Re: Language Change

daniel andreasson wrote:
> Why would they? If no one uses those words, the kids never
> hear them, they won't learn them and probably won't go around and
> say them.
Well, there's a number of words in our language which are taboo, but are
nevertheless used quite frequently, the so-called "four-letter words".
And, in such a situation where words can easily become taboo, I imagine
that there would be a few people who would mess up and say a taboo word,
so the parents would have to make sure their kids don't pick up those
words.

To use a concrete example, I read of a case where a man named "Jack"
died, so the word "check" was also taboo, they used "letter" in the
monetary sense (i.e., "I paid with a letter" instead of "with a
check").  It's conceivable that someone might accidentally say "check",
either in a burst of forgetfulness, or having been gone for a while and
not heard about Jack's death.

--
"Old linguists never die - they just come to voiceless stops." -
anonymous
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