Certain phrase origins article

   As recommended by my A2 Language teacher, I looked up this article from The Mirror, published on the 7th September 2013. I always find it very interesting learning about the origins of language and I hope it will be useful for future reference.

First fortnight of A2

   So far in the first couple of weeks of A2 English Language I've come up with a much more achievable investigation plan: Comparing the language and linguistic choices between three generations. I've written up the Introduction/Methodology draft and handed it in, now I just need to finish transcribing my recorded data and I will be ready to start analysing.

Couple of transcripts (collected sample data)

(Both of these transcripts are from episodes found on BBC iPlayer)

Mock the Week transcript #1 (S12E02)

Dara: the (.) first subject is (1) unlikely things to hear on radio

Andy: you’re listening to radio you tree (.) the cream of the 1970’s (.) broadcasting live (.) from pentonville

Hugh: this is jazz FM (.) you’re listening (.) by mistake

Chris: this is the breakfast news (.) the prime minister had porridge (.) the home secretary had muesli

Miles: my piles are giving me so much bloody gri (.) ra no (.) you are listening to (.) smooth FM

Andy: this is the Somali shipping forecast [shouts] don’t go out there

Hugh: this is magic FM pick a frequency any frequency

Chris: hahahahaha (2) hahaha

Nathan: f9 (.) hit (.) a2 (.) miss (.) c3 (.) hit (.) that (.) was the battleshipping forecast

Gary: you’re listening to radio three (1) anyone (.) anyone (.) anyone (.) bueler (.) bueler

Andy: on talk radio today (.) we’ve been discussing what a tosser nick clegg is (1) and now on the line we’ve got david (.) from central London

Hugh: that was god is dead by black Sabbath you’re listening (.) to Vatican radio

Nathan: and at number one this week (.) jedward (.) proving that teenage girls (.) cannot be trusted with money

Chris: well I’m with the eye in the sky (.) with the travel report (.) I’ve waited twenty years (.) to file this particular report (.) if I look down I can see (.) red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow

Hugh: don’t touch that dial (.) I’m defrosting a pie

Gary: next up on radio one (.) nick rimshaw (.) he’s not very good but he’s only twenty eight so he definitely didn’t get up to anything in the 1970’s

Chris: next (.) ed miliband lays down his policies in (.) I’m sorry I haven’t a clue

Andy: and now 9.) ten PM on radio four (.) and before the news (.) here’s five minutes of free porn

Mock the Week transcript #2 (S12E03)

Dara: now (.) we come to scene’s we’d like to see (.) so if everybody could make their way (.) over to the performance area (1) I’ll read out this week’s topics (.) and then we’ll see what our panellists can come up with (1) ok here we go (1) the first subject is (1) things you wouldn’t here on a fitness DVD

Hugh: ok (.) let’s get you sweating in your own living room (.) I know (.) you’re an illegal immigrant

Gary: today we’re going to work on our three problem areas (.) that’s bums (.) tums (.) and Afghanistan

Andy: do you want rock hard buns (1) then you need to get to greggs about five o’clock in the afternoon

Chris: really stretch it out (.) come on really stretch it out you’re nearly there (.) can you feel the burn (.) can you (.) good (.) okay (.) now you’ve got your leotard on we can do the exercises

Josh: so that’s three minutes in (.) and it’s time to wave good bye (.) to our American viewers

Hugh: hi (.) I’m niel mcferson (.) and welcome (.) to wankercise

Holly: hello and welcome to get thin on heroin

Chris: I got rid (.) of all the extra weight I had when I was pregnant (.) just by (.) leaving him on a stranger’s door step

Hugh: if you find weights (.) really boring (.) do what I do (1) don’t wait

Josh: now I find squats very important (.) because I can’t afford to pay my own rent

Andy: are you still too big to fit into that dress (.) don’t worry about it (.) just go to leeds (.) the women there don’t seem to give a shit

Chris: now I can completely fit in to the bikini (.) course sometimes my cock flops out

Holly: hello (.) and welcome to pilates at home (.) all the fun of pilates (.) without the embarrassment of farting in a church hall

Andy: hello (.) and welcome to dara o’briain’s bunga bunga work out

Chris: what is it (.) what is it

Investigation Ideas

1. How different comedians manipulate language

   From a list of about 5 comedians I would find a typical example of how each person manipulates language and their speech patterns to their own advantage to entertain an audience. How these people's career language is altered to become humorous to an audience and the differences and similarities they hold between each other.

2. Comedians with different accents and dialects and how they use them to their advantage

   In Britain there are such a wide range of accents and variations of language, comedians very often make jokes about people with different accents and also of them selves and their accent. Being able to imitate different accents can be a great skill in the world of comedy and I think that delving into this would make for a very interesting investigation

3. Comparison of language between different comedy programmes

   There are a lot of comedy programmes on TV now and they all have different themes; I think it would be interesting for an investigation if I took fair data from a range of them and compare them to collect the differences and similarities they have and how different techniques are used and why.

Ethicality Task

   If I was to make sure that the data that I want to collect is comparable then I would make sure that I would have un-biased data by using one of the ideas on the previous post about comparability. I would make sure that I don't choose anything that is from a certain holiday time so that the data will all be similar. I'd also try to narrow down the variables to make sure that the different data collected is only comparable by the way the comedians manipulate language to their advantage.
   To make sure that the data I collect would be ethical, I would use videos/DVDs that have been published and are legally allowed to be viewed by the public.
   I don't think there are any problems I might encounter while doing this investigation, because as long as I follow the comparability, reliability and ethicality guidelines then it should be fine.

Comparibility Task

Classroom Activity 1

1.    The language of advertising varies incredibly between adverts directed at men and those directed at women. An example of a women's advert that is very feminine would probably be a Venus razor. The first words spoken in the advert (by Jennifer Lopez, a well known icon for women to aspire to) are "Every woman has an inner goddess", another quote to emphasize how feminine this advert is "A feeling of confidence, and strength, an inner sparkle and an outer fabulous." The lexical choices that are used are all very positively emotive and encourage women to want to be all of the things listed. Men's adverts are extremely different, mainly focusing on how tough and strong the product will make them and the language that is used in adverts is crucial. The example I'm going to use is a Gillette Fusion advert, the narrator says "until you discover" to introduce the product, by saying that it is made to seem inevitable that the buyer will use it at one point. Also the use of "power" in the name of the product is one of the key words used in adverts directed primarily at men, because of of the stereotypical male features is that men want to be masculine and powerful to become attractive to women. Both of these adverts, although practically the same product and from the same company, are vastly different. The women's razor ad is aimed at women to make them happy with themselves, to be attractive but to also feel "confident", "strong" and "fabulous". The men's razor ad is full of visual sports references and "manly" language, these are both very typical views that male audiences are all looking to attract women and all female audiences want to feel "fabulous".
2.    The difference between radio and television commentaries is that the radio will have to be constantly talking. If you watch live sports on TV then you are able to sit and watch what is happening on the screen in front of you, but with a radio you can't see what is happening so you will essentially need it audio-visual description. The radio commentary will have the commentator constantly talking and describing what is happening, the current scores and adding their own comments as well. However, a commentator on television won't have to describe exactly what is happening because the audience can already see what's going on, the scores will be occasionally repeated so the audience stays up to date but the main thing that a commentator on TV will be doing is adding their own comments and talking about the people that are participating and what they know about them.

Reliability Task

1.    To collect reliable data of editor's letters in women's and men's magazines, an idea would be to select three women's and three men's magazines and open them up to the page where the editor's letter will be. I Would compare the three men's to each other and then the three women's; picking out linguistic features that are similar in all and the things that all three of the male/female directed magazines have in common. If you were to make a list for men's and women's separately, you would then be able to compare the lists of gathered information and what is similar or different to gather an array of un-biased information.
2.    To collect reliable data of Brian Cox's tweets I would use an idea that was previously stated in the booklet we have been given: selecting every third tweet starting from the most recent. By doing this you would be able to collect un-biased data because by not having a choice of the tweets you would be selecting you are able to identify the lingustic features that are out of your own control so you can analyse whatever you need to.
3.    To collect reliable data of Micheal Gove's comments on education I would watch about five interviews of him on the news, transcribe what is said between him and the anchors in the studio, then try and compare the linguistic features found and apply any theory that would be relevant to the topic I would be researching.