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46: Hey, no problem, bye! The social dance of phatics
🕑 Added 2020-07-17 02:07:04 +0000 UTCHow are you? Thanks, no problem. Stock, ritualistic social phrases like these, which are used more to indicate a particular social context rather than for the literal meaning of the words inside have a name in linguistics – they’re called phatics!
In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about the social dance of phatic expressions. We talk about common genres of phatics, including greetings, farewells, and thanking; how ordinary phrases come to take on a social meaning versus how existing phatic expressions can become literal again; and how phatics differ across languages and mediums, including speech, letters, email, and social media.
Announcements:
Gretchen’s book about internet language, Because Internet, is available in paperback! It includes a section on phatic expressions in email and social media as well as lots of other things about how we talk to each other online, including emoji, memes, what internet generation you belong to, a small cameo from Lauren and Lingthusiasm, and more! You can also still get the audiobook version, read by Gretchen herself (no Lauren though, sorry). It also makes a great gift for anyone you communicate with online.
For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/623851629729464320/lingthusiasm-episode-46-hey-no-problem-bye-the
Comments
Thinking about how phatics get noticed more when they break down reminded me of when we first met our neighbors. Their daughter and our son started kindergarten at the same time, so we'd see each other on the walk to and from school. The dad is Black and I am white, and every time I greeted him with something like "how are you?" his response always was always something like "I'm just peachy." It caught my attention because it was a response that I mostly associate with older (mostly white) men. That was 4 or 5 years ago now, and I've noticed that he's done it less as we've gotten to know each other better. I'll probably never ask him (because it would feel rude to do so), but I do wonder if it was his way of trying to sound less Black and therefore potentially more "palatable" to his white neighbor. It makes me sad to think so, but I don't blame him for that.
Ooh cool, I'll add it to my TBR!
Lingthusiasm
It's a great series! I've been reading a lot of Jo Walton's books during lockdown, can also endorse her new one which came out this month!
I've been listening for a while now and just signed up as a patron because you mentioned that you're a fan of Thessaly.
