Did the Australian accent appear as a result of drunkenness?

Is texting a sign of declining literacy?

Is business jargon killing English?

Of course not. It’s rubbish. All of it. But when bad linguistics comes to town, few can resist its appeal. What are the facts behind these fables?

Linguist Daniel Midgley is not here to make friends on this episode of Talk the Talk.


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224: Bad Linguistics

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Promo

Promo with Kylie Sturgess, 2015-11-03: Bad Linguistics

Show notes

‘Spring Awakening’ Returns To Broadway — In Sign Language
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/13/448379000/spring-awakening-returns-to-broadway-in-sign-language

Theater Combines Verbal, Sign Language In Romeo And Juliet Production
http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/theater-combines-verbal-sign-language-in-romeo-and-juliet-production/1062553/

A Deaf artist explains the rules of ‘sound etiquette’ — and why she’s kicking them to the curb
http://www.techinsider.io/deaf-artist-christine-sun-kim-2015-10

Oral vs. Sign Debate
http://www.zak.co.il/d/deaf-info/old/oral_sign

The Oral vs. Sign Debate
http://www.npr.org/programs/disability/ba_shows.dir/revoluti.dir/highlights/oralsign.html

Understanding Deafness: Not Everyone Wants to Be ‘Fixed’
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/understanding-deafness-not-everyone-wants-to-be-fixed/278527/

Why NASA Needs a Programmer Fluent In 60-Year-Old Languages
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a17991/voyager-1-voyager-2-retiring-engineer/

The History of FORTRAN
http://www.obliquity.com/computer/fortran/history.html

Fortran/Hello world
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Fortran/Hello_world

“Hello, World!” in Assembly
http://www2.latech.edu/~acm/helloworld/asm.html

Australia, we need to talk about the way we speak
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-fourth-r-missing-from-australian-education-20151025-gkhv8k.html

Is there a problem with the way Australians speak?
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/is-there-a-problem-with-the-way-australians-speak/6886106

Knowing the Aussie accent
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2014/07/knowing-the-aussie-accent

The Conversation: The Aussie accent is drink-related? That’s just a hangover from our cultural cringe
https://theconversation.com/the-aussie-accent-is-drink-related-thats-just-a-hangover-from-our-cultural-cringe-49956

Macquarie linguistics on the basis for the Australian accent
http://clas.mq.edu.au/australian-voices/history-accent-change

David Crystal: On a one-word reaction to reports about drunken Aussie accents
http://david-crystal.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/on-one-word-reaction-to-reports-about.html

Nope, The Aussie Accent Doesn’t Come From Our Forefathers Being Sloshed
http://www.pedestrian.tv/news/arts-and-culture/nope-the-aussie-accent-doesnt-come-from-our-forefa/6de4cc05-61c8-4011-afce-040e9e47b50c.htm

Claims Aussie accent slurred because our forefathers were always drunk ‘absolute rubbish’ says expert
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-28/aussies-slur-their-words-because-our-forefathers-were-drunk/6892910

When media gets drunk on absurdity and tries to tell us we’re the ones who sound drunk
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2015/10/29/when-media-gets-drunk-on-absurdity-and-tries-to-tell-us-we’re-the-ones-who-sound-drunk/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

Reddit is skeptical
https://www.reddit.com/r/badlinguistics/comments/3qmt1l/australia_we_need_to_talk_about_the_way_we_speak/

The Guardian: The ‘drunken Aussie accent theory’ is another slur on our rich use of English
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/30/the-drunken-aussie-accent-theory-is-another-slur-on-our-rich-use-of-english

CNN: Is the Australian accent due to booze, mate?
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/29/living/australia-accent-alcohol-theory-feat/

Relax ‘Straya, You’re Not Talking Like Illiterate Drunkards
https://newmatilda.com/2015/11/01/relax-straya-youre-not-talking-like-illiterate-drunkards/

Dean Frenkel has done this kind of thing before
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/fullysic/2011/11/07/a-reply-from-dean-frenkel/

Jonathan Swift: “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.”
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/

David Penberthy: Why I despair at the laziness that’s destroying literacy in the modern world
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/david-penberthy-why-i-despair-at-the-laziness-thats-destroying-literacy-in-the-modern-world/story-fni6unxq-1227572642770?sv=96564364d385180a22a7c87a9e3c1e84

Don Watson’s Worst Words: how jargon is killing the language
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/don-watsons-worst-words-how-jargon-is-killing-the-language/story-e6frg8h6-1227588619146

Sound effect: Sad Piano Music (THIS WILL MAKE YOU CRY / Saddest Piano & Violin Ever!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWIE0PX1uXk

Men are taking photos of their balls in front of beautiful landscapes
http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/27/men-are-taking-photos-of-their-balls-in-front-of-beautiful-landscapes-5465223/

nutscaping.com (NSFW)
http://nutscaping.com

nutscapes.com (NSFW)
http://nutscapes.com

(Which is better?)


Image credit: http://www.4bc.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/m/5/5/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620×349.gkm5i9.png/1446099501600.jpg


Transcript

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