Lauren Gawne, a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at La Trobe University, and co-host of Lingthusiasm (an engaging podcast about linguistics!), said that what excites her about linguistics most is that "it allows you to make sense of language, which is all around you.”

Linguistics is the science of analyzing the meaning, discourse, and many more aspects of language, from everyday to hyperspecific.

For example, some of the questions that linguistics may help you answer are why you talk differently (code switch) with different groups of people - your friends, your parents, your colleagues, the police, etc. 

Another thing is something you’ve definitely experienced firsthand - you and another person speak the exact same language, but you sound very different to each other (spoiler: it’s because you each speak in a slightly different accent).

Linguists notice these things in their daily conversations and interactions with the world. Lauren mentions that even people who haven’t studied linguistics pick up on these interesting features of language all the time, but actually studying it gives people the framework and terminology to make sense of what these interesting features are.

But today, we aren’t speaking about the good examples, quite the opposite. One horrible notion that people still hold is that accents are bad and you know what I mean when I say this.

“The way we speak is perfect and pure, but these other people are mangling our beautiful language.”

Although an extreme example, this is a very real example of linguistic racism, which is based on accent, dialect, or patterns of speech.

A person who can understand these variations of speech is a better communicator (and also a better person who doesn’t gatekeep language).

Dialing it back a little, some other examples of “bad” linguistics are misnomers - names that are used incorrectly. 

For example, blackboards aren’t usually black anymore, they’re green, red, or even white! Chalk sticks are also likely not chalk, but gypsum, what a scam, huh?

Also, peanuts are not really nuts, but rather legumes. Same goes for coconuts, which aren’t nuts. They’re drupes or stone fruit.

Also, a funny bone isn’t a bone at all, it’s your ulnar nerve. It’s uncertain why it’s called that way, but it may be because of the upper arm bone, called a humerus, which is pretty close to humorous, and soon we’ve got the good ole’ funny bone.

For more than 10 years now, the bad linguistics community on Reddit has been collecting these examples, analyzing them, and calling out awful examples of bad “science” wherever they can. Make sure to visit the community for more funnies. And if you’re feeling scientific, the father of bad linguistics is waiting for you - the 4 years senior /r/linguistics Reddit community. 

Finally, if you’re in a “I wanna roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty in this whole ‘linguistics’ thing” kind of mood, then Lauren Gawne came through for us. 

You may find something good by looking up “lingcomm” - the goal of which is communicating linguistics to broader audiences or by watching Crash Course Linguistics, co-authored by Lauren.

She’s also written for many YouTube channels, pop linguistics blogs and books and social media, so don’t forget to tune in to Lingthusiasm!