Playing with words
English is on the move. Odd blends of words like affluenza and baggravation* are appearing with everyincreasing frequency. Lists of malapropisms are forwarded around the internet. Comedians try to outdo each other with their banter.
This flood of inventive language is not going unnoticed. Linguistics Professor Barry Blake is there on the scene to collect samples for his books.
When a church leaflet appeared with the slogan 'Hallelujah. A great profit has appeared amongst us', Professor Blake was amused by the secular connotations of the confusion between profit and prophet.
When a woman accused her partner of 'being selfscented' and a storekeeper took an 'infantry' he jotted down the poetry of their misspellings.
These examples are a record of the delight we take in language, particularly in mistakes and they are part of the appeal of Playing with Words, a book written by Professor Blake for the general public and published by Equinox Publishing.
The other benefit for the reader is that the examples are not just presented for amusement but lie firmly within the structure of language studied by Professor Blake over decades of research and teaching.
Playing with Words shows how every facet of language is exploited for humour. Multiple meanings are the basis for puns, word-building rules are used for clever compounds, smart blends and catchy phrases, ambiguities in syntax can be exploited, not to mention slips of the tongue, malapropisms and misspellings.
'Puns are the most common form of humour full stop,' says Professor Blake. 'English is loaded. There are 10,000 different homophones.'
Speakers are proud, he says, of their colloquial language and use it to promote their identity.
'Banter is quite highly valued in some societies and verbal skills confer prestige. Some males will show off their knowledge of jargon to impress women,' he says.
One chapter deals with extent to which humour is used in inter-personal relationships. It can be used to water down criticisms and break down antagonism.
The book is positioned in between joke books and those that focus on the intellectual side of humour.
* Baggravation: the annoyance that is felt when your bag doesn't appear on the carousel at the airport.