The twists and turns in English
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
February 08, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2023
The twists and turns in English

Panorama

Syed Badrul Ahsan
17 June, 2021, 10:30 am
Last modified: 17 June, 2021, 02:53 pm

Related News

  • Prize giving ceremony of inter-college English contest at Presidency University
  • TESOL Society of Bangladesh organises national symposium on English teachers’ professional development 
  • Is English language skill make students more efficient?
  • Is English language skill makes students more qualified?
  • Why is English so hard to spell?

The twists and turns in English

Americanisms have been doing quite some damage to English in the recent past. How else would you explain the fact that too many young people, even in Bangladesh, cannot converse in English without using ‘like’ a number of times in a sentence?

Syed Badrul Ahsan
17 June, 2021, 10:30 am
Last modified: 17 June, 2021, 02:53 pm
Illustration: TBS
Illustration: TBS

There are people who will cheerfully tell you that English is a dynamic language. You can't disagree with that statement, for English is indeed a language in relentless movement. But what does worry us these days is the way in which the language is being misused or pushed into areas we are not comfortable with.

You may have noticed that a lot of people these days use the word 'anyways' when the proper term is 'anyway'. Why do they do that? 

People who study the English language will inform you that it is all an effect of what Americans have been doing to it. In other words, Americanisms have been doing quite some damage to English in the recent past. 

How else would you explain the fact that too many young people, even in Bangladesh, cannot converse in English without using 'like' a number of times in a sentence? By the time they finish a sentence, you realise that it has all been a murderous exercise in grammar. 

Yes, English is in many ways a mangled form of expression in our times. 

Think of the sentence, 'The President arrived in the French capital Tuesday'. Note that the preposition 'on' has vanished. And when you tune in to such channels as CNN, you will likely hear its anchors use the phrase 'take a listen'. How does one do that? You either listen or you don't. But take a listen? 

One other Americanism, notorious in Trumpian times and made notable by one of the President's advisers, is 'alternative fact'. In other words, that is nothing but another term for a lie, though Kellyanne Conway --- she was the adviser --- will not agree. 

And then there are the pretty irritating 'gonna', 'wanna' and what have you. There is 'gotten'; and there is 'proven fact'.

Americanisms apart, there are changes in the language that are everyday flung in our faces in an intimidating sort of way. 

Where once we had a quote, today we are told it is a 'soundbite'. What sound? And what bite? There is 'fake news' too. Well, news can be true or may turn out to be wrong, but why must we use 'fake news'? What is wrong with false news? News cannot be adulterated, like so many other items in the market. But there we are, irritated by this phrase 'fake news'. 

And, yes, the development of technology has thrown up such new turns of phrase as 'text me' and 'sms me', which is as much as saying that while digital progress has gone up by leaps and bounds, English has been left rather pauperized. 

'Legitimate' is now 'legit'. We do not throw things into bins nowadays, but 'bin them'. Notice how a noun has conveniently been turned into a verb? Here's another bit of new English for you: 'Let's party'. Whatever is wrong with 'let's have a party'?

There are some beautiful words we have lost to the changing course of linguistic winds over the years. 'Gay' once denoted happiness and good cheer. Today, if you inform your friends that your girlfriend is a gay person, you will have every pair of eyes in the room looking at you in disbelief, perhaps in disgust. Your meaning of the word does not tally with theirs, see? 

And then there are such terms as 'selfie', the application of which is so much of a bother these days. Time was when we thought birds twittered, but now there is something called 'twitter' and people, like all those birds in the woods, go on 'tweeting' day and night. 

We don't ask people for a response to a write-up, for we really wait for 'feedback' from them. I am not being 'lazy' today; I am just 'laid back'. 

And then there are the phrases you are instructed to take seriously. 'Think positive', you are told. With so many problems around you, and so many worries, how do you 'think positive'? That would be escapism of a kind. 

'Inbox me', you tell your friend. We should think 'out of the box'. See how our use of English is going through a steep curve, for better or worse? And why should you be in a box to be able to think out of it? 

Language ought not to box us in, but in many ways, it does precisely that these days. 

In essays, we have 'bullet points'. Why use such an incendiary word as 'bullets' to refer to as intellectual an exercise as an essay? And have you noticed how lecturers or speakers in classrooms or at seminars save themselves the trouble of exhaustive explanations of subjects by relying on 'power points'? There are many among us who look upon such exercises as signs of smartness, but are they that really? 

There are such things as a 'power lunch' and a 'power nap'. You must be 'kidding me'. Now, there's another Americanism for you. Why can't you simply say, 'You can't be serious' instead of 'You are kidding me'?

The English language --- and let us move away from its present placement in our lives --- has always had a colourful past, most recently in the times between our boyhood and graduation to adulthood. 

In the restive 1960s, the Chinese media consistently referred to supporters of American policy in South-East Asia as 'running dogs of US imperialism'. In their turn, Americans kept referring to Mao's China as 'Red China' and went quite some way in propagating the phrase, 'Better dead than Red'. Ronald Reagan, not very intellectually endowed, denigrated the Soviet Union as an 'Evil Empire'. 

The term 'yellow peril' was in the early phases of the twentieth century a description of Oriental people in the West and a general reference to China and imperial Japan. We do not refer to 'Red Indians' but to 'Native Americans' these days. Negroes are African-Americans. In the South Asian subcontinent, we experienced, and experience even now, the clout of the 'brown sahibs'. 

We have regularly insulted --- and still do --- birds and pigs, among others of God's creatures. We refer to someone as 'pigheaded' and describe someone else as a 'bird brain'. The Hutus thought Tutsis in Rwanda, before they went for the killings, were 'cockroaches.'

So there we are. How do you feel after all this exercise? Please don't tell me, 'I am good'. It does not make grammatical sense. Simply go back to the more appropriate 'I am well.'

Features

English / English Language / English language skills

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • RMG turns to India from China to get cheaper man-made yarn
    RMG turns to India from China to get cheaper man-made yarn
  • Country's revenue earnings were Tk40,000cr more in last fiscal: Finance Minister
    Country's revenue earnings were Tk40,000cr more in last fiscal: Finance Minister
  • The world's richest person is trying to head off a succession battle
    The world's richest person is trying to head off a succession battle

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Reuters
    A tragedy that will also shake up the region's geopolitics
  • Photo: Reuters
    'It will take at least 5 years to recover from this'
  • Each Reverse Osmosi plant can produce approximately 8,000 litres of drinking water a day for around 250 families. Photo: Sadiqur Rahman
    A drop in the ocean of persistent water crisis
  • Adopting a formula-based price adjustment mechanism for petroleum products will reduce the need for subsidies, however, this may in turn create more hardship for the poor. Photo: Reuters
    Understanding the IMF 'conditionalities'
  • Mohammad Zaved Akhtar/TBS Sketch
    Unilever CEO warns of tough 9-10 months ahead
  • Illustration: TBS
    Decoding Monetary Policy Statement 2023: Was there any better alternative?

Related News

  • Prize giving ceremony of inter-college English contest at Presidency University
  • TESOL Society of Bangladesh organises national symposium on English teachers’ professional development 
  • Is English language skill make students more efficient?
  • Is English language skill makes students more qualified?
  • Why is English so hard to spell?

Features

Photo: Reuters

A tragedy that will also shake up the region's geopolitics

4h | Panorama
Nimah designed by Compass Architects- Wooden tiles. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

Trendy flooring designs to upgrade any space

15h | Habitat
Benefits of having high ceilings in your new home

Benefits of having high ceilings in your new home

14h | Habitat
Each Reverse Osmosi plant can produce approximately 8,000 litres of drinking water a day for around 250 families. Photo: Sadiqur Rahman

A drop in the ocean of persistent water crisis

16h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

6h | TBS Insight
Challenging time waiting for RMG

Challenging time waiting for RMG

13h | TBS Round Table
"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

13h | TBS Graduates
10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

13h | TBS SPORTS

Most Read

1
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making
Districts

Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

6
Photo: Collected
Crime

Prime Distribution MD Mamun arrested in fraud case

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net