Couverture de #45 – A Grammar Mayday Over “Mayday” & the Latest in Words You Should Know

#45 – A Grammar Mayday Over “Mayday” & the Latest in Words You Should Know

#45 – A Grammar Mayday Over “Mayday” & the Latest in Words You Should Know

Écouter gratuitement

Voir les détails

À propos de ce contenu audio

 A few stolen minutes out of your day to talk words and communication, because our daily lives are surrounded by the evolution and influence of words. Forget the grammar police. There is so much more to this conversation. Episode #45 – A Grammar Mayday Over “Mayday” Approximate transcript: Welcome to episode number 45, where we’re talking distress signals—not because we’re feeling distressed necessarily, at least I hope note, but because there are secret grammar mistakes hiding in plain sight if you know where to look for them. Really? Yes indeed. Or if you don’t have language correction tendencies, let’s bring it down to a simple question: where does the word “Mayday” come from? How about S.O.S.? There are stories here, folks, and we’ll get into them today. But first, let’s dive into… The Latest in Word, Language & Writing News And we have a lot worth touching on today. Rather than going in depth into any of these stories, I’m going to remind you that links to all of these updates are in the show notes. Here are the top 7 language news stories since our last episode: Helsinki’s mayor recently suggested the Finnish capitol should be an “English-language city.”The Oxford English Dictionary just had a “K-update,” adopting over 20 new words from the Korean language.Merriam Webster’s definition of the term “Anti-vaccer” has gone under attack.The New York Times declared recently, “Gender pronouns are changing, and it’s exhilarating.” (I love that energy.)Blockchain technology could provide secure communications for robot teams. (Because, yeah, we’ve got to think about these things too)A Facebook exec on moderating hate speech outside the US, answered, and I quote “Language is a challenge.” (Ha, yep. And wow the language stories we could go into with Facebook, but I’m holding off since this is a quick review)And lastly, Psychology Today just published an article called “Why terms of address matter,” speaking to the idea of what we call one another having consequences for the relationship. (Fascinating. Seriously.) That’s seven stories. There’s so much more to cover. In fact, I had trouble narrowing down the top stories for this episode, so follow my social media feeds to stay in the loop with the latest in communications news. Follow me @KrisSpisak on Twitter and @KSWriting on Facebook. Links to everything I’ve mentioned are in the show notes on my website. Intrigued? Excited about what you can bring to your next water cooler conversation? (Whether it’s an actual water cooler or something along those lines on Zoom?) You could argue that how we as people connect with each other is changing faster than ever, couldn’t you. More on communications news next time, though. It’s time to dive into to today’s… English Language History & Trivia Have you ever wondered where the word “Mayday” comes from? Does it have something to do with the first of May and a Maypole? No. Does it have something to do with permissions and a Jennifer Garner movie, where the grownups say yes to everything the kids ask for a single day? Nope, that’s “Yes Day,” not Mayday. “Can” vs. “may” conversations aside… So, mayday, mayday. Let’s explore where this term comes from. Let’s set the scene. You’re on a ship, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. A storm, far out on the horizon, is already producing waves that bounce your vessel up and down, into peaks and valleys, crests and troughs, and then comes the wind, tearing at anyone on deck, and the rain, whipping the sleeves of your shirt and the hair on your head, and the thunder that booms so loud it echoes across the roiling sea… Okay, am I channeling Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Caruso? Maybe. Maybe not. But what is a ship captain to do? How do they signal their distress? Mayday. Mayday. It’s spelled as one word, not two, for you know if there was a space involved, we’d be back to the first of May, talking picnics and May pole dances. You know the word, but what about it’s origin? Supposedly, “mayday” was coined by Frederick Stanley Mockford, a senior radio officer in Croydon, a town in England, but whether he’s the first official person to say this is not quite proven. That’s not the important part of the story. Mayday was first tested as an emergency distress signal on planes that flew between England and France across the English Channel, as well as with air traffic between the U.S. and France. You’re seeing France as a big part of this story, and it will all start coming together for you here. The word “Mayday” comes from the French phrase similarly pronounced “m’aider” (excuse my terrible French accent; that’s “M-apostrophe-A-I-D-E-R), which is a simple, literal request. Help me. And when that call out is Anglicized, we get “mayday” (M-A-Y-D-A-Y). But wait … there’s a problem. This must be fake news. Why the hesitation? Well, it comes down to ...
Aucun commentaire pour le moment