Show notes for Episode 22
Here are the show notes for Episode 22, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Katie Edwards about grammar pedantry, accent shaming and why ‘grammar nazis’ need to get a life (and a new name).
Warning: this episode contains some explicit language!
Katie Edwards’ website: https://www.katiebedwards.com/
Katie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatieBEdwards
Katie’s (fairly) recent language articles (some of which we discuss):
Gerraway with accentism – I’m proud to speak Yorkshire | Katie Edwards
No, You’re Shit: Grammar Pedantry and Knowing Your Place
Putting the Accent On Prejudice. Rather than being yet another way to… | by Katie Edwards | Medium
Katie refers to ‘The Apostrophiser’, the grammar vigilante: Meet the 'Grammar Vigilante' of Bristol
Jeremy Paxman’s comments about grammar were “People who care about grammar are regularly characterised as pedants. I say that those who don’t care about it shouldn’t be surprised if we pay no attention to anything they say — if indeed they’re aware of what they’re trying to say.” (from here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-pedant-8kpmpkc8x08)
Katie’s reading recommendation is Speaking Up: Understanding Language and Gender by Allyson Yule: http://allysonjule.com/books/speaking-up/
The letter to The Guardian about ‘talking properly’ that we discuss:
The ‘slang ban’ story that provoked the letter: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/30/oh-my-days-linguists-lament-slang-ban-in-london-school
A thread Dan did on the problems with this letter: https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1446358649635549206
An article Dan wrote for emagazine about school ‘slang bans’: https://www.dropbox.com/s/81efwb4qfazopns/school%20rules%20article%20final.pdf?dl=0
You can follow Katie’s work by signing up here: https://katieedwards.substack.com/
Katie’s favourite book about language was this: http://allysonjule.com/books/speaking-up/
Language in the News
The older ‘slang ban’ stories can be found here: https://englishlangsfx.blogspot.com/search?q=slang+ban
The Mail’s coverage of the recent south London academy story:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10047177/Oh-days-School-bans-slang-terms-like-bare-raise-literacy-standards.html
Some of the comments that followed the Mail piece: https://twitter.com/mmgiovanelli/status/1444395623315353613
Marcello Giovanelli on Channel 5 News discussing the story and others: https://twitter.com/5_News/status/1444000068118458369
Aston University Sociology style guide story in the Times:
Some of the comments that followed the story on Aston Uni: https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1446745305777573895
Evan Smith’s No Platform book: https://www.routledge.com/No-Platform-A-History-of-Anti-Fascism-Universities-and-the-Limits-of-Free/Smith/p/book/9781138591684
Evan Smith interviewed on the Radikaal podcast: https://podtail.com/podcast/radikaal/12-evan-smith-on-no-platform-and-so-called-cancel-/
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys