How technology changes our language

People who write things tend to have a favourite way of doing so. Some prefer the slow contemplative pace of pen and paper, others prefer the quicker pace that typing yields. When I write these columns, I open up a word processing app (usually Microsoft Word, but other programs like Google Docs work just as well) and usually from the comfort of my living room couch type about something technology related until the word count starts to approach 800.

When I go back through what I’ve written, Word has helpfully underlined all manner of transgressions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Currently, me and Microsoft disagree on my spelling of favourite with a “u” (even though I’ve set the language to Canadian English), how many commas I use in a sentence (usually too many), and my tendency to add additional and apparently unneeded words like “open up” instead of just “open”. Tools like spellcheck, grammar check, and autocorrect can all be very helpful. However, they also play a part in shaping how we use language. Whether it’s convincing every Canadian to drop the “u” in favourite, or working diligently to decrease the surplus comma population.

Language has always changed with technology. Some phrases we still use today stem from the use of technology at the time. The phrase “taken aback” is a nautical phrase that originally described a sudden wind blowing the sails on ships in the wrong direction. To “make the grade” was originally used to describe the ability for locomotives to haul their freight uphill. Terms such as “uppercase” and “lowercase” referred to the physical cases that the letters used in printing presses were stored in – capital letters in the upper case, small letters in the lower. The word “pollution”, while in use as early as the 14th century to describe something profane, emerged out of the Industrial Revolution as a word to describe damage to environment from factories. “Entrepreneur” also arose out of that period to describe the businessmen who financed the inventions and factory systems that propelled the Industrial Revolution.

Today, the internet has a huge influence on language. An obvious example is “google” being synonymous with any internet search. On social media, the use of euphemisms to describe serious topics, such as “unalived” instead of died, have been collectively adopted to subvert the automated moderation efforts of some platforms which can sometimes ban specific words and phrases regardless of context. The use of language on one platform often proliferates among multiple platforms as content is syndicated from one to the other, and sometimes even into common usage – for instance it’s not uncommon to hear FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) spoken aloud in conversation.

The internet has also proven to be a double-edge sword when it comes to preserving languages. On the one hand, the internet can be a place for repositories and dictionaries of understudied languages. Language learning apps can highlight endangered languages such as Navajo, Yiddish, and Hawaiian just to name a few. Linguists and lovers of language often share their language knowledge enthusiastically on social media. Scottish poet Len Pennie, for instance, has run a popular Scots Word of the Day series on TikTok since 2020.

The internet has also resulted in the further proliferation of the English language globally. Technologies designed in the United States use English and its alphabet by default. Information technology anglicisms including “browser”, “computer”, and “disk” can be found peppered through many languages throughout the world. English also has long been a lingua franca – a language used for communication between speakers who don’t speak a common first language. The fear is that increased reliance on English can result in decreased study in other languages. According to the United Nations, many of the world’s indigenous languages are at risk of disappearing as the last of those who speak them reach the end of their lifespans. Organizations like the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages create living dictionaries to help language preservation efforts.

Technology can also change how people speak. Voice activated digital assistants such as Google Home, Siri, and Alexa have difficulty with accents outside of your bog-standard American accent. In her Mother Jones article “Siri – why don’t you understand more people like me?” Sinduja Rangarajan describes her and her daughter’s repeated requests for their smart speaker to play a particular Bollywood song. The digital assistant would repeat the song title back in an American accent, which Rangarajan and her daughter found themselves emulating – as if the digital assistant were correcting their already correct pronunciation.

As technology changes our world, it also changes how we talk about our world and relate to others. When you see a new bit of internet slang, remember that you’re watching language evolve in real time.

Learn more

Exploring the origins of idioms. 2022. (The Henry Ford) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

Is tech transforming language? 2014. (BBC) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

Hey Siri--Why don't you understand more people like me? 2021. Sinduja Rangarajan. (Mother Jones) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

From ‘unalive’ to ‘Let’s go Brandon’: Children are learning TikToklish as their second language. 2024. Jeff McMillan. (Independent) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

Medieval Calligraphy. 1980. Marc Drogin. p. 37. (Google Books) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

From metrosexual to metrosessuale: the global influence of English in the creation of neologisms. 2006. Kerry Maxwell. (MED Magazine) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

How technology helps and harms endangered languages. 2024. Harriet Marsden. (The Week) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

Canadian 'Our' Words. (Queens University) Last accessed 2024/10/16.

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