Have you ever noticed

[Aza]

is the word 'obviously'

Now, I don't think this is a local/regional thing as I often hear it on the TV even coming from professionals on the news. More and more people seem to be using this word and by its very nature, it does not reflect 'what is actually obvious'.

There are countless examples I could use, but if you are not sure what I mean by this post just bare it in mind and see/listen for yourself. I have actually been meaning to post this a few weeks ago as it is a sorta social/cultural trend doing the rounds of the nation.

My theory on this is that (unless used as part of a sentence where what some is describing to what will have to be a layman - to make it obvious) it is a social cultural trend, but also used in conjuction to sort of by time in a sentence/answer and try to sound like you know what your on about and look better than you are :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

What are thoughts?

In addtion to this, going back further, this one is still doing the rounds now: 'I mean'...

[Neuro]

As a linguist myself, every language the world over has always adopted cultural or sociological trends - it's how it evolves - but these either pass in time or morph into other rules or patterns of syntax that people still study today.

In this example, considering the incredible flexibility and diversity of vocabulary that the English language has to offer in comparison to other languages, one could attribute the lack of variety encountered today (for example the constant use of "like" or "obviously" in sentences) to either simply poor English, lack of education, or indeed overexposure to 'easier-to-understand' mediums such as particular television programmes.

I'm not taking the high ground here but it amazes me coming back to the UK and seeing news programmes in particular interview people in the high street to ask their opinion on something, and the majority either do not form a cohesive argument to what they're saying, offer no opinion at all, or provide a sentence, like Aza says, full of "obviously"s...

It is possible that over time, the over-use of a word in more contexts than traditionally used can result in the word, in some instances, losing its original meaning, as its incorrect use is 'accepted' and used more widely - for example, the word "incredible", which strictly means "unbelievable"

[Max Kane]

The dillution of language is inevitable, as with all mediums the levels of interpretation rely upon the context (I'm much less linguistically correct on here or in conversation with friends).

Education also plays a part & can influence some learned people, for example if i talk with someone whom I know is less educated and generally not used to speaking the same type of language that I do I will tend to 'dumb down' my language and make points that I feel thay can relate to, working in an lower class area as I do means that at work I tend to use much less complex lexis & phrases than I would at home or at Uni

[Aza]

This is becomingly increasingly more popular at work now :s

I also notice the word 'basically' coming in more and more... I used to think the word was good, but by the time you say the word 'basically', you could have just got too the point already!

OBVIOUSLY

[Quadrant]

Obviously, a man like Quadrant would never use a word like basically, (obviously). Like?

[Moonman]

only the other day me and a colleague were talking about how when using the police radios every officer will put the word "errr" when speaking a sentance. It will go something like thus..."Yes errr control can i give you a errr write for that job at errr mrs miggins place please?"

[Aza]

Lol Moonman - yeh that is quite typical for most people.

This is good reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection

[JasonB]

Exactly like understand that basically show some respect obviously UKAYYY!