Englees pleej!!
Posted in creativity, language 5 comments
Haven't blogged in a while, would love to blame it on the heat, but can't really. Not that the heat isn't freakishly bad (I sometimes fell as if I've evaporated!). It is so bad that I am unable to even eat anything, you see, to our trained tongues nothing mess-made seems tasty, which doesn't help at all. Well, maybe I will blame it on the heat after all...
It just didn't happen, just couldn't think of anything right. Anyway, here I am, back at business. This post is not totally mine; I and Abby talked about this sometime ago but didn't really think of writing about it. Now we both got together in writing this.
Sometimes I (Vijay speaking here) come across posts or articles that use really big words, words that I heard of somewhere but don't really know the meanings of. Alright, I admit it, it happens more often than just "sometimes". Whenever that happens I just skip those words and get the meaning from the context (yes, I am too lazy to look it up). Quite often I can figure out a word that fits perfectly in that place and is much simpler!
They make me think did the author really want the reader to go through all that trouble or is the post only for the "well versed"?
We live in a nation where there are more people who speak English than in the land where it originated from, the U.K itself. English is essential for our daily survival. And a global language needs to be given much importance in a developing country like ours. Very true.
So many of us know the basic functional usage, some of us are pretty fluent in it...but there are some others, the "elite", who are capable of baffling everyone with their flowery vocab. Do they carry lethal weapons like dictionaries with them...all the time? Naah,no need baby... Cos they've already memorized everything. EVERYTHING. And they just need to show off their mastery to the laymen around them. Watching them speak is like watching a Victorian drama...minus the lights, the sounds, the overflowing gowns.
Now you might ask what our problem is if they speak in that way. Getting there, getting there.... Language is meant for communication basically (of course), but more importantly it is a tool for you to express yourself, creatively. By using a too complicated language you are attracting the reader towards the language rather than to what you have to say. You are kind of losing focus, straying away.
Here creativity is not to be mistaken for complexity. Language should be fun. We should play with it...inventing new words, randomly infusing words from other languages, spicing it up! No, doing all this doesn't spoil your Queen's language...nor does it take away the beauty. In fact, we make it more vibrant. Each one of us can have our very own unique version of the bhasha, which can be simple, lucid, understood by everyone!
We're not supporting LOL-speak or SMS language here either. They are great for quick communication (we, who can be lazy beyond reason, understand), but not all the while! They are used by posers who think it's oh-so-cool to use such stuff even while conversing in person (!!!). We shall dedicate another post to them...let's spare them till then.
Here’s some reprieve for those of you stuck on impossible language. Your kind has been there for ages, always looking down upon us mere mortals, so don’t be too threatened. I (again Vijay) gotta tell you about the only Telugu poem I know (I didn’t have Telugu in school, I learnt this from our Principal sir).
In Krishnadevaraya’s (King of Vijayanagara) court there were two important poets Allasani Peddana and Dhurjati. Once Allasani Peddana wrote a poem, he simplified it so that even non-scholars could understand; he used 'Amavasa nisi' instead of 'Amaavaasya nisi'. Dhurjati just couldn't take it and sang an impromptu poem ridiculing it, it goes somewhat like;
"Em tini cheptvi Kavtamu?
verpuchkaya tni cheptva?
amavasa nisi ani alsni pedna?"
He actually removed all the stresses (othulu or deergalu, I really don't know the difference) just the way Peddana removed from Amaavaasya nisi. Verri puchakaya it seems is a fruit that makes you a bit crazy when you eat it. With that Allasani Peddana was silenced and so was his attempt to simplify.
I’m glad I don’t belong to that age and that people have opened up now (apparently not everyone has). Really don’t know what I would’ve done if forced to learn so much Sanskrit; Sanskrit in which you call Rama in 24 different ways! Sanskrit is eccentric and complicated, surely you don't want English to become like that! Sanskrit has tortured me for two years so spare me for getting back at it, or her as they make me say.
It just didn't happen, just couldn't think of anything right. Anyway, here I am, back at business. This post is not totally mine; I and Abby talked about this sometime ago but didn't really think of writing about it. Now we both got together in writing this.
Sometimes I (Vijay speaking here) come across posts or articles that use really big words, words that I heard of somewhere but don't really know the meanings of. Alright, I admit it, it happens more often than just "sometimes". Whenever that happens I just skip those words and get the meaning from the context (yes, I am too lazy to look it up). Quite often I can figure out a word that fits perfectly in that place and is much simpler!
They make me think did the author really want the reader to go through all that trouble or is the post only for the "well versed"?
We live in a nation where there are more people who speak English than in the land where it originated from, the U.K itself. English is essential for our daily survival. And a global language needs to be given much importance in a developing country like ours. Very true.
So many of us know the basic functional usage, some of us are pretty fluent in it...but there are some others, the "elite", who are capable of baffling everyone with their flowery vocab. Do they carry lethal weapons like dictionaries with them...all the time? Naah,no need baby... Cos they've already memorized everything. EVERYTHING. And they just need to show off their mastery to the laymen around them. Watching them speak is like watching a Victorian drama...minus the lights, the sounds, the overflowing gowns.
Now you might ask what our problem is if they speak in that way. Getting there, getting there.... Language is meant for communication basically (of course), but more importantly it is a tool for you to express yourself, creatively. By using a too complicated language you are attracting the reader towards the language rather than to what you have to say. You are kind of losing focus, straying away.
Here creativity is not to be mistaken for complexity. Language should be fun. We should play with it...inventing new words, randomly infusing words from other languages, spicing it up! No, doing all this doesn't spoil your Queen's language...nor does it take away the beauty. In fact, we make it more vibrant. Each one of us can have our very own unique version of the bhasha, which can be simple, lucid, understood by everyone!
We're not supporting LOL-speak or SMS language here either. They are great for quick communication (we, who can be lazy beyond reason, understand), but not all the while! They are used by posers who think it's oh-so-cool to use such stuff even while conversing in person (!!!). We shall dedicate another post to them...let's spare them till then.
Here’s some reprieve for those of you stuck on impossible language. Your kind has been there for ages, always looking down upon us mere mortals, so don’t be too threatened. I (again Vijay) gotta tell you about the only Telugu poem I know (I didn’t have Telugu in school, I learnt this from our Principal sir).
In Krishnadevaraya’s (King of Vijayanagara) court there were two important poets Allasani Peddana and Dhurjati. Once Allasani Peddana wrote a poem, he simplified it so that even non-scholars could understand; he used 'Amavasa nisi' instead of 'Amaavaasya nisi'. Dhurjati just couldn't take it and sang an impromptu poem ridiculing it, it goes somewhat like;
"Em tini cheptvi Kavtamu?
verpuchkaya tni cheptva?
amavasa nisi ani alsni pedna?"
He actually removed all the stresses (othulu or deergalu, I really don't know the difference) just the way Peddana removed from Amaavaasya nisi. Verri puchakaya it seems is a fruit that makes you a bit crazy when you eat it. With that Allasani Peddana was silenced and so was his attempt to simplify.
I’m glad I don’t belong to that age and that people have opened up now (apparently not everyone has). Really don’t know what I would’ve done if forced to learn so much Sanskrit; Sanskrit in which you call Rama in 24 different ways! Sanskrit is eccentric and complicated, surely you don't want English to become like that! Sanskrit has tortured me for two years so spare me for getting back at it, or her as they make me say.
5 comments:
Nice post dude..
"By using a too complicated language you are attracting the reader towards the language rather than to what you have to say. You are kind of losing focus, straying away."
Those words are very, very true.. :)
See, maybe for you language is just a means of communication, to interact, to speak and express yourself. For a lot of people, like the Shakespearean crème de la crème that you seem to antipathize so much, the English language is merely more that a communication tool. It is what they study, research and ponder, solely for its beauty and grandeur. Going along the same lines, one can criticize Einstein, Feynman, Newton, Galileo and other great physicists because we(or rather I) understand so little of what they say. So am I allowed to abuse them day and night because they speak gibberish? Why couldn't they speak a simple language so we (or I) lesser mortals can understand?
Yes, language can be made vibrant by adding a regional flavor, an out of the way word or two, but you should know where to use it, and in what kind of context you are using it. Imagine my shock when I look at words like that in formal writing like in an English answer paper. Blogs, social networking sites, SMSes are fine, but it doesn't mean you write that way all the time.
So going back to what I wanted to say, it is never an author's intention to confuse you or baffle you with his/her vocabulary. You could feel happy that you learned a new word, or you could just hurl an abuse or two and throw it away, call your friends, and blog about it.
Lets leave the physics to the physicists and the language to the linguists.
Whew! Calm down!
First of all, we are not trying to discourage people from studying or researching English. This is basically concerning daily usage, in blogs, books(the not so big ones) and the like.And when we said using words from other languages we meant only for a variety and if you see it fit, not everywhere! Yeah you could feel happy that you learned a new word, but that's not the point. The author surely would want to get the message through more than to teach new words. By keeping it simple you can reach a larger audience. Let's leave the language to the linguists, but let's use it to our satisfaction. More than the linguists it is ours!
Well, well, this is your post you had been writing the other day.
Its nice.
Dude, you have real nice talent at writing these stuff.
I don't know how you do it, is it the books you read or else is it the amount of movies you saw or what is it?
anyway, nice post re !
keep up the good stuff..
will keep watching your blog for more.
g33p aka me :P
@sreekanth, Thanks! :)
@g33p, it's not the books or the movies, i just kept blabbering ;)
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