Aitchison's Three Metaphors about Language Change

THE CRUMBLING CASTLE:

• The myth that the English language was a ‘once great castle’ but over time has crumbled into the sea.

• Aitchison states this is false because the description of English as a ‘once fine language’ is inaccurate, as language is constantly changing and evolving.

  • Comments:

    • “No year can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection.”

THE DAMP SPOON:

• The myth that ‘bad English’ sticks to people who are lazy and passive in the way that sugar sticks to a damp spoon if a lazy person puts it back in the bowl.

• Aitchison states that “the only lazy speech is drunken speech” and that speaking quickly, for example, isn’t a sign of laziness.

• Sloppiness and laziness causes language change… but this isn’t ‘decay’.

INFECTIOUS DISEASE:

• The myth that ‘bad English’ spreads from person to person like a horrible disease and we have no control or vaccine.

• Aitchison states that it is technically correct that changes are ‘caught’ and ‘spread’ but it isn’t like a disease: people pick up changes in language because they want to.