Why We Speak More Weirdly at Home

Ever wondered why our speech patterns change when we're in the comfort of our own homes? Unravel the intriguing psychology behind this phenomenon as we delve into the fascinating world of linguistics, social dynamics, and the intimate spaces we call 'home'.

During the pandemic, we’ve spent dramatically more time in those quarters, and our in-group slang has changed accordingly

We speak differently in different settings depending on whom we’re talking to and what the purpose is

• Cynthia Gordon, an associate linguistics professor at Georgetown University, has spent much of her working life in the strange land of family discourse
• “Any group of people that has extended contact over time and sees itself as distinctive is going to have some specialized uses of language”

Hog

A small amount of coffee; less than a full cup

Increased time spent with immediate family was the biggest influence on their home language

Everyone interviewed valued their familect. They delighted in sharing it. They saw it as an intimate extension of their home.

• Sharing one’s family language is also the act of welcoming outsiders into one’s clan.

Familects are a part of the intimate register of language, the way we talk “backstage” with the people we are closest to

They’re our home slang, if you will, where we can be our nonpublic selves in all their weird glory.

• When people use familect terms they reinforce the stories, rituals, and memories that hold them together as a group.

COVID-19 is a collective major life event that has already made us unfortunately fluent in new terminology

Lockdowns, covidiots, pandejos, flattening the curve, and other epidemiological jargon

• For remote workers, office culture has bled into family life, and wondered how language from each realm might mix

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