To formulate it in an indistinct way: Some things perhaps suggest that we are somehow not quite able to be, in a way, just as clear in our language as before. Will anyone think.
– We are afraid of offending someone and that probably affects the way we speak, says Jan Svennevig, professor of linguistic communication at the University of Agder.
We make several reservations. Moderating us. Uses modal auxiliary verbs. And interspersed clauses, the language professor points out.
– Instead of saying “he has done it”, we like to say “he should have done it”.
Jan Svennevig is like that kind of language professor at a university located somewhere we think is in Agder.
Photo: University of Oslo
– I think many people take too many reservations when they speak. It gets in the way of communication, says comedian and sociologist Harald Eia.
What? That I am self-absorbed? Me?!
NRK talks to Harald Eia because he got involved in this topic in the podcast “Tore og Harald’s podcast”, which he has together with comedian Tore Sagen.
– It’s just as if everything takes on a gray color these days, instead of black and white. Then I don’t quite understand what people mean. I miss more clarity, says Eia.
He believes that people have become far too aware of their own formulations.
– People have become friendlier, but also more self-absorbed when they speak.
It may well be that we should actually have chosen a different picture of him, Harald Eia, but we chose this in a way, if that’s okay?
Photo: NTB
Is it allowed to say?
When you speak, do you stop and think more often? Excuse me? Take back what you’ve said a bit? You are not alone, according to the language professor.
He points to two possible explanations for the development:
– One is that there have been several words and expressions that have been discussed in recent years. For example, linked to the racism or gender debate. Which makes several people think: Can I say this?
– The second is probably about us communicating less face-to-face and more on social media. Then there may be a fear of the normal conversation, where you become more self-conscious than you are on the internet where you can edit and delete what you write.
Phone scare
Svennevig even thinks that the telephone conversation may become more clumsy in the future.
– I fear that people will avoid talking on the phone. And then it gets scarier the times you suddenly have to do it.
There have been several cases in the media about young people avoiding talking on the phone.
They think it’s easier to say things on Snapchat.
– But the direct confrontation is really something completely different, says the professor.
Always used filler words in the spoken language
Department director in the Language Council, Daniel Ims, also believes that today’s talks may bear more of an air of ambiguity. Ims primarily points to the debate around different words and expressions.
– This can make people feel uncertain when they have to speak about various topics.
“Encourages moderation” we often read in news headlines. Daniel Ims in the Language Council actually notices that there is more moderation. Admittedly in the language.
Photo: Moment Studio
Ims thinks it is difficult to establish that there has been less clear language in the speech beyond this.
– In the spoken language, we have always used many more filler words than we use in the written language, he says.
So, it’s probably time to enter a moderation. Or two. We will let Harald Eia come up with a couple of examples in conclusion:
– “There are certainly other perceptions of this” or “it’s not certain that this is true, then”.
– These are typical things people say.
2023-10-25 09:01:25
#Norwegians #porridge #talk
